but Bush’s invasion of Iraq allowed bin Laden to recruit new terrorist cadre over resentments about the Iraq War. By bogging down U.S. military and intelligence assets far from bin Laden’s Pakistani hideouts, the Iraq War helped bin Laden in another way. His life-style improved. His growing sense of security led him to leave the rough tribal areas and begin to settle down in more civilized environs of Pakistan. Returning this favor, bin Laden gave Bush a big assist in the tense final days of Campaign 2004. With no WMD found in Iraq and the war going badly, Bush was struggling and Democrat John Kerry was within reach of victory. It was then that bin Laden ended nearly a year of silence by taking the risky step ofdetails, see Neck Deep.] In the 1980s, the fortunes of the Bush and bin Laden families crossed paths again. George H.W. Bush – as vice president and president – supported a CIA program to aid Islamic mujahedeen in their anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan. It was during that conflict against the Soviet army that Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and established himself as a legendary Islamic fighter. In early 1989, President George H.W. Bush spurned Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s proposal for a political settlement in Afghanistan and chose to continue the CIA war, even after the Soviets withdrew. That decision contributed to the rise of the Taliban in the mid-1990s and the formation of al-Qaeda out of veterans of the anti-Soviet jihad. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Why Afghanistan Really Fell