Af-gone-istan: All Is Not Well

The assassination attempt on Afghan President Karzai in Kabul should remind everyone just how tenuous the situation is in Afghanistan, and for that matter in neighboring Pakistan. It comes only a few months after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan by extremists.

In the nearly seven years after 9/11, the Taliban and al Qaeda have mobilized and reestablished themselves in Afghanistan and nuclear Pakistan. The bulk of our forces remain trapped in Iraq, acting as armed referees for their sectarian conflicts. The ragtag group known as "al Qaeda in Iraq" was always a minor presence, and can now be seen as al Qaeda's diversion to draw our attention and resources away from Afghanistan/Pakistan. It worked. Our occupation of Iraq became al Qaeda's recruiting poster in the Muslim world, and Dumbya happily peddled the lie that Iraq was the war on terror's "central front," as the group that attacked us on 9/11 gathered strength on the true central front: Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Talibanistan

One of the direct consequences of the Decider's decision to go after Saddam Hussein ("He tried to kill my daddy") was to decrease pressure on the core of al Qaeda - - you remember, the ones that actually attacked us - - in Afghanistan and the northwest frontier of Pakistan. Reports are now indicating that the Taliban has a permanent presence in over 50% of Afghanistan, with the frontlines approaching Kabul, despite NATO efforts to root them out. The expressed aim of the Taliban is to retake Kabul in 2008. So as the Bushies are pointing to the surge in Iraq as evidence of the Preznit's profound wisdom, we should also ask them to point to the deteriorating state of Afghanistan and ask why al Qaeda and their Taliban allies are growing in strength.

UPDATE: Apparently the National Security Council has taken note of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. Wide ranging strategic goals for 2007 have not been met, and there is deep concern about the political situation in neighboring, nuclear-armed Pakistan.