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Wed May-04-11 01:12 AM
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Yup, that George W. Bush sure was great at catching bin Laden

"When I was a kid I remember that they used to put out there in the old west, a wanted poster. It said: 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.' All I want and America wants him brought to justice. That's what we want."

-- George W. Bush, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-3.html">September 17, 2001

"We have an abiding interest in finding Osama bin Laden and the leaders of al Qaeda ... We want to round them up, we want to bring them to justice."

-- Dick Cheney, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/vicepresident/news-speeches/speeches/vp20011115.html">November 15, 2001

"I don't know whether it's going to be tomorrow, but (Gen.) Tommy (Franks) will tell you that I haven't said, Tommy, get him tomorrow. I said, just get him. And we will. We will bring him to justice."

-- George W. Bush, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011228-1.html">December 28, 2001

"A fellow came the other day to the office, and said, well, are you worried about Mr. bin Laden? I said, no, I'm not too worried about him. He's the guy that needs to be worried."

-- George W. Bush, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020122-6.html">January 22, 2002

"We clearly want to get Osama bin Laden, and we expect to get him. I think eventually there's no question we will run him to ground."

-- Dick Cheney, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/vicepresident/news-speeches/speeches/vp20020127.html">January 27, 2002

"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'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him."

-- George W. Bush, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html">March 13, 2002

"I don't know if the man's living or the man's dead. But one thing is for certain; the war on terror is a lot bigger than one person."

-- George W. Bush, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/07/20020708-5.html">July 8, 2002

"Vis-a-vis Osama bin Laden, there remains a worldwide hunt out -- not only for Osama bin Laden, but for all the top lieutenants of the al Qaeda organization. The hunt has been successful in many places, but obviously there remain people who are at large."

-- Ari Fleischer, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030218-4.html">February 18, 2003

"You know, I assume that if we are so fortunate to bring -- to find Osama bin Laden, that is going to happen with one of those middle of the night phone calls like I got about Saddam Hussein, and I will be perfectly happy to take it. But he's a very difficult target. We continue to work. It's basically a business of having people to help you to find him, and the good news is we have a lot of Afghans and others who work with us, and eventually, we will."

-- Condoleeza Rice, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040228-1.html">February 28, 2004

"Of course, we're going to find Osama bin Laden. We've already got 75 percent of his people, and we're on the hunt for him."

-- George W. Bush, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041009-2.html">October 9, 2004

"Osama bin Laden has been a prime focus of our interest, obviously, since before 9/11, really. And we have not let up for a minute. John Kerry suggested somehow we are not aggressively pursuing Osama bin Laden because we've got other interests. That's just not the case."

-- Dick Cheney, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041023-5.html">October 23, 2004

"We continue to pursue him. He will be brought to justice."

-- Scott McClellan, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/07/20050726-2.html">July 26, 2005

"I think one of the difficulties we've got is that a number of the prominent folks on the other side -- and I don't question their patriotism or their loyalty -- but I do think many of them what I call a pre-9/11 mind set. They've got a tendency to look at the terrorist attacks, for example, in terms of law enforcement and only law enforcement. ... I don't think they believe that the aggressive kind of posture we've been pursuing is the right one. I happen to disagree with them."

-- Dick Cheney, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060329-2.html">March 29, 2006

A CIA unit that had hunted for Osama bin Laden and his top deputies for a decade has been disbanded, according to a published report. ... A former CIA official who once led the unit, Michael Scheuer, told the Times that its shutdown was a mistake. "This will clearly denigrate our operations against al-Qaida," he said. "These days at the agency, bin Laden and al-Qaida appear to be treated merely as first among equals."

-- Associated Press, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/04/AR2006070400375_pf.html">July 4, 2006

"All I can tell you is, is that when Osama bin Laden is found, he will be brought to justice."

-- George W. Bush, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060922.html">September 22, 2006

"Well, we're going to find him. I mean, we -- he said all along we're going to find him. ... Certainly, we would love to find Osama bin Laden; that has not changed."

-- Tony Snow, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070911-2.html">September 11, 2007

"What I can assure you is that there are people all around the world that are united in trying to hunt down Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda."

-- Dana Perino, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070426-6.html">April 26, 2007

"We're not backpedaling. We're not backpedaling. Again, look, we'd be delighted -- and if anybody has a suggestion of a quick and easy way to get bin Laden, the phone lines are open."

-- Tony Snow, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070713-5.html">July 13, 2007

"I'm not going to try to make a prediction. It is obviously very difficult business. But make no mistake about it, we're determined to get bin Laden, we're determined to get Zawahiri, we're determined to get senior leadership of al Qaeda. ... So to roll this all together, again, obviously we want to get bin Laden, and the sooner the better."

-- Tony Snow, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070718-7.html">July 18, 2007

"There's been an all-out push to get bin Laden since about September 11, 2001. And I will tell you that Mike Hayden comes into the Oval Office on Thursday every morning as part of the intel brief to update the President on operational things that the CIA is doing. And every time, the President says, so how are we doing on number one and number two -- bin Laden and Zawahiri. This has been a focus for the President and focus for the administration for years and will continue to be so."

-- Stephen Hadley, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/06/20080615-1.html">June 15, 2008

"Tomorrow is obviously a very sober anniversary for Americans. Many of you were probably here that day seven years ago. And the President thinks about 9/11 every single day. When he wakes up and before he goes to bed this is what he's concerned about."

-- Dana Perino, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080910-1.html">September 10, 2008

Well this is clearly going nowhere. Why don't we give someone else a turn?

"We will kill bin Laden."

-- Barack Obama, http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/may/01/obama-vowed-kill-osama-bin-laden">October 7, 2008

"Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden."

-- Barack Obama, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-dead">May 1, 2011

Oh, so that's how it's done.