The Importance of Timing

Wondering why the Bush administration only "significantly increased its pressure on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, or the Taliban's Mullah Mohammed Omar" this spring, The New Republic interviewed Pakistani security officials. One member of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence said, "The Pakistani government ... wants to flush out bin Laden and his associates after the latest pressures from the U.S. administration to deliver before the U.S. elections." Another ISI official claimed that a White House aide told ISI's director, "It would be best if the arrest or killing of [High Value Targets] were announced on 26, 27 or 28 July" - during the Democratic National Convention.