Our good pals the Pakistanis go wobbly -- or maybe it's all part of a brilliant strategy (see below):

Pakistan Throws in the Towel

The Pakistani military will no longer operate in the area where Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda operatives are believed to be hiding, according to terms of what the Pakistan government calls a "peace deal," signed today with militant tribal groups allied to the Taliban and al Qaeda....

Under the agreement, the Pakistan military will stop monitoring the activity of the militants, who will pledge to "live like good citizens," General Sultan said....

Bin Laden Gets a Pass from Pakistan

Osama bin Laden, America's most wanted man, will not face capture in Pakistan if he agrees to lead a "peaceful life," Pakistani officials tell ABC News....

If he is in Pakistan, bin Laden "would not be taken into custody," Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told ABC News in a telephone interview, "as long as one is being like a peaceful citizen." ...

But the righty blog Hot Air suggests that this might be an attempt to clear the way for U.S. forces, citing an Asia Times article from over the weekend:

The Americans are pointing directly at the two Waziristans as the primary conduit for the suicide bombers who are currently playing havoc with the US-NATO-led war machine in Afghanistan, and a safe haven for enemy combatants. The US now has come up with a plan to confront the strategic arm of the Taliban based on the Pakistani side of the border.

Is it possible? Would the Bush administration really pursue the people who actually brought us 9/11?

Well, maybe the Bushies really do have a learning curve. Or maybe the possibility of a fate worse than death -- i.e., electoral defeat -- is what it takes to get them to focus wholeheartedly on that task, finally, after five years.

Or maybe the ATimes report is wrong, and this is just the further erosion of the rotten edifice that is the Bush war on terror.

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Meanwhile, I love this reaction to news of the Pakistan peace deal from the right-wing blog Strata-Sphere:

It could mean Pakistan is giving up the hunt and we are losing an ally thanks to all the surrender talk from the left.

Yeah, right -- that's why Musharraf does the things he does: Because he's afraid of Michael Moore. Idiot.