President George W. Bush has reportedly declined an offer made by his successor to join him in visiting Ground Zero on Thursday to commemorate the death of Osama Bin Laden with family members of those who were slain there on 9/11. NBC reports that while Bush plans on traveling to Ground Zero for the 10th anniversary of the attacks in September, the former president will not attend Thursday and his camp offered no comment as to why.
Save a few brief lapses, Bush has refrained form leveling any criticism at Obama, and has largely stayed out of the political eye, unlike former Vice President Dick Cheney, who seemed to relish his position as a cranky obstructionist before taking ill.
We mostly agree with Forbes' Rick Unger, who toasts the back-and-forth as Obama's acknowledgment that "it took the combined efforts of both administrations" to catch Bin Laden, while Bush's polite refusal allows "Obama his moment to celebrate a great success." Somehow we think that the author of the above scorecard could care less about such Beltway diplomacy.
For the record, Bush did issue statement on Sunday, "Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission... The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done." And since former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice called Bush's bullhorn speech at Ground Zero on September 14, 2001 "the most important moment maybe in American history" here it is:
