Bush Administration To Senate: We Can't Just Invade Some Other Country

This is kind of a postscript to my piece yesterday about Senator Byron Dorgan introducing legislation compelling George W. Bush to actually go after Osama bin Laden -- you know, the guy who actually did attack us in 2001.

The headline for this post is not a direct quote, but came from Dorgan as he gave a speech on the floor of the Senate on Thursday and described how he's asked people high up the Team Bush food chain what seems like a pretty obvious question: If we know where the al Qaeda leadership is and we think they're so dangerous, why don’t we just go get them?

Here's that part of Dorgan's speech:

"Another part of providing security is to apprehend those who perpetrated the most aggressive attacks ever launched against this country. Apparently, based on the testimony of the heads of intelligence on two occasions in the last month, we know where they are. Yet they remain at large.

"I asked a question the other day of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when they testified. I asked the question: If we know where the leadership of al Qaeda is and if this is the greatest threat to our country's security and our homeland, then why on Earth, if we have soldiers to surge, are we not trying to apprehend and bring to justice the leadership of al Qaeda to destroy the leadership?

"I was told: Well, we can't just invade some other country to go find them."

So now I think we all understand… We can invade a sovereign nation -- like, oh, I don’t know, Iraq -- for absolutely nothing but we can't attack Pakistan when evidently we know as sure as Bush is going to pardon Scooter Libby that bin Laden and al Qaeda live there.

Dorgan was puzzled on another front as well.

"I thought we were getting cooperation from this other country. If they are in Pakistan, are the Pakistanis cooperating with us? If not, are they harboring al Qaeda?" asked Dorgan. "If they are not harboring them, then how about allowing us to work with them to bring to justice the leadership of the organization that poses the most significant terrorist threat to this country? When will that happen?"

Senator Dorgan's curiosity is well-founded as this all sounds very fishy, doesn't it?

Let's wait and see how Republican Senators vote on Dorgan's bill this week.