Six Wasted Years

Less than six years after al Qaeda struck down the Twin Towers, it appears they’re back up to operational status:

Six years after the Bush administration declared war on al-Qaeda, the terrorist network is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and planning attacks, according to a new Bush administration intelligence report to be discussed today at a White House meeting.

The report, a five-page threat assessment compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, is titled “Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West,” intelligence officials said. It concludes that the group has significantly rebuilt itself despite concerted U.S. attempts to smash the network.

Which leads, of course, to the inevitable question:

What the frak have we been doing for the past six years ? What happened to the War on Terror ? The War against al Qaeda ? Why aren’t these people dead or in jail ?

Oh, wait, maybe the little diversion in Baghdad had something to do with that.

After all, going after a tinpot dictator who got his jollies sticking his finger in the eye of whoever happened to be President of the United States is far more important than destroying the terrorist network that killed 3,000 American citizens on one day.

You agree, don’t you ?

Because, if you don’t, then the only conclusion one can reach is that we’ve wasted the last six years.