Monday, September 25, 2006

Musharraf the Bounty Hunter

Somehow, the revelation by Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf that his country has received millions of dollars in bounties from the CIA for capturing "Al Qaeda" operatives comes as no surprise. The assertion is contained in his new memoir, "In the Line of Fire."

"We've captured 689 and handed over 369 to the United States. We've earned bounties totaling millions of dollars," wrote Musharraf, who elsewhere in his book titled "In the Line of Fire" described how the U.S. administration persuaded him with threats to join a global 'war on terrorism'.

"Those who habitually accuse us of "not doing enough" in the war on terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid to the government of Pakistan," Musharraf added, while ruing a failure to catch Osama bin Laden, who carries a $25 million reward.

Maybe someone outbid us for Osama. One wonders how much Pakistan might charge for inventing terror plots out of thin air. Its case against the "mastermind" of the alleged liquid explosives plot has already evaporated into nothing.

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