Stephen F. Kislock, III – 10/19/04

This page was last updated on October 19, 2004.

Is Osama bin Laden on ice?; Stephen F. Kislock, III; Beaver County Times; October 19, 2004.

This is Mr. Kislock’s fourth anti-Bush rant since August 8^th.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“At a White House press conference on March 13, 2002, G.W. Bush said, ‘So I don’t know where he (Osama bin Laden) is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him... I truly am not that concerned about him.’

[RWC] Let’s see the full exchange. I’m willing to bet Mr. Kislock doesn’t want you to see the quote excerpts in context.

“Question: Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don’t you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won’t really eliminate the threat of --

“President Bush: Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he’s alive at all. Who knows if he’s hiding in some cave or not; we haven’t heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don’t understand the scope of the mission.

“Terror is bigger than one person. And he’s just -- he’s a person who’s now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed. He’s the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match. He is -- as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide -- if, in fact, he’s hiding at all.

“So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you. I’m more worried about making sure that our soldiers are well-supplied; that the strategy is clear; that the coalition is strong; that when we find enemy bunched up like we did in Shahikot Mountains, that the military has all the support it needs to go in and do the job, which they did.

“And there will be other battles in Afghanistan. There’s going to be other struggles like Shahikot, and I’m just as confident about the outcome of those future battles as I was about Shahikot, where our soldiers are performing brilliantly. We’re tough, we’re strong, they’re well-equipped. We have a good strategy. We are showing the world we know how to fight a guerrilla war with conventional means.

“Question: But don’t you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won’t truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?

“President Bush: Well, as I say, we haven’t heard much from him. And I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don’t know where he is. I -- I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.

“But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore. And if we -- excuse me for a minute -- and if we find a training camp, we’ll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That’s one of the things -- part of the new phase that’s becoming apparent to the American people is that we’re working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money.

“And we’ve got more work to do. See, that’s the thing the American people have got to understand, that we’ve only been at this six months. This is going to be a long struggle. I keep saying that; I don’t know whether you all believe me or not. But time will show you that it’s going to take a long time to achieve this objective. And I can assure you, I am not going to blink. And I’m not going to get tired. Because I know what is at stake. And history has called us to action, and I am going to seize this moment for the good of the world, for peace in the world and for freedom.”

“Could it be that’s because bin Laden is Saudi?”

[RWC] Looking after bin Laden wouldn’t be very smart if President Bush were trying to get on the good side of the Saudi royal family. You see, Saudi Arabia exiled bin Laden in the early 1990s and he’s wanted by Saudi Arabia for murders committed by al-Qaida in 1995 and 1996. They would also be after bin Laden for the al-Qaida attacks in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

“Our soldiers are fighting and dying in the fight against terrorism, and Bush does not care about the mastermind, Osama bin Laden. Why?

“Could it be the story Bush was reading when America was attacked by the child of bin Laden (Al Qaeda) made more of an impression than the deaths of more than 3,000 Americans?”

[RWC] How insulting and hateful can Mr. Kislock get?

The quote of March 13, 2002, was primarily for the benefit of bin Laden and al-Qaida. He was telling them, “We drove you and the Taliban out of Afghanistan and into hiding like rats.” The point was to show them disrespect and hope they would do something stupid. As is clear from President Bush’s full comments above, a secondary point was to make sure Americans didn’t become so obsessed with bin Laden that we would lose our view of the big picture, the war on terror in general.

“I suppose that Bush is praying for Saudi Arabia. After all, who has contributed more to the President?”

[RWC] What has Saudi Arabia contributed to President Bush? I really hate innuendo as a replacement for intelligent thought.

“Is bin Laden on ice, waiting for a late October surprise?”

[RWC] Let’s see. In a sentence above Mr. Kislock implies President Bush is dumb and now Mr. Kislock implies President Bush is an evil genius who captured bin Laden long ago. Which is it, guys? Is President Bush an idiot or an evil genius? Oh wait, I know. President Bush is an idiot and VP Cheney and Karl Rove are the evil geniuses pulling his strings. Do I have the Democrat story correct?

“After the fall of Iraq, how many American soldiers have died? Last week, a mass grave was unearthed in Hatra, Iraq, the victims of Saddam. How many Iraqis has America buried?”

[RWC] Let me get this straight. Mr. Kislock sees a moral equivalence of hundreds of thousands innocents murdered in cold blood by a dictator and innocents killed accidentally during the liberation of 25 million people? I’m glad I don’t see the world as does Mr. Kislock.