Strategery

I am still amazed that some die hard opponents of the Long War can say that attacking al Qaeda in Afghanistan was somehow falling for his deep plan to sucker us into destroying the Taliban regime, replacing it with a friendly government that helps us kill jihadi, and left al Qaeda scattered with bin Laden himself hiding somewhere in Pakistan's tribal regions constantly listening for the whine of a drone that might drop a Hellfire on his sorry butt:

U.S. officials continue to believe that bin Laden is somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistani border, and was more likely to be on the Pakistani side.

"If we knew exactly where bin Laden was, we'd go get him," Crumpton said. "But we're very confident he's along the Pakistan-Afghan border somewhere," he said.

He added that there was a "higher probability" that the al-Qaida leader was hiding on the Pakistan side.

But the politics of Pakistan prevent the Pakistani government from going all-out to find bin Laden. They've killed or nabbed a bunch, but the head whackjob is still on the run. And, as the next article notes, Pakistan has lost 600 troops in the last three years hunting al Qaeda and Taliban thugs.

So what does the brillian mastermind of our enemy do? Why he threatens the Pakistani government, that's what:

Saturday's leaflet sought the support of tribal people to defeat the United States and Pakistani troops battling pro-Taliban insurgents in the tribal regions.

"I pray to Allah almighty to bring down his wrath on Bush, Pervez and their armies and bestow a chance for someone from the ranks of faithful to kill this slave (Musharraf) of Bush," the purported Bin Laden statement said on Saturday.

Written in Urdu, it bears the signature "Mujahiden Emirate-e-Islamia Afghanistan" and was distributed in the towns of Mir Ali and Miranshah, residents said.

Musharraf, who became a key US ally after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, survived two attacks on his life in December 2003. Both were blamed on Al-Qaeda.

The new leaflet on Sunday, issued by a group calling itself Mujahiden Waziristan's Free Tribes, said jihad or holy war had become an obligation for all Muslims.

"It is an obligation on you to support tribal Muslim brothers with money and life," the leaflet said.

Saved only because the Pakistani government must balance hunting jihadis against agitating their own Islamist sympathizers, bin Laden has threatened Musharraf and just shifted the cost-benefit analysis strongly in favor of going after bin Laden more energetically.

What a great strategist that bin Laden is!