Well, isn't this wonderful:
A secret military operation in early 2005 to capture senior members of Al Qaeda in Pakistan?s tribal areas was aborted at the last minute after top Bush administration officials decided it was too risky and could jeopardize relations with Pakistan, according to intelligence and military officials.The target was a meeting of Qaeda leaders that intelligence officials thought included Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden?s top deputy and the man believed to run the terrorist group?s operations.
True, we need to be concerned about the stability of Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state that is vulnerable to takeover by extremists. However, does that justify not going after the people responsible for 9/11? How far will we go to defend Pakistani President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf? Apparently, very far. Unfortunately, that decision has consequences:
"The reluctance to take risk or jeopardize our political relationship with Musharraf may well account for the fact that five and half years after 9/11 we are still trying to run bin Laden and Zawahri to ground," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University.
Yes, I understand the need to keep Pakistan from a Taliban takeovr, but I also want bin Laden and Zawahri captured or killed. And, frankly, I'm not convinced that propping up Gen. Musharaff is going to work much longer anyway; that guy's in big trouble, as the latest news attests. Perhaps we should just go after the people with the blood of thousands of Americans on their hands, do what we can to keep Pakistan stable, and let the chips fall where they may? Seems like a better idea than letting top Al Qaeda leaders live, as the Bush Administration apparently did.