Bin Laden Branded ‘Virtually Impotent’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seemingly taunting Osama bin Laden, President Bush’s homeland security adviser said Sunday the fugitive al-Qaida leader is ”virtually impotent” beyond his ability to hide away and spread anti-American propaganda. The provocative characterization came just days after bin Laden attracted international attention with the release of a video in which he ridicules President Bush about the Iraq war and reminds the world that he not been captured. Ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes, White House aide Frances Fragos Townsend made a clear attempt to diminish the influence — or the perception — of the man who masterminded those attacks…. ”This is about the best he can do,” Townsend said of bin Laden. ”This is a man on a run, from a cave, who’s virtually impotent other than these tapes.”…. In appearance on two Sunday talk shows, she used the ”virtually impotent” reference both times, suggesting the language was chosen with careful purpose.
In an Administration renowned for possessing almost toxic levels of testosterone and truly world-class arrogance, Frances Fragos Townsend fits right in this frat-boy’s club. Apparently intent of having her own “Bring it on!!” moment, Townsend has demonstrated her DUMB@$$ bona fides by tweaking Osama bin-Laden as “virtually impotent”. Never mind the fact that any sober exploration of the available facts indicates that al Qaeda is any but impotent. Townsend knows that her continued existence depends on her effectively trumpeting Administration talking/propaganda points- in this case that we have al Qaeda on the run and that Osama bin-Laden is a lonely, frustrated, impotent shell of his former self.
Hmm…apparently no one in this Administration, including Townsend, got the “Just shut th (&^% up!” memo. What POSSIBLE purpose could be served by tweaking bin-Laden and essentially daring him to put up or shut up is beyond me. Of course, there’s nothing like a deadly terrorist attack on American soil to unite Americans…and it might just be exactly what Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © needs in order to save his miserable Reign of Error from the ash heap of history it so richly deserves to be discarded upon.
The consensus of the nation’s top intelligence analysts is that bin Laden’s terrorist network is anything but impotent.
Terrorism experts say the network is regrouping in the lawless Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. The latest National Intelligence Estimate says al-Qaida is growing in strength, intensifying its efforts to put operatives in the United States and plotting against U.S. targets that will cause massive casualties. The U.S. is in a ”heightened threat environment” and al-Qaida is the most serious threat, the analysts found.
Townsend’s diatribe is one of the most mindlessly insulting and ignorant things I’ve heard uttered by a member of this Administration- no mean feat given the stunning level of incompetence that BushWorld has demonstrated itself capable of. Truly, it’s a barrel with no bottom. You’d think that someone as ostensibly intelligent as Townsend would recognize that reprising Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s “Bring it on!” moment accomplishes nothing of any value…and indeed, it may even be a death sentence for innocent Americans. Why Frances Townsend would see fit to engage in this sort of chest-thumping bravado is something that simply defies rational explanation. This sort of pointless machismo accomplishes nothing except to run the risk of rattling the al-Qaeda hornet’s nest. Not that we need to live in more fear of terrorism, but what purpose could POSSIBLY be served by engaging in this sort of cheap, overblown machismo?
Then again, this is exactly why Frances Fragos Townsend was such an effective and deserving DUMB@$$, eh?
