Perino: No "Super Powers" To Help Find Bin Laden

WASHINGTON — The White House said Wednesday that the failure to capture Osama bin Laden in the seven years since the Sept. 11 attacks shows the limitations of military and intelligence power.

"This is not the movies. We don't have super powers," said White House press secretary Dana Perino. "But what we do have is very dedicated people who are working with our allies and trying to bring (al-Qaida leaders) to justice."

Bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaida network that orchestrated the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history, is believed to be in the lawless tribal belt of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

His status as an at-large enemy of the United States tends to come back into focus with every somber anniversary of the 2001 attacks. Beyond a matter of national security, bin Laden's elusiveness has elicited fire from President Bush's critics, who accuse Bush of being wrongly focused on Iraq.

"The Bush administration has failed to put the necessary resources and manpower into the hunt for America's No. 1 enemy," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday. "President Bush has rightly said that the war on terror is about more than just one man. Yet seven years after 9/11, the president has allowed that one man's vast al-Qaida network to regroup."

Perino said the intelligence community's hunt for bin Laden has been relentless, and that Bush has never let up.

She added that the government has had success in disrupting the terror network, including the capture of the confessed Sept. 11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He is jailed at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as he awaits trial.

Bush and first lady Laura Bush will mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on Thursday during a moment of silence on the South Lawn. It will happen at 8:46 a.m. _ the exact moment in 2001 when terrorists slammed the first of two jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York. The president also will attend a ceremony at the Pentagon for the dedication of a memorial for the people killed there.

"Tomorrow is obviously a very sober anniversary for Americans," Perino said. "The president thinks about 9/11 every single day when he wakes up and before he goes to bed. This is what he's concerned about. He's always been concerned about another attack on our country. Thankfully, we haven't had one."

Comments

[moreupnorth]

Ms. Perino, John McCain has told us all he has a secret plan to capture Bin Laden. According to him all you need to do is elect him President and he will capture him by next January. That sounds like super powers to me! Why don't you folks have the same powers, and secret plan for that matter! Aren't you all on the same team?

[DMcD]

They don't need 'super powers' , they just need 'guts' and 'determination' ---------- they should easily be able to spot this guy with one of their 'drones' --- remember, this guy is 6'8" tall (not easy to hide that).

[SeriousBlack]

"Perino said the intelligence community's hunt for bin Laden has been relentless, and that Bush has never let up."

ummm... Doesn't this conflict just a tad with Bush's own words when he said that he didn't think that much about Bin Laden?

Would some conservati­ve/Republi­can/rightw­inger like to explain that dichotomy to me? Which is it? Well?

[AZM]

John McCain has a secret plan to track down Osama bin Laden. You guys in the administration should check with him, although McCain says he won't reveal his plan unless he is elected president. This sounds like Nixon's secret plan in 1968 to end the war in Vietnam. Turned out to be pure, unadulterated bulls#$t.

[KareninSac]

Perino says they don't have "super powers" to find Osama bin Laden. Uh, yeah you do. It's called remote reviewing. Our government has used this psychic spying since the 1970s, and I suspect have really intensified its use since the CIA took over the program from the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1994 when the Republican congress decided not to fund the program anymore (aren't they smart?).

This psychic spying was used to locate SMUD misslies and chemical and biological weapons in the first Iraq war. It's been used to find hostages. Our government knows where bin Laden is, but if they captured him (or let us know they've already killed him), what would they have to use to scare us? Check out "Reading the Enemy's Mind" by Paul H. Smith.

[Jeff1958]

Your logic is similar to my understanding of the abortion debate, that is, the rabid right intentionally keeps the issue on the table for potential future gains. One easy way to spot this: from 2001-2007 the Reps controlled the Congress, the Presidency and the SCOTUS. And they didn't overturn Roe v Wade. Why not???

The military has satellites that can read license plates for the past 20 or 30 years but they can't find the most hated man on the planet? The Reps need to keep OBL free for the same reason they need to keep abortion legal. They need something to attack the Dems with because THEY HAVE NOTHING ELSE.

