While this writer might like to pretend al Qaeda is dead and gone ("Osama bin Laden and his crew have long since vanished into obscurity") he is gravely mistaken. Which he seems to acknowledge in the very next sentence as he warns that the U.S. could destabilize Pakistan, and radical Islamists could take control of the country...huh? In the sentence just prior the writer stated* "*Osama bin Laden and his crew had vanished", that being the case how would radical Islamists ("Bin Ladens crew") take over Pakistan?
The writer does in fact know that 'Osama bin Laden and his crew' have not simply vanished but he is wrong when he says that it is the U.S. who will destabilize the government of Pakistan, it is in fact bin Laden and 'his crew', the radical Islamists who want to destabilize the nation. The writer should take note of the intentional bombings and the killings that radical Islamists have perpetrated upon the people of Pakistan before he lays blame on the U.S.
The writer is concerned about military engagement in Afghanistan and it's cost, how quickly he forgets the cost at doing nothing and letting radicals run a mok.