Reid: Bush "letting" Osama "roam free"

Harry Reid, the Senate Majority leader, recently suggested that President Bush is "letting Osama bin Laden roam free":

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate Democratic leader, issued a statement criticizing Mr. Bush’s agenda.

“Whether it is privatizing Social Security, giving massive tax breaks to oil companies while consumers pay more at the pump or letting Osama bin Laden roam free while we keep our troops mired in an open-ended Iraqi civil war, America has had just about enough of President Bush’s misguided priorities,” Mr. Reid said.

Of course, there's no evidence that Bush has allowed bin Laden to evade capture.

Note how Reid imputes motive to Bush's failure to capture bin Laden. This is a direct reversal of the conservative tactic of suggesting that we have failed to win the war in Iraq because Democrats want us to lose.

(See the conclusion to All the President's Spin for more on how liberals are increasingly adopting the tactics of conservatives.)

Comments

[talboito]

Of course, there's no evidence that Bush has allowed bin Laden to evade capture.

Well, there is the fact that we haven't captured him.

Also, its clear that Reid means the President prioritized invading Iraq ahead of capturing Bin Laden. He isn't making a claim about Bush's motives, he is remarking on Bush's failures.

[Sean-B]

I have to agree with talboito. Reid is claiming a bad decision is affecting our efforts to find bin Laden. Not providing our military enough resources to find bin Laden is a legitimate gripe. The President has tied Iraq to the war on terror, but there is no "surge" to find bin Laden.