Traveling due west out of Islamabad, the crown jewel of the Moslem portion of the Upper Subcontinent (Rawalpindi being much more the cultured Mandalay to Karachi's squalid Rangoon), one takes the road to Peshawar, and then, if one were so inclined, on towards the legendary Khyber Pass, Afghanistan and Kabul (and all sorts of Kipling delights). But if you instead choose to go South from Peshawar, and then southwest from Kohat, you then enter what is ominously labeled (even on an atlas) the "Tribal Areas" which, since Alexander the Great (and then even questionably so), has never been conquered.
Just a few miles more and, without necessarily any identifying border features, you are then in the region known as Northern Waziristan, or to its immediate south, Southern Waziristan. Both regions' geography is characterized by a rugged severe uplift from the broad Indus river valley to the East, which drains virtually all of western Pakistan, rising to ever more rugged heights and terrain as one ventures west. [more after the break]
Politically, although nominally under the rubric of the Pakistani military junta, the region is virtually entirely autonomous. Periodically, the military makes foray into the region, but inevitably withdraws. The description of them as "tribal areas" is accurate.
The point of this brief geographical interlude is that Wazeristan is rumored to be one of the likely locations for Osama bin Laden, Aiman Zawahiri and Muhammed Omar, who have been identified as the leaders of an organization that committed the worst terrorist attack on U.S. in the annals of history in which 3000 innocent people were wantonly slaughtered. While we are focusing on Benedict Rove and the loss of credibility and exposure of prior lies concerning that sordid matter, can we perhaps pay a little attention to what may or may not (or should or should not) be going in Wazeristan.
Immediately after 9/11, President Bush was full of righteous talk, promising that Osama bin Laden was "Wanted: Dead or Alive," that the "folks who knocked these buildings down" would "hear from all of us soon," that we would "bring them to justice" or "have justice brought to them." The Afghan invasion followed and the Taliban was deposed and the al Qaeda leaders were driven to Tora Bora, escaped, and headed across the Hindu Kush into the most northern tip of Pakistan. Now, it is said that OBL and Zawahiri travel separately, moving from safe house to safe area, primarily in Wazeristan. Perhaps they are not there, but intrepid CIA director, the husband of Mrs. Goss, has said that "he knows where they are."
Why did we not catch them at Tora Bora? Was the job "outsourced"?? That is old debate...
Regardless of past actions, though, what are we doing NOW to "capture or kill" the perpetrators of the greatest mass murder in U.S. history?? Are we invading Wazeristan?? Are we pressuring Pakistan to do so?? They had an offensive about a year ago in the south - is that it?? What are the "metrics" for judging whether our strategy has, is or ever will be successful??
General Richard Myers did a newsmaker interview on the Lehrer show tonight; explaining, among other things, that we have about 18,000 troops in theater, that they are constantly reviewing troop commitment levels and strategy and that "we are accomplishing our mission." He will be retiring effective in October. Is he really going to retire without even coming close to catching bin Laden? Just how is he defining his "mission"?? What, right now, are we doing??
General Myers emphasized that our most recent efforts - the loss of the one Navy SEAL team acknowledged to be operating there + the 17 occupants of the Taliban-downed helicopter - should not deflect from the overall successful picture - that observers should "step back" and assess success based on the "big picture." What is the macro view?? What should it be??
Now, I'm no Juan Cole, and the military could well be undertaking operations as I write to prove me wrong (and I hope this is the case). But it has been almost FOUR YEARS since 9/11, more time than it took from Pearl Harbor to both V-E and V-J Days, and bin Laden et al. remain at large. What on earth have we been doing since then?? Why does the picture look so bleak?? Are we ever going to even TRY to catch bin Laden??
My principal problem with the Iraq invasion and occupation, over and above President Bush's demonstrable lies/exaggerations getting us into it, is that it has sucked up the entire Afghan effort, which once had unified backing. All we have is 18000 in country and most of them are in or around Kabul or Kandahar doing security and nation building (all legitimate but they're not in Wazeristan or wherever the husband of Mrs. Goss believes).
When are we going to try and catch bin Laden?