Political Hay Over Al Qaeda Captured
The headlines read (ABC News) “A top al Qaeda leader has been detained and captured, the Pentagon announced this morning. Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi is described as al Qaeda’s top operational planner in Afghanistan. He was also reportedly planning an assassination attempt on Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf.”
I’m all for capturing these guys, but the GOP and Bush will make political hay out of this. They will continue their tired mantra that “leaving Iraq is dangerous”. What Bush and the GOP will neglect to mention is that Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi was captured in 2006 and has been in CIA custody. His is being sent to Gitmo today, so it becomes headline.
The fact that he was caught in 2006 will be irrelevant to Bush and his hawks. He will say the surge is working and leaving is not an option. Bush will use this to bolster his reason for vetoing the Iraqi bill. The GOP candidates will try to use this against the Democrats as being weak on “terror”.
It’s interesting that this comes out the day after Congress’s bill on Iraq. Who else will the administration drag out of storage during the presidential election? The GOP will use this to discredit any opposition to their failed policies and failed war?
Is this really breaking news or is it convenient timing of the news? I choose the latter.
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