An Ass-Kicking That Came Out of Nowhere

I’ve long mocked the notion put forth by the American left that after 9/11 we fell into the jihadi trap by sending our military into Afghanistan where we drove surviving al Qaeda into Pakistan and overthrew their Taliban host government, creating a friendly government that helps us kill jihadis.

This is old but I guess I missed it:

“Then [9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed] looked at me and said, ‘How was I supposed to know that cowboy George Bush would announce he wanted us ‘dead or alive’ and then invade Afghanistan to hunt us down?’” Mitchell writes. “KSM explained that if the United States had treated 9/11 like a law enforcement matter, he would have had time to launch a second wave of attacks.” He was not able to do so because al-Qaeda was stunned “by the ferocity and swiftness of George W. Bush’s response.”

Yeah, nobody ever plans to get their ass kicked.

But for some Americans, no enemy debacle is too bad to prevent them from glorifying it as brilliant; and no American victory is too great to prevent a tale of defeat from being spun.

I really don’t know how I missed that the first time around.