MAX BOOT WRITES about Khalid Shaikh Mohammed:

He is only the latest senior al Qaeda cutthroat to be neutralized in the past year:

* Abu Zubaydah, a top recruiter and trainer, was picked up in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

* Ramzi Binalshibh, part of the Hamburg cell, was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan.

* Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, organizer of the Cole bombing, was incinerated in Yemen by a Predator drone.

And all this while preparations for an Iraq war have been heating up.

Apparently, as he notes, Uncle Sam can walk and chew gum at the same time. He also observes:

Remember: Al Qaeda flourished in the ’90s – precisely when America was doing its utmost to appease the Arab world by sponsoring the Oslo peace process and limiting its response to terrorism to pinprick strikes. This only convinced the Islamists that America was ripe for attack.

And when the United States finally took firm action, by invading Afghanistan, there was no rejoicing in the Arab street and no sign of increased recruiting for al Qaeda. The prospect of spending the rest of their lives in Guantanamo Bay may even dissuade some of the more faint-hearted Islamists from taking up arms.

Whatever its impact on enemy morale, the conquest of Afghanistan definitely denied the terrorists an important base of operations. The ouster of Saddam Hussein will achieve the same purpose.

Yes. And momentum matters.