When John Kerry talked about Tora Bora heavily, I wondered why the press just kinda shrugged it off. I always felt that the White House wanted Osama alive (at least until after the '04 election) so he could be the big bad evil that would keep Americans frightened and confused like the bed-wetters of the right wing blogosphere. Newsweek wrote an article on Bin Laden: "Into Thin Air, He's still out there. The hunt for bin Laden"
Yep, they're just that smart -- and the same "oh so smart" people keep showing up in the story:
To the civilian bosses at the Pentagon and the eager-to-please top brass, Iraq was a much better target. By invading Iraq, the United States would give the Islamists—and the wider world—an unforgettable lesson in American power. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was on Rumsfeld's Defense Policy Board and, at the time, a close confidant of the SecDef. In November 2001, Gingrich told a NEWSWEEK reporter, "There's a feeling we've got to do something that counts—and bombing caves is not something that counts."
Gingrich should be vilified for this, but of course on FOX Propaganda C.--he's the "voice of reason."