And By "renewed sense of urgency" They Mean, "before the election"
Regular MLWL will note the for some time we've been talking about another "October Surprise" in the form of a politically opportune bin Ladin capture. The news of new urgency in the hunt for bin Ladin comes on the heels of Pentagon announcements of a large, spring offensive in Afghanistan and continued Pakistani denials of any US military presence on their side of the boarder. Now if you will, please indulge MCNS in some conspiracy minded musings: Post 9-11 amnesia has erased all memory of Pakistani support for the Taliban from political discourse in the US, but not in Pakistan. Islamic fundamentalists made huge inroads during the last parliamentary elections and there have been several recent attempts on President Musharraf's life. Musharraf himself walks a very thin line, supporting the US "War On Terror" while ruling (Notice I didn't say "governing". Also forgotten is the fact that Musharraf came to power as the result of a military coup) a nuclear armed, Islamic country. Bin Ladin's capture at the hands of the US military, especially if it was in Pakistan, could dangerously inflame tensions among fundamentalists, possibly leading to Musharraf's ousting. Even scarier than bin Ladin on the loose is a Taliban-like state with the bomb, just ask India. So, could it be that the spring offensive has a two-fold purpose? It's direct mission being the capture of bin Ladin with a secondary effect of massing US troops along the Pakistani boarder in case the former sets off political turmoil in Pakistan. I wouldn't be surprised at all if somebody like Delta Force was being prepped to identify and secure Pakistan's nuclear capabilities. Anybody with me on this?

-MC No Shame