For all those folks who think the US has abandoned its hunt for al-Qa’eda members, too distracted by Iraq — or who claim that the war on Iraq is to distract from lack of progress in pursuing al-Qa’eda members:
U.S. officials have described Mohammed as a key al-Qaida lieutenant and the organizer of the terror mission that sent hijacked passenger jets crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing more than 3,000 people.
It was not known whether Mohammed had been taken to Afghanistan, a military base in Cuba where other suspected al-Qaida are held, a U.S. ship or flown to the United States or a third country.
CIA officers and Pakistani authorities carried out the operation that led to Mohammed’s capture, according to American officials, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
(via InstaPundit)
There’s the flip-side, that they knew where he was and were waiting to grab him when they needed a PR boost. Not that I’m saying that’s the case, but frequently, with these bozos in DC, you have to wonder.
Well, if you’re paranoid enough, sure, you could imagine that. You could also imagine that they’ve actually made up the whole capture, or framed someone, or that the CIA, NSA, and Mossad really were behind the WTC attack.
If you’re ready to dismiss this merely because it could have been a timed and engineered event (which presupposes that either whatever he’s been doing was inconsequential enough that there was no driving need to bring him in until now, or else that the Administration needs enough of a PR boost to interrupt whatever value there was of keeping him under surveillance), then it seems there’s no “trusting” anything we hear of happening.
Margie opines yet another option, similar to Scott’s, but with a twist: they’ve already had this guy under wraps for some time, but were waiting for an opportune moment to mention it, for PR or because they’ve gotten what they need from him.