I’m With Fred

Fred Thompson called Osama Bin Laden a “symbol” and not so much a threat to America. To be exact, Thompson said: “Bin Laden is more symbolism than anything else. I think it demonstrates to people once again that we’re in a global war.”

Obviously, Thompson drew the ire of other GOP candidates, waiting to score some cheap points.

John McCain: “He’s more than a symbol. He’s motivating and recruiting using the internet as we speak. He’s a threat. He’s a threat.”

Mitt Romney (trying to outBush McCain): “Osama Bin Laden is the face of evil. His stated goal is conversion by compulsion, the surrender of liberty to terror and the abandonment of the foundations of a free society.”

To provide some context to what Thompson said: “Bin Laden and people like him are heading up and we need to catch him and we surely need to deal with him, but if he disappeared tomorrow we still have this problem. If Iraq disappeared tomorrow, we’d still have this problem.”

Ok – so this is what has become of the American political debate. I’m getting tired of this. Thompson is, of course, completely right. They can take his words out of context as much as they like, and bloggers and the MSM might help Thompson’s rivals out as much as they wish, but truth of the matter is that when Bin Laden dies, he’ll be replaced by someone else. Besides, Al Qaeda today consists out of independently operating cells, with little to no contact with the motherorganization.

Bin Laden is much like a symbol. He should be punished, he should be held accountable, or taken out, yes, but getting Bin Laden will not make the problem, nor Al Qaeda, go away.