The Just War
Finally a little bit of good news on the international scene yesterday with the reported capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the number-three man in Al-Qaeda and the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Make no mistake – this guy is a Grade-A villain: if not Dr. Evil himself, then certainly one of the folks around the long table. Hopefully his arrest is the beginning of a long, humiliating interrogation and imprisonment. He has plenty to answer for. The capture also deals a tangible blow to the forces of Islamist extremism and may impede the efforts of the terrorist networks to target more innocent lives in the US and the world.
Some have suggested that the timing of this arrest is suspicious, in that it demonstrates something the Administration has been claiming all along: that the effort against Iraq can occur concurrently with the war against Al-Qaeda, just at a moment when that proposition is most in need of proving. That is, Bush and his minions know exactly where the Al-Qaeda leaders are hiding and can produce one, or squeeze Pakistan to produce one, at any convenient moment to serve their political ends.
As little as I trust Bush, I can’t credit that particular conspiracy theory for several reasons. First, the arrest was made by Pakistani intelligence, an organization that is under only nominal control of the Pakistani government, much less the US government. These are the people who created, armed and supported the Taliban up until 8:48am New York time, September 11th, 2001. Doubtless they know exactly where Al-Qaeda members are hiding inside Pakistan and, for their own reasons, are keeping it to themselves. Khaild Mohammed probably missed a payment of protection money to someone in the ISI, who then dropped a dime on him as part of a private act of vengeance. I would be very surprised if “police work” had anything to do with this arrest, or if the timing were under anyone’s control.
Second, as a related point, the Pakistani government can have little enthusiasm for the idea of an American attack on Iraq. As soon as US troops set foot in a Moslem country, Pakistani President Musharraf will face a nightmare trying to keep his own extremists in line. It’s hard to imagine he or anyone in his government would do anything as a favor to Bush right now that could be construed as helpful to his propaganda efforts to kick off the war.
Finally, even the propaganda value here is dubious. Yes, it may suggest that the focus on Iraq is not hindering the ongoing search for Al-Qaeda, but it also reminds people that Bin Laden, Mullah Omar, and Osama’s chief henchman Ayman al-Zawahiri are still at large. Even if the Administration’s line is largely true – that is, that the $25 million reward played a part in the arrest – it leads a lot of people (including me) to ask why we’re preparing to spend $100 Billion on a war with Iraq if we can possibly capture the real 9/11 culprits for a fraction of that?
3:54:33 PM 
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