On Tuesday, the toll of American dead in Afghanistan passed 1,000, after a suicide bomb in Kabul killed at least five United States service members. Having taken nearly seven years to reach the first 500 dead, the war killed the second 500 in fewer than two. A resurgent Taliban active in almost every province, a weak central government incapable of protecting its people and a larger number of American troops in harm’s way all contributed to the accelerating pace of death.
The Taliban offered to hand over bin Laden immediately after the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan, but Bush would have none of that. Nope, the AWOL-in-chief had his excuse for war and he wasn’t going to blow it.
JALALABAD, Afghanistan –– A senior Taliban leader said Sunday that the Islamic militia would be willing to hand over Osama bin Laden to a third country if the United States halts the bombing of Afghanistan and provides evidence against him.
President Bush quickly rejected the offer.
“The president has been very clear, there will be no negotiations,” White House spokeswoman Anne Womack said. Washington has repeatedly rejected any negotiations or conditions on its demands that the Taliban surrender bin Laden and his al-Qaida terror network.
Leading up to the 9/11 terrorist attack, there were many warnings and predictions of an impending attack, but the Bush administration refused to act. Even after it was shown that bin Laden was responsible for the U.S.S. Cole attack, Bush did nothing. Well, he did lob a few bombs at Iraq, but other than that, he did nothing.
George W. Bush is responsible for the deaths of over 1,000 troops in Afghanistan and over 4,000 in Iraq, yet there has never been a complete investigation into how he got us into these messes. And that is a crime.