This just in: France: Bin Laden Nearly Caught in Afghanistan
Osama bin Laden has escaped capture in Afghanistan several times and may be linked in some way to the Madrid train attacks that killed 200 people, France’s chief of defense staff said Monday.
Gen. Henri Bentegeat said about 200 French troops were operating with U.S. forces in southeastern Afghanistan against the Taliban and bin Laden’s al Qaeda. The Saudi-born militant is thought to be there or just across the border in Pakistan.
Oh, it just makes me so mad that we liberated those frog-leg-eating, beret-wearing, Jerry-Lewis-loving Old Europeans and this is the thanks we get…they are working in Afghanistan with US forces to try and capture bin Laden. HOW DARE THEY???!!!
As much as the French get slammed stateside, this sort of thing needs to be brought into the light on a steady basis. Thanks, Edward.
actually, it would be a pretty savvy diplomatic move for us to allow a foreign country to nab him, though perhaps this works against the BA’s electoral interests here at home.
At the end of the day, the best is for everyone to keep pushing to get the bastard, and perhaps a little friendly competition amongst allies will be a good thing.
“actually, it would be a pretty savvy diplomatic move for us to allow a foreign country to nab him”
Like Spain, for example.
However, we obviously don’t have enough of a handle on bin Laden to bat him around like a cat’s toy and ‘let’ anybody do anything.
Just get him.
I was going to be snarky or funny about this news, but then I read Slarti’s comment.
Maybe the French-bashing is not as universal on the right as I had thought.
Thanks, Edward & Slarti
Why?
Because it would share the credit, which strenghtens the bond between countries. It’s good for diplomacy for the citizens of one country to be grateful to one of its allies. Seems pretty self-evident to me.
Ack. Busted blockquote.
Hope it’s fixed.
To repeat:
At the end of the day, the best is for everyone to keep pushing to get the bastard, and perhaps a little friendly competition amongst allies will be a good thing.
Agreed, but you were off on that little credit-sharing sidetrip.
Slart, Dahmer was a local problem. OBL is a global problem. I think it would be great if France caught him – and as a side benefit it mightlead to a rapprochement between them and the US.
OBL is a global problem.
Perhaps. What’s he done to France?
Slart, it wasn’t just francophobic Mayflower Americans who died on 9/11.
“Perhaps. What’s he done to France?”
Uh-oh. I think, over at Tac, the meme is that there are no even short-term benefits to appeasement.
I happen to to think there are such, and so this, as waged by Bush, has become a very hard war to sell. A fifty-year cold war when civilians take casualties in their hometowns is simply not going to work.
5-10 years of total war and then it is over. We are going to get there anyway, and every delay simply costs lives.
Slart, it wasn’t just francophobic Mayflower Americans who died on 9/11.
Well, that was more than a little silly. Do you imagine my point was that this was self-defense on the part of francophobes? That doesn’t compute in any way I can imagine.
Catching him is a high priority for us. Toward that end, I propose that it doesn’t matter who catches him, provided he’s caught. “Giving away” the opportunity to anyone else is just wrong if it decreases our odds of doing so, and condescending any way you look at it.
Uh-oh. I think, over at Tac, the meme is that there are no even short-term benefits to appeasement.
Show me what that has to do with anything I said. Are you claiming France is appeasing OBL?