The problems in Pakistan came into every living room across the world last week. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto was the lead story on every news channel. The event of her assassination ended any hope of democratic rule in the country. It also ended any real opposition to the terrorist safe haven that Pakistan has become.

The news media reminded us that the country is an unstable nuclear power. We were also reminded of the corruption of the government of Pervez Musharraf. The conclusion of the government's investigation of the Bhutto assassination is that the former Prime Minister was killed when she hit her head on the sunroof of her car. However, film of a gunman near Benazir Bhutto's car would subsequently expose this explanation as a government lie.

The Bush administration has used the battle with al-Qa'ida and the War on Terror for all its military interventions during the last eight years. The military action against the Taliban in Afghanistan was fought to eliminate a country-sponsored safe haven for terrorists. The war in Iraq was fought to eliminate terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction that never did exist. The unfortunate fact is that Pakistan is a nuclear power that is now the home of al-Qa'ida and, unlike Iraq, it is a country that already has nuclear weapons.

The reality for all of us is that the War on Terror ended for the United States and its military after the defeat of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The war in Iraq really had nothing to do with the War on Terror. To continue to successfully prosecute the real War on Terror would have required the pursuit of Osama bin Laden across the tribal frontier of Pakistan in 2002. It was a commitment that George Bush was willing to make two days after 9/11/2001 when he said: "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."

That Bush commitment to find bin Laden was still strong on 12/28/2001 when Bush said "...Secondly, he is not escaping us. This is a guy, who, three months ago, was in control of a county [sic]. Now he's maybe in control of a cave. He's on the run. Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we're going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that's what's happening. He's on the run, if he's running at all. So we don't know whether he's in cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open -- we just don't know...."

However, the administration's commitment to finding Osama bin Laden changed several months later on 3/13/2002 when Bush said: "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

In retrospect, the decision to end our direct involvement in the War on Terror happened in those first three months of 2002. The pursuit of bin Laden and al-Qa'ida would be left to Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf. The United States would give him ten billion United States dollars to fight the War on Terror in his western frontier. Musharraf subsequently would do very little to pursue terrorists. In effect, the administration's strategy in the War on Terror was to leave al-Qa'ida and its leadership in the tribal area of Pakistan. The plan was to pay an unpopular military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, (who has survived multiple assassination attempts) to eliminate al-Qa'ida from his western frontier and establish a democracy in a nuclear and unstable Pakistan.

The Bush administration's attention had turned to Iraq in early 2002. According to the intelligence community, Iraq had or would soon have weapons of mass destruction that could be given to terrorists. It had a government that sponsored terrorism. These were the reasons that were used by the United States as a basis to eventually invade Iraq. Of course, it was subsequently discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction and the Iraqi government was not working with al-Qa'ida.

Therefore, when the war in Afghanistan was over, so was the war waged on terror by the United States military. The decision to go to war in Iraq meant there would be no pursuit of al-Qa'ida into Pakistan by the United States. The War on Terror would become a United States proxy war fought by the government of Pakistan. The irony is that the administration's decision to invade Iraq in 2002 has allowed Pakistan to become the very country that the administration feared Iraq could become. It is a county with nuclear weapons that is now used as a safe haven by terrorists.

The ramifications of the decision by the Bush administration to end its prosecution of the War on Terror in early 2002 had become clear in 2007. Consider that in July 2007, the United States National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism stated: "Al-Qa’ida is and will remain the most serious terrorist threat to the Homeland, as its central leadership continues to plan high-impact plots, while pushing others in extremist Sunni communities to mimic its efforts and to supplement its capabilities. We assess the group has protected or regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability, including: a safe haven in the Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), operational lieutenants, and its top leadership. Although we have discovered only a handful of individuals in the United States with ties to al-Qa'ida senior leadership since 9/11, we judge that al-Qa’ida will intensify its efforts to put operatives here. As a result, we judge that the United States currently is in a heightened threat environment."

The United States left behind the command and control structure of the al-Qa'ida organization in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Osama bin Laden continues to release audio and video tapes. The terrorists now have camps in Pakistan to train suicide bombers. The country has become an unstable nuclear power with the United States supporting an unpopular military dictator. The truth is that Osama bin Laden is more popular in public opinion polls in the country than Pervez Musharraf.

The United States had al- Qa'ida on the run in early 2002 after removing the Taliban from Afghanistan. However, the military left the battlefield in Pakistan for the war in Iraq before terrorism was defeated there. Now our intelligence tells us that al Qa'ida has regrouped. Its senior leadership is still in charge and its a threat to our homeland from nuclear Pakistan. Terrorism now has a new sanctuary in Pakistan and is on the rise again in Afghanistan.

The death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto means that democracy in Pakistan has little chance to succeed. The future leadership and direction of the country is very uncertain. Nuclear Pakistan is increasingly dangerous and unstable and a terrorist safe haven. The strategy of the ten billion dollar U.S. proxy war against terrorism in Pakistan has obviously failed. The country has now become a security nightmare for the United States in early 2008. Indeed, the truth is that the front line of the War on Terror has always been in Pakistan. It was never in Iraq.

http://www.eworldvu.com