Meanwhile, Over in Afghanistan...

Today in Afghanistan not only is there yet another report about a suicide bomber that killed over 40 people, but also there are reports of more civilians killed by the U.S. military in this war-torn country. That turns out to be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to problems that are faced in this neglected war in Afghanistan (remember the first war after September 11, 2001, the one that the rest of the world all understood, why we would want to go after the very men who planned and atacked the US on that fateful day). Despite what Fred Barnes says, most experts agree that the war in Afghanistan is every bit as important, if not more so, than the war in Iraq.
It is not just the resurgent Taliban that demonstrates the price we have paid for taking our eye off the ball in Afghanistan, but the poppy crop has exploded as the Taliban uses the revenue raised from growing poppies to keep their group alive and thriving. Along with a resurgent Taliban is the danger of Al-Qaeda working with other militant groups along the Pakistani/Afghan border to reconstitute terrorist cells that send suicide bombers to Kabul and shake up the already unsteady government of President Hamid Karzai, the government that is being propped up by the Bush/Cheney administration.

"While Pakistani militants with links to the Taliban have bolstered their strength in the border areas, the Taliban in Afghanistan have clashed with international troops in the worst summer fighting since the Taliban fell seven years ago. The Taliban have resurfaced strongly in the southern and eastern parts of the country." (NYTimes, July 7, 2008)

So thanks loads, Bush & Cheney (& Condi and Gates), for letting Osama Bin Laden get away, and diverting troops and resources from the real war against those who actually attacked us on 9/11, and leaving a huge mess in your wake. But hey, that's what you're good at, it's the only thing you've ever done during your tenure in office - make a huge mess. And in this mess, like so many of your other messes (Katrina, Iraq, the mortgage crisis, the energy debacle, etc...) people have been hurt and thousands of people have died. Thanks, thanks for nothing, George & Dick.

Major Insurgent Attacks in Afghanistan Since 2001 (NYTimes, July 7, 2008)