[Marlyn]

"Bush and first lady Laura Bush will mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on Thursday during a moment of silence on the South Lawn."

Then the President will read passages from "My Pet Goat".

[trucap]

I thought God was involved in our side in this war.....infact HE was the one who suggested this war according to statements I read in the news shortly after the war began, and yet God wouln't reveal bin laden hiding cave to those who are leading this war now.Amazing !!!!

[LynndaMaree]

McSame can find Bin Laden, he said he knew where he was and he could get anytime he wanted to. That is, only if he is elected as President. He said he will follow him to the gates of hell.

[bronceye]

The fact that bush shut down the office assigned to finding UBL could be concieved as hurting the effort. Like McClellan, she's out of the loop.

[wotcanisay]

FINALLY - AN HONEST ADMISSION!

REMEMBER - WE WILL GET HIM DEAD OR ALIVE! ?

[JDHART]

Dana calls it "super powers", history will call it 'competence'

[rfshunt]

Brilliant!

[adamsmith]

Obama has superpowers. He is the "one', the messiah.....He will make the seas recede from all the global warming, feed the multitudes with two loaves and five fish....All must bow to the annointed one...........

[Rog49Thomas]

I was quite surprised to hear this from an Administration that repeatedly claims to not only speak to but receive responses from the Divinity.

Wouldn't the smart thing to do be for Pan to ask the Lord next time he's having a chat where Brother Osama is?

If that doesn't work, maybe Pan could call Dobson, Robertson, et al who may have a "closer" personal relationship to ask.

Failing that we could always pray for rain to flood Osama's cave - a bit of Divine waterboarding, if you will.

[CatPower]

seriously, why's everyone hate Dana Piranha? Huh? OK so she's mouthpiece of the devil and all but c'mon, she's a woman! All women are great! Sarah Palin has proved that just as Hillary Clinton proved it before her. From now on, no woman will ever be -nor should they ever be-referred to as less than great... and how great is that?!

[HattieB]

John Mccain says he know how to catch Bin Ladin...


hahahahhah­ahahahahha­ha

[vippy]

Odd that we can find a child molester in South East Asia in one day and we cannot find a
7 ft Arab on kidney dialysis in 8 years.

[adamsmith]

He's eight foot and his dialysis machine glows in the dark. Barry will find him, and then say that's not the Osama he's known all these years...........

[WIpatriot]

Easier than putting lipstick on a camel...

[moongal6]

Why the heck don't they ask John McCain, he said he knows where binLaden is and when HE is elected President, he will get him. All Dana has to do is ask him nicely, and NOT say anything about his thinning hair.

[RobinSeattle]

John McCain knows how to get Bin Laden. So why doesn't he tell Bush how to find and bring Bin Laden's head home on a pike?

Because he found out that MacGyver isn't available for the job.

John McCain: The Talking Straight Out Your Ass Express.

[chronic]

"I don"t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don"t care. It"s not that important. It"s not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02

"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden"s whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)

Why in Gods name are the Democrats not reminding the American people of this?

* Republicans must own thier failures *

[RobinSeattle]

You know Bush quotes have a liberal bias, don't you?

Nothing to see here. Move along.

[lobear00]

Democrats can't seem to think outside the box. The Republicans have given them all kinds of "Fodder" to use against them and the Democrats seem to be some where in "Outer Space. And this is the best that "We the People can do.

[LynndaMaree]

Given us Fodder, you jerk you've given us nothing but dayum near 8 years of pure hell. Foreclosures,banks closing,youngster being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan,people and children going without healthcare,gas prices soring. Thanks for the Fodder .

[LynndaMaree]

Given us Fodder, you've given us D*A*Y*U*M near 8 years of pure hell. Foreclosures,banks closing,youngster being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan,people and children going without healthcare,gas prices soring. Thanks for the Fodder