"I say:

Dammit, we've got to do better than this. Have we been too trusting of our alleged allies in the region? What's with these negotiated surrenders? We don't negotiate with terrorists. And should we be playing ball with Pashtuns?"

The reality here is that he was *allowed* to escape. Think about it. If there was a real will to capture Omar he would have been captured dead or alive whilst penned in. If not by the Afghani side-switchers then by special forces.

Both OBL and Omar serve a purpose alive - because whilst they are alive or publicly believed to be alive, US is better able to justify continuing military operations to finish them off. Somalia is next followed by Iraq or Sudan (depending on replentishment of missile stocks).

If both OBL & Omar were dead - with corpses to prove it - US would begin to find a *lot* of opposition to continuing efforts to completely flatten Al-Qaeda org. This job needs to be done thoroughly & OBL & Omar on the run still pose a psychological threat & thus justifciation for scorched earth approach to Al-Qaeda.

Doug Marker

Today we of the 21st century live in the era of PAX AMERICANA - the last such great era was PAX ROMANA