Bin Laden back on front burner

Following the administration's stance on bin Laden feels something like watching a tennis match, being forced to turn your head from one side to the other in order to follow the action. We went from vehement, podium pounding declarations from Bush that he was going to get Osama "dead or alive" to a casual shrug from the presidential shoulders and a off hand, "I don't think about him much," when months and years later we had still failed to find his hiding place.

They disbanded the CIA team tasked with finding him and then rushed to reassemble a task force to track him down. We've been told by the ever reliable "unnnamed, highly placed sources" that the trail is stone cold, and then the trail is red hot, so many times one doesn't know whether to wear a sweater or shorts for the occassion.

Now in today's Blotter we're told the CIA is rushing a team to Pakistan to grab the elusive leader from some cave on the border. Funny, wasn't it only two weeks ago that Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the outgoing Army chief of staff,declared Osama unimportant, wisely noting that capturing him would have little effect on the overall battle against terrorism?

The only thing consistent about the administration's policy on bin Laden has been its inconsistency. It would be interesting to see how the various positions align with Bush's approval numbers. One can't fail to note that today's leaked announcement comes on the heels of the latest poll showing yet another decline in his numbers. Meanwhile, I feel rather safe in predicting we're about to get yet another #3 al Qaeda lieutenant.