Sound Like A Trick To Me

According to ABC News (cough, cough), the same folks who are going to present a fictional account of 9/11 that blames Bill Clinton for everything, our allies in Pakistan have no intention of hunting down 9/11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden.

The surprising announcement comes as Pakistani army officials announced they were pulling their troops out of the North Waziristan region as part of a "peace deal" with the Taliban.

If he is in Pakistan, bin Laden "would not be taken into custody," Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told ABC News in a telephone interview, "as long as one is being like a peaceful citizen."

Bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere in the tribal areas of Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, but U.S. officials say his precise location is unknown.

[...]

"What this means is that the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership have effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism director.

Considering that this announcement broke the same day that President Bush was telling the American people that he was working with America's allies "to deny terrorists the enclaves they seek to establish in ungoverned areas across the world," there must either be a mistake or Bush has a secret plan to lull Osama out into the open so he can be captured.

Sure...That's it. Bush is telling everyone that if Osama promises to behave, we won't try to capture him (wink, wink, nod, nod). What a brilliant strategy. Almost as fool proof as looking for Osama in Iraq back in 2003.