I think Bin Laden may have met with Hussein once, but I'm not sure, what I am thinking of was in Lawrence Wright's 'The Looming Tower.' They did not find each other of any use, whether or not they spent time together in Baghdad.

I don't 'seem to assume that any reasonable effort would have...' How could I even get to that point of what a reasonable effort would turn up, given that there hasn't been one? It definitely seemed easy enough to the Bushies to go do the Iraq number and concentrate enormous effort, manpower and billions into it. The fact is, right after 9/11, Bin Laden's capture was a priority, and after that, it wasn't. Bush even said as much. However, any discussion of the U.S.'s standing in the world is not even in question if Bush is not himself, along with his cronyist government expected to take responsibility for it. But that's enough, I guess. Just that Obama is smart about this, Bush is not and never cared to be, had 'gut feeling', that thing you definitely don't get from over-education by the way, or you learn not to rely on it too profoundly; and over-education is not something I'd accuse Bush of having acquired.