Cannot Be Overstated

As Bush celebrated the fifth anniversary of getting to play Commander Guy, this was my favorite of his quotes:

In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his murderous network. The significance of this development cannot be overstated.

Except, of course, that the significance is overstated by simply attempting to attribute to it any significance at all. Because Osama bin Laden's murderous network wasn't even in Iraq, before Bush invaded Iraq, so there was no need for any scale of uprising against it. And bin Laden himself wouldn't still be out there, anyway, had Bush not let him get away. And the al Qaeda that actually attacked us on September 11, 2001 would not still be out there, had Bush not lost his focus on catching them, and started a war in Iraq, where they hadn't previously existed. And that war in Iraq has been a boon for al Qaeda's recruiting efforts. And Bush also failed to stop Abu Musab Zarqawi, in 2002, before he'd even had a chance to develop Al Qaeda in Iraq. So, Bush's repeated and widespread failures created and exacerbated a disaster he now claims is finally being solved. Except that he's lying about that, too.

As the Associated Press reported, just last week:

Al-Qaida is in Iraq to stay. It's not a conclusion the White House talks about much when denouncing the shadowy group, known as al-Qaida in Iraq, that used the U.S. invasion five years ago to develop into a major killer.

So, they weren't there before Bush invaded, they are there now, and they're not going away. The signficance of that cannot be overstated.

And a report in today's New York Times, about the continuing problems in creating a viable Iraqi Army, included this telling quote:

“The I.A. is getting mutilated out here,” said Sgt. James Luce as the Americans prepared to go on a joint mission with the Iraqis. “Al Qaeda is better equipped and better trained than they are. Without us out here, they don’t stand a chance.”

The significance of that, too, cannot be overstated.

And as for bin Laden, himself? Thanks to Bush, he's still out there. Still alive. Still free. Still threatening the west. As Agence France-Presse reprted:

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warned Europe Wednesday of a "reckoning" for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, US monitoring groups said. In the message, addressed to the "intelligent ones" in the European Union, bin Laden said that publishing the "insulting drawings" was a greater crime than Western forces targeting Muslim villages and killing women and children. And the "reckoning for it will be more severe," he said, according to a transcript of the message provided by the Virginia-based IntelCenter.

More than six years after the September 11 attacks, the significance of that, too, cannot be overstated.