In his pre-election message, Osama bin Laden did his best to persuade the American people to cast their ballots for John Kerry. But the 9/11 mastermind's bizarre video may have exactly the opposite affect.
In fact, says political guru Dick Morris in his New York Post column, bin Laden's tape "should seal this election for Bush."
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"Combined with recent statements by Putin and from officials in the Arafat compound," Morris says, "the terrorist’s intervention in our election should make one point quite clear: The terrorists are afraid of Bush and would much rather see him out of office."
Even the increasing activity by Iraqi insurgents, he warns, is a bid to elect Kerry:
"Every day’s escalation of violence in Iraq sends the same message. These
goons are not trying to influence the Iraqi elections in January. They want
to impact the U.S. elections tomorrow. They want Bush out."
If the American people want a preview of how team Kerry would handle the war on terror, says Morris, they need only recall "the tentative and hesitant way the Clinton people waged it, always bowing to global public opinion and political concerns rather than taking forthright and bold action."
"It was on their watch that [bin Laden] truly escaped American attacks. ... In the 1990s, he was there for all to see in Afghanistan. We just failed to get him."
Morris details three opportunities where Kerry's Clintonista brain trust passed on getting the terror chieftain, including one last chance in May 1999.
At the time, the intelligence on the al Qaida leader's whereabouts was so good, the 9/11 Commission called it "in our strike zone ... a fat pitch ... a home run.”
"If this intelligence was not ‘actionable,’ working-level officials said at the time and today, it was hard for them to imagine how any intelligence ... could meet that standard.”
Morris warns that if Kerry gets elected and his coterie of Clinton advisers return to power, "the same geniuses that let [bin Laden] escape three times will be back in charge running things."
Editor's note:
"CATASTROPHE" Reveals the Secret Story Behind 9/11
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2004 Elections
Al-Qaeda
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Sen. John Kerry