A Kerry Ad that would beat Bush and make Kerry president

I think the reason Kerry hasn't used this issue, (and probably will not use it at all), is the perceived failure of the Dems in catching bin Laden when they were in power.

The 9-11 Comission blamed both party's for failures in catching him. See the following MSNBC story; I highlighted the parts I think prevent Kerry from going this route:

Osama bin Laden: missed opportunities
The CIA had pictures. Why wasn't the al-Qaida leader captured or killed?

By Lisa Myers
Senior investigative correspondent
NBC News

Updated: 6:40 p.m. ET March 17, 2004As the 9/11 commission investigates what Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush might have done to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, one piece of evidence the commission will examine is a videotape secretly recorded by a CIA plane high above Afghanistan. The tape shows a man believed to Osama bin Laden walking at a known al-Qaida camp.

The question for the 9/11 commission: If the CIA was able to get that close to bin Laden before 9/11, why wasn't he captured or killed? The videotape has remained secret until now.

Over the next three nights, NBC News will present this incredible spy footage and reveal some of the difficult questions it has raised for the 9/11 commission.

In 1993, the first World Trade Center bombing killed six people.

In 1998, the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa killed 224.

Both were the work of al-Qaida and bin Laden, who in 1998 declared holy war on America, making him arguably the most wanted man in the world.

In 1998, President Clinton announced, "We will use all the means at our disposal to bring those responsible to justice, no matter what or how long it takes."

NBC News has obtained, exclusively, extraordinary secret video, shot by the U.S. government. It illustrates an enormous opportunity the Clinton administration had to kill or capture bin Laden. Critics call it a missed opportunity.A Democratic member of the 9/11 commission says there was a larger issue: The Clinton administration treated bin Laden as a law enforcement problem.

Bob Kerry, a former senator and current 9/11 commission member, said, "The most important thing the Clinton administration could have done would have been for the president, either himself or by going to Congress, asking for a congressional declaration to declare war on al-Qaida, a military-political organization that had declared war on us."

In reality, getting bin Laden would have been extraordinarily difficult. He was a moving target deep inside Afghanistan. Most military operations would have been high-risk. What's more, Clinton was weakened by scandal, and there was no political consensus for bold action, especially with an election weeks away.

NBC News contacted the three top Clinton national security officials. None would do an on-camera interview. However, they vigorously defend their record and say they disrupted terrorist cells and made al-Qaida a top national security priority.

"We used military force, we used covert operations, we used all of the tools available to us because we realized what a serious threat this was," said President Clinton's former national security adviser James Steinberg.

One Clinton Cabinet official said, looking back, the military should have been more involved, "We did a lot, but we did not see the gathering storm that was out there."


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Funny that a writer for the well-known, moderate Village Voice didn't think of this!

Also, BBB, your link at the top didn't work, for your info....

I don't think Clinton's record in any way weakens the case that the Bush administration did not take the threat seriously when they came into office. And it definitely doesn't change the fact that Bush said we would smoke Osama out of his hole and bring him in dead or alive. For someone who has a reputation for doing what he says he will do, this is a problem.

You don't think Kerry is impacted because a Dem administration failed to grab bin Laden when they had the chance? Or made it a criminal matter instead of a military action?

If Kerry was able to use this as an issue, you don't think he already would have? What Bush did or didn't do has no bearing on what Clinton failed to do. Unless Kerry said "Bush and Clinton both suck and I can do better then either of them."

And that is one thing Kerry will never be able to do. Ask me why. (It has something to do with something we discussed yesterday).

I think that what Clinton was doing was the right thing to do. If the incoming admininstration had not been so partisan as to disregard what they were told by the outgoing administration, Bush probably could have gotten him in the early part of the year. The Clinton administration handed them a plan. It is well documented that they did not even want to talk about it.

First, Kerry isn't Clinton. If that is the game, then why didn't Reagan or Bush Sr deal with Osama or Hussein? Do we blame W for their failings?

Second, If Bush is doing so much better than Clinton WHY DON"T WE HAVE OSAMA BIN LADEN??? He's had 4 years.

OK. But I don't think that relates to why Kerry can't use this topic in his campaign. Plan or no plan, it is well known, (covered very thoroughly by the MSM) that the Clinton admin did not grab/kill bin Laden when they had the chance.

And therein lies Kerry's main problem. He can't criticize one without criticizing the other. And McAuliffe, as the head of the DNC and the main FOB, will not let him do so....