ISLAMABAD -- The elimination of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- by either killing or capturing him -- would indeed boost the morale of U.S. President George W. Bush as he prepares for the presidential election in November.
Bush's credentials -- thrown into question because of foreign-policy setbacks, most notably the controversy surrounding the invasion of Iraq -- would probably be strengthened if he proclaimed an end to the pursuit of bin Laden, the world's most hunted man.
Yet, despite the case against bin Laden, an end to the pursuit would not necessarily close the rift between the United States-led West and parts of the Islamic world. Closing the case against the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York is an important cause for the U.S., but the blemished U.S. record in overseeing the Palestinian cause still tends to rally more angry young men eager and willing to take up arms.