With friends like these…

"We're now approaching the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — and the families of those murdered that day have waited patiently for justice. Some of the families are with us today — they should have to wait no longer." So said George W. Bush at lunchtime today. Of course, the man most responsible for ...

"We're now approaching the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks -- and the families of those murdered that day have waited patiently for justice. Some of the families are with us today -- they should have to wait no longer." So said George W. Bush at lunchtime today.

"We're now approaching the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — and the families of those murdered that day have waited patiently for justice. Some of the families are with us today — they should have to wait no longer." So said George W. Bush at lunchtime today.

Of course, the man most responsible for 9/11 won't be tried since he's not been caught yet –  and won't be anytime soon if Pakistani Major-General Shaukat Sultan's comments are anything to go by. He told ABC News yesterday that as long as Osama bin Laden "is staying like a peaceful citizen, one would not be taken into custody." The Pakistanis are now playing major damage control. But when you add this to the recent deal where Pakistani troops withdrew from sections of the border with Afghanistan, you begin to think that Musharraf may have outlived his usefulness.

As for bin Laden, he might not be in Pakistan after all. Lawrence Wright, author of the Looming Tower, speculated on the indispensable Chris Matthews show that he's actually in Yemen. But, then again, his argument turned on the fact that if you can't find something after five years of looking, it's probably not there. Sultan's comments suggest the Pakistanis might not have been looking too hard.

James Forsyth is assistant editor at Foreign Policy.

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