So Osama bin Laden was living in a specially built villa in Pakistan. I wonder where he got the money to buy it? Cashed in his Saudi 401(k)? A Pakistani subprime mortgage, perhaps? No. I suspect we will find that it all came from the same place most of Al Qaeda’s funds come from: some combination of private Saudi donations spent under the watchful eye of the Pakistani Army.

Why should we care? Because this is the heart of the matter; that’s why. It was both just and strategically vital that we killed Bin Laden, who inspired 9/11. I just wish it were as easy to eliminate the two bad bargains that really made that attack possible, funded it and provided the key plotters and foot soldiers who carried it out. We are talking about the ruling bargains in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which are alive and well.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A. • Asia • Pakistan • Middle East • Saudi Arabia

1. Stefano wrote: I’m tempted to agree with some of this clowns conclusions, so I welcome anyone who can point out the category confusions, over-generalizations, non-sequiturs or other flaws in this opinion piece. May 11, 10:15 pm | [comment link]

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