Now that the administration has had its way with Saddam, maybe they won't be quite so distracted in 2007... and maybe, just maybe, we can circle round to hunting down the bad guy who started it all five long years ago... Osama Bin Laden?
That would be the "success that hasn't ocurred yet" that Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend was referring to (rather awkwardly) earlier this week.
Of course, to be successful would mean focusing time and resources on the tribal areas of Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan... so how are we doing there anyway?
more after the flip... update:poll added
Well, here's the prediction for 2007, from one who should know:
CAMP SHARONA, Afghanistan (AP) Dec. 30 – The outgoing U.S. commander in Afghanistan predicted more fighting this spring and summer and said Taliban militants would try to overrun towns to "unhinge the Afghan people's morale."
Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry also said the recent killing of a high-level Taliban commander shows that fugitives like Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar will one day slip up, and that the U.S. will strike.
Of course, waiting for them slip up doesn't sound quite like we're
ready to go off and "smoke 'em out." In fact, the General makes it sound like we'll be a little too busy for that:
Eikenberry, who is expected to rotate out of Afghanistan in late January, said he expected militants this spring to attack border security posts, to extend their use of suicide bombs and to mass in groups of 25 to 100 for assaults on towns that serve as seats of local government.
Now the General does add that none of this is a "significant military challenge" for the US... but something tells me it might set us back a bit on the whole Osama thing. Maybe we'll get around to Osama in the fall, after the summer people leave.
Eikenberry said that as he looks ahead to the spring and summer, "I anticipate higher levels of fighting."