Cheney takes refuge in bomb shelter after Afghan blast 

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney was whisked into a bomb shelter immediately after a Taliban suicide bomber struck the main American military base he was visiting in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Up to 14 people were killed, including one U.S. and one South Korean soldier, in the Bagram air base attack which rebels said was aimed at Cheney.

He had been in his room at the base where he had unexpectedly had to stay the night after bad weather forced postponement of his trip to the capital, Kabul, about 60 km (40 miles) away. ...

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The Assassination Attempt Misses 
Ed Morrissey

Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan after a stop in Pakistan to tell Pervez Musharraf that the US needs him to fight the al-Qaeda and Taliban forces organizing in Pakistani territory. As if to underscore that message, a suicide bomber attacked Bagram while Cheney visited, killing 10 people outside the base but leaving Cheney unharmed:

[...]

The Taliban could not have done more to prove the US case to Pervez Musharraf. Cheney's presence during the attack will put even more pressure on the beleaguered Pakistani leader.

The Bush administration sent Cheney along with high-level intelligence officers in order to conduct a presentation of the evidence we have collected of terrorist activity in Waziristan. Reportedly, we identified locations and support networks for al-Qaeda and the Taliban forces that will conduct their spring offensive in the coming weeks. Identification of these sites makes it very difficult for Musharraf to shrug off our warning, as does the high level of the visit. It's the final warning to get something done, or suffer us getting it done for him.

In fact, that point may already have been crossed. With the Taliban taking responsibility for the attack and with Cheney as its target, the US may determine that those camps present a clear and present danger to the US. That would allow President Bush to launch an attack on the camps even though they are in Pakistani territory. That move would be constitutional and necessarily limited, and since it targets al-Qaeda, would likely generate little dissent from Congress. I'd expect some members of the new Congressional leadership to ask why we hadn't attacked them before this assassination attempt. ...

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Taliban tries to kill Cheney? 
Alllahpundit

Captain Ed thinks this gives Bush the political capital he needs to launch an attack on the new terror camps springing up in the Pakistani border region. Hopefully so, although Americans are sufficiently war weary that I suspect at this point they wouldn’t want Bush expanding the theater for any reason short of another AQ bombing on American soil. Besides, how much good would it do? Even if we take the camps out, they’ll just restart them somewhere else with plenty of new recruits energized by the violation of Pakistani sovereignty. The only lasting solution is for the Pakistani army to take control of the region, and Musharraf probably couldn’t do that even if he wanted to.

Now then. Did the Taliban really know Cheney was at Bagram? Two different spokesmen from the group claim they did, but there’s no way to tell if it was just lucky timing and they’re taking credit opportunistically. Per Debka, there is reason to believe the Taliban has tipsters inside Bagram; likewise, MSNBC recalls that a jihadi bomber attacked in the Uruzgan province during a “secret” visit by the U.S. ambassador last year. But if AQ has people on the inside, and if, as one expert on the Taliban claims, the attack must have taken days to plan, how do you explain this tidbit from the MSNBC story? ...

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Assassination chic, Cheney edition
Michelle Malkin

The Vice President of the United States was reportedly targeted by Taliban jihadists in Afghanistan. Jonathan Karl of ABC News reported from the scene:

A suicide bomber struck at the main entrance to Bagram air base in Afghanistan today, as Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting.

Immediately after the attack, a red alert traveled throughout the base — a red alert that we heard saying that the base was under direct attack. ...

Whatever your partisan leanings, an attack planned on the Vice President of the United States is an attack on America.

Some of our fellow Americans, however, can't put their sneering hatred of the White House aside.

The Huffington Post headlines the story this way--with sneer quotes: ...

AJ Strata finds more left-wing patriotism and compassion at the Daily Kos: ...

More from the Democratic Underground. And more.

Which side are they on? Don't ask. ...

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Self-Loathing Libs
Jules Crittenden

Huffpo hatefest expunged, after up to 400 commenters spew vile about Taliban bomb outside Cheney’s gate at Bagram.  Comments like this one:   

“Cheney’s spokeswoman said he was fine … Fuck.”

Eventually, the Huffpo crowd couldn’t take the heat they were generating, or developed a conscience or something, and pulled the plug. Follow the link above Malkin’s pdf of the whole sordid comment stream.

Meanwhile, Bagram-based Major John, who shows up here in comments sometimes, says this at Protein Wisdom that puts some context on the bombing that some people want to see as evidence of the wheels coming off the Bushistan:

OK, time for me to chime in…I was the XO of Bagram AF from March ‘05- August ‘05.  Then I got my dream job as S-5 of the TF that had 100 square km around BAF.  I only mention this so you know where I am coming from here....

This had nothing to do with the fact that the VP was there.  I am sure somebody knew someone special was there—when “special” aircraft or anything unusal landed at BAF, we always joked—“here come the rockets tomorrow”.  And, usually, they did.  It takes a bit of time to set something like that up—24-48 hours.  Usually it was some HIG asshole or a local militia guy who was paid by the HIG to pop a few 107mm rockets at us.

If someone was going to try to get at the VP they would have had to go at least a mile to a mile and a half inside.  I happen to know what the layout of the base is—and nothing short of a tank company could do it.

This was a feeble gesture that sure ain’t going to win any affection for the remnants of the Taliban. Blow up Pakistani and Afghan truckdrivers?  Kids?!  Oh mighty warriors, indeed.  Nothing says invincibility and the favor of the Hand of God like blowing up truck drivers and kids.

I am so f$#&ing angry right now I can hardly type.