Using Al Qaeda’s state-of-the-art “Blue Collar Suburban Neighbor” disguise, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed hid in plain sight for months up until his capture yesterday. He was easily the most glamorous of Al Qaeda’s senior leadership, prompting one U.S. intelligence official to remark, “Yikes.”


[Photo: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed - Al Qaeda’s millionaire playboy
with “a taste for the high life.” Presumably Miller High Life.]

And now comes the tough part - the interrogation. Fanatical Apathy has obtained a list of The U.S.’s Questions:

- What were you doing so far from Iraq?
- Where’s Osama bin Laden? In Iraq?
- Seriously, you’re just trying to distract us from your secret hideout in Iraq, right?
- Say, didn’t I see you at the Baghdad Flower Festival last June?
- No, I’m sure it was you. Why deny it?
- That’s a nice undershirt. Did you get it at Baghdad Bernie’s? That’s where I get all my undershirts…
- Would you like this tasty sandwich? Just say the magic word.
- No, the magic word isn’t “Please.” It’s “My organization has deep and significant ties to Iraq and Saddam Hussein.” Can you say that?
- Yes, we realize that’s more than one word. This really is a tasty, tasty sandwich, though…

Etc. There’s no doubt that this is a huge success in the War on Terror. There’s also little doubt that the fact that Mohammed got to enjoy several months of hiding in plain sight in an ally’s back yard not far from Afghanistan might indicate that the U.S.’ intelligence organizations have put too much focus elsewhere. Perhaps some of the experts who’ve been putting together visual aid vials and line drawings of Evil Trucks for Colin Powell to dangle menacingly in front of the Bulgarian ambassador could have spent their time more profitably ringing a few doorbells in Islamabad.

That sounds ungrateful, I suppose, and I’m actually thrilled by the news. But we shouldn’t forget that Mohammed wasn’t captured by the U.S. alone. We relied heavily on the help and resources of something called an “ally.” And this particular ally’s on pretty shaky ground - the enormous anti-American, pro-al Qaeda faction there could easily be goaded into open rebellion by something as small as, oh, say, a US-led forcible regime change in a nearby Islamic nation.