Thompson: Osama Bin Laden Is ‘More Symbolism Than Anything Else’ [View All]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/07/thompson-bin-laden

Thompson: Osama Bin Laden Is ‘More Symbolism Than Anything Else’

Speaking to reporters in Iowa today aboard his “brightly colored campaign bus,” Fred Thompson spoke about the war in Iraq and the war against terrorist networks. He claimed — without any evidence — that “Americans are beginning to move in his direction in their support for the war in Iraq.” He also dismissed the threat of Osama bin Laden:


Thompson’s statement echoes the sentiments of President Bush, who in March 2002 said, “I truly am not that concerned about” bin Laden, and Ann Coulter, who said in Aug. 2006 said that bin Laden is “irrelevant.”

Yet bin Laden — the man who masterminded the attacks on 9/11 — is more than just a “symbol.” Today he issued a new videotape promising to “escalate the killing and and fighting against you.”

MORE