“When [President-elect George] Bush visited the White House on December 16, 2000, for the first time, [President Bill] Clinton had briefed him on ‘the biggest security problems’ he would face. Of the six major threats Clinton listed, three involved al Qaeda and Pakistan. These were al Qaeda itself, nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan and nonproliferation, and ‘the ties of the Pakistanis to the Taliban and al Qaeda.’ ”
– Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos, Page 56