In October 2001, the United States began that war in Afghanistan. We drove the Taliban from power. Militants (including al-Qaeda) fled across the border into mountainous, tribal regions of Pakistan.

That's where the enemy remains.

We never chased down Osama bin Laden. In the rubble of the World Trade Center, the president vowed that the terrorists would "hear all of us soon," but the job remains unfinished.

Now, leaked documents tell why. It's a tale of confusion and paralysis. A 2002 Special Operations plan has been stalled for six years by front-office wrangles in the White House, Pentagon and CIA. Of course, the Iraq war shifted the focus of the original mission.

Late last year, the Bush administration redrafted a plan to go after al-Qaeda in Pakistan, but it remains mired in bureaucratic infighting in Washington. The plan would make it easier for Special Operations forces to cross the border into Pakistan and seek and capture al-Qaeda and other militants.

It's what should have happened in the first place. So what went wrong?

The standard answer is that Pakistan, a sovereign nation, refused to allow the United States to carry out operations in its country. While we don't want to alienate a Muslim country that possesses nukes, as the leaked documents show, that's not the full answer.

The main problem rests in Washington. There have been ongoing squabbles between the Defense Department and CIA, and within the larger intelligence community. Some favored troops and some favored automated warfare.

Then the Iraq quagmire siphoned off resources, and raised fears among Pakistani officials that a U.S. raid would lead to an occupation.

In the meantime, the U.S. gave Pakistan $10 billion supposedly to help fight terrorists and got little in return. President Pervez Musharraf is even weaker now, and Pakistan's chaotic politics hold hostage any chance of pursuing al-Qaeda.

As a result, the war on terror against the purported masterminds of the Sept. 11 attacks remains on hold.

More rests on this plan than just a footnote in history. Direct U.S. action against al-Qaeda was the one thing that might have rescued at least part of the Bush legacy.

To be sure, the Special Operations plan would be a hard, hazardous task, in unwelcoming country, with some tribes (even some members of the Pakistani army) sympathetic to the enemy. The quarry is vicious, committed and mobile. Success isn't guaranteed.

But the plan remains stalled - and that guarantees long-lasting failure, a war half fought, making this country's chain of decisions since 9/11 look even worse.