"You don't think he's planning on leaving that job for Obama or Hillary to complete, do you?"
As it happens, thats exactly what I think. But I would love to be proved wrong.
And on going after him in Pakistan - You are (all of you) certainly correct that it would cause big problems with the Pakis. It would have been FAR easier to justify if it were done in actual hot pursuit right after Tora Bora when he got away. So there is a case to be made that the mistake of not following him isnt one that can be fixed at this late date. But there is a BIG difference between Pakistan and France. I dont have the slightest doubt that France would immediately arrest him. The Pakistanis have decided to stop trying to get him. See here:
http://threatswatch.org/inbrief/2006...dsoff-agreeme/
I have to say, these guys are not very good allies. In fact, they are behaving not much better than the Taliban if these reports (and there are more of them) are true. See here too
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0906/dailyUpdate.html
or here
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Conten...3/457rzpvh.asp
or here (where a co-chair of the 9/11 commission agrees with me)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/...tan/index.html