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July 8, 2004
July Surprise

Josh Marshall points to this unbelievable TNR article.

A third source, an official who works under ISI's director, Lieutenant General Ehsan ul-Haq, informed tnr that the Pakistanis "have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs [i.e., high-value al Qaida targets] before [the] election is [an] absolute must." What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: "The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington." Says McCormack: "I'm aware of no such comment." But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that "it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July"--the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Just allow a minute for that to sink in.

Cranking up pressure on the Pakistanis to deliver bin Laden or some other High (Media) Value Target this summer clearly implies that this could have been done at any time. Why, exactly, have we not been exerting this pressure from day one? The answer is obvious, though hard to believe for its mendacity even for this administration: The "War on Terror" is nothing more than a political game. (Okay, we already knew that, but still, this is disturbingly explicit proof.)

Bob Harris, writing at This Modern World sums it up:

We should rejoice at Osama's capture, whenever it happens. But if Bin Laden suddenly shows up as scheduled, this should be understood, in advance, as prima facie evidence George W. Bush has spent years -- years! -- not doing all in his power to bring the greatest mass murderer in our history to justice.

It honestly makes me sick to my stomach.

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