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Stock response

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice noted in an interview that there are several Osamas listed in the Kabul telephone directory. “If Mr. Bin Laden wished us to take his message seriously, he should have had the common courtesy to sign with his last name. Although the president is a friendly and outgoing person, it would not serve America's interests for him to appear to be on a first-name basis with a terrorist by responding or reacting to Mr. Bin Laden’s letter.”

The White House later clarified that President Bush had, in fact, responded to Bin Laden’s letter, but an official insisted that it was the stock response sent to all letters threatening to hijack airplanes and that there was no special policy applying to letters that also threatened to fly the planes into large buildings. “In fact,” the official said, “It’s the stock response we use for all letters from wealthy individuals.” The response said:

Dear Osama:

Thank you for your generous contribution to the Republican National Committee. With the help of Republicans in Congress, I look forward to signing the legislation you request exactly as you have written it.

Best wishes,

George W. Bush

Vice President Dick Cheney, appearing on 18 TV talk shows yesterday, called Bin Laden’s letter “a cowardly attempt to sow confusion among the forces of civilization and freedom. If the guy had any guts, he would have told us exactly where and when he planned to attack, rather than hiding behind two alternative dates and a variety of possible locations.”