WaPo "analysis" lists Osama as a past - not a present - Bush "foil," despite failure to capture him

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200711200009?f=h_latest

Wash. Post "analysis" lists Osama bin Laden as a past -- not a present -- Bush "foil," despite U.S. failure to capture him

In a November 19 "analysis" of President Bush's current political standing, Washington Post staff writer Peter Baker asserted that "Bush ... does better when he has a foil to play off of," and specifically named Osama bin Laden, among others, as an example of a past Bush "foil." The article continued: "Through much of 2005 and 2006, as he cratered politically, Bush had no particularly prominent rival to contrast with." In fact, if bin Laden is no longer a Bush "foil," it is not because of any success on Bush's part in capturing him.

While bin Laden has remained at large since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and has released numerous videotapes since then, Bush has, at different times, highlighted bin Laden as a priority, and at other times, downplayed his significance. In March 2002, when asked if he "believe{d} that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive," Bush answered that "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."