In testimony before the 9/11 Commission on April 8, 2004, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said: ” ‘America’s al Qaeda policy wasn’t working because our Afghanistan policy wasn’t working. And our Afghanistan policy wasn’t working because our Pakistan policy wasn’t working. We recognized that America’s counter-terrorism policy had to be connected to our regional strategies and to our overall foreign policy. …Al Qaeda was both a client of and a patron to the Taliban, which in turn was supported by Pakistan. Those relationships provided al Qaeda with a powerful umbrella of protection, and we had to sever that.’ ”
– Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos, Page 58