We got 'im! We go - er, wait.... part two

With the possibility of an October Surprise still being dangled teasingly (or menacingly, take your pick) before us, once more there comes the effort to lower expectations. From VOA News for Monday:

Pakistani officials Monday rejected optimistic statements by a top U.S. counter-terrorism official that progress is being made in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

Pakistan's information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed called comments by U.S. State Department official Cofer Black "political," and said his country has no new information on Bin Laden's whereabouts.

In an interview Saturday night on Pakistan's Geo Television, Mr. Black said the United States and its allies have moved closer to capturing the al-Qaida leader. He said it's just a matter of time, and added that he'd be surprised but not shocked, if told Bin Laden had been caught.

If al-Douri specializes in being actually not caught after all, bin Laden, it seems, specializes in being actually not almost caught after all.