While we’re marking anniversaries: Flashback: Seven years ago today, Bush received ‘Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.’ memo.
Today marks seven years since the day President Bush received a President’s Daily Brief entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” (See the memo here.) At the time, Bush was vacationing at his ranch in Crawford, TX and stayed on vacation the rest of August 2001.
The day after he received the memo, “Bush seemed carefree as he spoke about the books he was reading, the work he was doing on his nearby ranch, his love of hot-weather jogging, his golf game and his 55th birthday,” the Washington Post noted. Today — 2,557 days later — Bin Laden still remains free and “determined to strike in U.S.”
My understanding of this type of intelligence is that it happened all the time, and was for the most part, a routine threat. Things sure changed a number of weeks later (perhaps we should have sent some food over). For instance, look how many times the president of Iran has threatened Western civilization. A bunch of people don’t seem to take that threat seriously. Obviously, they will change their attitudes if a number of weeks from now a nuclear weapon is detonated. Kinda’ all connects with the previous posted anniversary.