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

[maveman]

Perino is an arrogant stooge on the stage of important events--we have spent billions and no Bin Laden-bush will make a big announcement two days before the election claiming he has him cornered,hoping to help McCain-that is how this government works!!

[nostalgia]

Bush is so stupid. Why can't he call up McBush? McBush has the superpower and said he knows how to get OBL...It is just too bad the right hand does not know what the left does.

[TakingBackTheUSA]

Maybe if they'd stayed in Afghanistan where the terrorists actually were hiding they would have gotten him by now.

[darthdarcy]

We had bin-Laden cornered at Tora Bora and Bush gave him a Truce, and let him escape along with Zawahiri and Mullah Omar and thousands of al-Qaeda and Taliban who also drove out of Afghanistan in a 1,500 vehicle caravan, and others who were flown out by the Pakistani ISI..from a city nearby Tora Bora..!

This was a betrayal of every victim of 9/11..which is also why Afghanistan is the mess it is today and why the terrorists world wide were emboldened and gained so many recruits..!

Why won't Democrats hammer Bush and the Republicans over what went down at Tora Bora..?

[arbroath]

A competent world-class superpower would have arrested a financially over compensated spoiled child of an insanely rich second-world nation/corporation in a heartbeat, were not other interests were in play. Those interests will remain in play until a man like Obama is elected. We all know it is all about money. Until people organize--which is never going to happen as long as people are distracted and have full bellies (even the homeless are fat)--a real, free democratic peace and humanity will be as distant as any life we can ever possibly know.

[JessWonderin]

If they were serious, they'd give his file to AARP . . . .

[peterg76]

Translation: Bush was lying about God being on his side.

[ajax2]

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

You mean that Bob Woodward is lying?

[JNo]

then maybe that stupid, foolish, delusion promise ought not to have been made.

[schatsie]

1. I agree that Bush should not have made that promise, or said Mission Accomplished, or cut taxes when he was going to war or wasted New Orleans by criminal negligence etc...
2. I would suggest that Dana read Richard Clarke's book,....Thing is they have had almost 8 years to get him and nothing has happened except they have drained the treasury of this country...

How reckless and irresponsible can one party be? How can the other party stand by and let it happen and that is why we NEED REAL CHANGE....

[jsarets]

So now it's Congress' fault for not taking David Addington and John Yoo's advice on granting super powers to the unitary executive. It's not enough to be able to conduct electronic surveillance on Americans without a warrant. They also want to have x-ray vision and be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

[blueshield]

So, let me see if I understand the President.

After suspending American civil liberties, taking unauthorized and extra-legal measures to snoop on any person here or abroad, without court approval, or in some cases, legitimate grounds; after employing "advanced interrogation techniques" on suspected terrorists or their drivers; after billions and billions and billions of dollars, and tens of thousands of American lives damaged or ended; after the loss of our international leverage and prestige....

...the United States, arguably the most powerful nation on the planet...

has not brought the perpetrator of 9/11 to justice.

Yeah, that's what I thought he said.

[blust8r]

Why would anyone give this man (Boosh) any cognizant points for effort. He demolished his presidency the moment he went to Iraq. He hasn't done on f*ckin' thing to find OBL since the war in Iraq started, as a matter of fact, he's promoted the idea that he "hasn't given him much thought".
Hell, he can't give anything "much thought"... it's too taxing on his pea-sized brain. "Gotta think TAX CUTS for BIG OIL"
Whattan*sshole!!!!!

[blust8r]

He'll probably only remember a couple lines from "my Pet Goat"... and then slip into another coma.

[levibatgirl]

Not giving OBL "much thought" once bush/cheny and the rest of the liars had successfully bamboozled their way into Iraq may have something to do with it.

[doctorj2u]

If you can't find Osama, then why don't you start looking for New Orleans. It is easy. Just follow the Mississippi River to its mouth.