Tomorrow marks the four-year anniversary of the day President Bush received a President’s Daily Brief (PDB) entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US.” There are many eerie similarities between now and August 6, 2001. Chief among them is that the threat of terrorism remains high, President Bush is at his ranch in Crawford, and Osama bin Laden is on the loose looking to inflict greater terrorist damage.

Bush candidly acknowledged that he was not thinking about a terrorist strike on the U.S. during the hot, pre-9/11 days at his Crawford ranch. He told Bob Woodward: “I was not on point I have no hesitancy about going after him. But I didn’t feel that sense of urgency, and my blood was not nearly as boiling.”

THEN: Bush Went on Longest Vacation In 32 Years

“By the time President Bush returns to Washington on Labor Day after the longest presidential vacation in 32 years, he will have spent all or part of 54 days since the inauguration at his parched but beloved ranch. That’s almost a quarter of his presidency.”

NOW: Bush Goes On Longest Vacation In 36 Years

“The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening to clear brush, visit with family and friends, and tend to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards, it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years.”

THEN: Bush In “Carefree” Mood

“President Bush was in an expansive mood on Aug. 7, 2001, when he ran into reporters while playing golf at the Ridgewood Country Club in Waco, Tex. The day before, the president had received an intelligence briefing — the contents of which were declassified by the White House Saturday night — warning ‘Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.’ But Bush seemed carefree as he spoke about the books he was reading, the work he was doing on his nearby ranch, his love of hot-weather jogging, his golf game and his 55th birthday.”

NOW: Bush In “Playful” Mood

“Bush was in a playful mood as the foursome climbed into the truck and rode off. When a reporter asked if Bush actually had a driver’s license, the president replied ‘Si,’ which is Spanish for ‘yes.’”

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All of the major papers carried a remarkable story this morning: the Bush administration is negotiating the transfer of almost 70% of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay to their countries of origin. As the Washington Post reported:

Senior U.S. officials said yesterday’s agreement is the first major step toward whittling down the Guantanamo population to a core group of people the United States expects to hold indefinitely. …

The United States considers all the remaining detainees to be medium- or high-risk and therefore not eligible for release once handed over, as has happened with about 70 detainees released earlier to about a dozen countries.

What’s notable about this story isn’t just the transfer itself — it’s that the transfer flies in the face of so much of what the administration has said about the Guantanamo detainees. Just a small sampling:

Rumsfeld: “They are among the most dangerous, best-trained vicious killers on the face of the earth. They are not POW’s.” [USA Today, 1/28/02]

Cheney: “These are the worst of a very bad lot. They are very dangerous. They are devoted to killing millions of Americans, innocent Americans, if they can.” [Slate]

Bush: “Make no mistake, however, that many of those folks being detained — in humane conditions, I might add — are dangerous people We want to learn as much as we can in this new kind of war about the intention and about the methods and about how these people operate. And they’re dangerous and they’re still around and they’ll kill in a moment’s notice.” [6/20/05]

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