Why Bush Is Talking About Bin Laden Again

By Mike Allen

With the insurgency in Iraq growing and the death toll for the U.S. military nearing 2,000, the White House has been struggling to frame the war in a way that will evince patience. At summer's end, President Bush gave a trio of speeches equating the war on terrorism to World War II--given that both pitted freedom against "a murderous ideology." He compared Iraq last week to yet another conflict that enjoyed bipartisan support. "Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure," he declared. A White House official involved in preparing the 40-min. speech said it was designed to describe the enemy more precisely than in the past: "The attacks may be senseless, but they all fit together."

In sweeping language that critics called hyperbole, Bush defined terrorism as being much broader than al-Qaeda and warned that militants have vowed to establish "a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia." Bush, who rarely mentions Osama bin Laden, invoked the name five times in this kill-or-be-killed speech, which he had planned to give on Sept. 12 but postponed because of Katrina. To the dismay of aides--some White House wordsmiths, including Michael Gerson, had been working on the remarks since July--the news coverage dwelled on two sentences about 10 plots Bush said the U.S. and its partners had foiled. "I wouldn't have even had that mentioned in the speech if I had known that it would detract from the bigger picture," one aide said. It was a reminder to the President's men that when it comes to Iraq, the spotlight does not always shine where they aim it. --By Mike Allen