Is someone out to get Dick?

It says much about the administration's current status that the radio rightists won't be able to get much mileage out of the recent revelation, or claim, that Osama Bin Laden planned the suicide attack on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan while Dick Cheney was staying there.

As Josh Marshall notes, Dems can counter that we wouldn't have a continuing Osama problem if Bush hadn't let the guy go at Tora Bora.

President Bush decided to let bin Laden get away so he could get ready to attack Saddam Hussein. So pretty much anything bin Laden does from here on out is on President Bush. And how about Iraq? President Bush has screwed things up so badly that he's created a whole new generation of recruits for bin Laden. He's created a whole new army for bin Laden. Not by being tough but by being stupid.

Marshall gives only part of the story. Not only did Bin Laden escape, so did dozens of his men -- in flights that were obviously "protected" by the Americans. See the film 9/11: Press for Truth.

There remains the question of just how Osama (or whoever) knew that Cheney was staying at Bagram Air Base, when few Americans had that knowledge.

The whole trip (late last February) was quite mysterious. Allegedly the journey was for PR purposes, but the massive protests greeting Cheney in Australia did not exactly do much to engender goodwill toward America. There were rumors about a possible jet "malfunction" while he was taking off from Sydney, and a "generator problem" later caused an unscheduled landing in Singapore. Odd coincidence, that. At the time, all other jets available to the Veep were being repaired; that plane was the only one available to him.

So who told the Taliban that Cheney was staying at Bagram? The photo reproduced here was taken in October of 2006, and it may provide a subtle clue regarding the feelings of some of the personnel stationed there.

Alternative thought: Since I am in a mood, these days, to speculate about infighting within the administration, it occurs to me that someone close to Bush might have liked the idea of Cheney falling to an Al Qaeda attack. Such an incident would have elevated approval ratings for both Bush and his war, while ridding him of an unpopular Veep.

Remember how, not long after the attack, we saw the Dickster standing in the bushes, glowering sheer vituperation at his President? Watch the video, if you haven't seen it already. That glare could ignite barbecue coals.

I am, of course, engaging in irresponsible surmise. Really, my wrists deserve a good slapping.