There's No National Security Without A Stable Afghanistan

On the eve of a Bush 9/11 offensive (which is bound to offend, since it will be anything but apolitical, starting with the ABC Disney debacle), it's important to keep some things in perspective. Frank Rich, writing behind TimesSelect, reminds us that the crass politicalization by this President and his Republican enablers is nothing new.

On the very next day after that convocation, Mr. Bush was asked at a press conference "how much of a sacrifice" ordinary Americans would "be expected to make in their daily lives, in their daily routines." His answer: "Our hope, of course, is that they make no sacrifice whatsoever." He, too, wanted to move on -- to "see life return to normal in America," as he put it -- but toward partisan goals stealthily tailored to his political allies rather than the nearly 90 percent of the country that, according to polls, was rallying around him.

This selfish agenda was there from the very start. As we now know from many firsthand accounts, a cadre from Mr. Bush's war cabinet was already busily hyping nonexistent links between Iraq and the Qaeda attacks. The presidential press secretary, Ari Fleischer, condemned Bill Maher's irreverent comic response to 9/11 by reminding "all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do." Fear itself -- the fear that "paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance," as F.D.R. had it -- was already being wielded as a weapon against Americans by their own government.

Less than a month after 9/11, the president was making good on his promise of "no sacrifice whatsoever." Speaking in Washington about how it was "the time to be wise" and "the time to act," he declared, "We need for there to be more tax cuts." Before long the G.O.P. would be selling 9/11 photos of the president on Air Force One to campaign donors and the White House would be featuring flag-draped remains of the 9/11 dead in political ads.

And so here we are five years later. Fearmongering remains unceasing. So do tax cuts. So does the war against a country that did not attack us on 9/11. We have moved on, but no one can argue that we have moved ahead.

Speaking of moving on without moving ahead, while Bush tries to gain political advantage with Middle America (New Yorkers have a very different view of Ray Nagin's "hole in the ground"), there are other issues that need focus.

I will leave off the Iraq civil war for now. That, at least, forces itself into the news every night (and not in a good way). However, the resurgent Taliban threat in Afghanistan, inextricably linked to a fragile Pakistan, doesn't get enough attention. It certainly won't be the subject of the barrage of negative ads the RNC is going to launch against Democrats this fall to preserve their majority (you can never have enough money for negative ads, eh, Ken?). Keep your eye on this:

More than 100 Taliban fighters raided a government compound in western Afghanistan early Sunday, while NATO and Afghan forces killed 94 Taliban fighters in airstrikes and ground attacks in southern Afghanistan, police and military alliance sources said.

Taliban fighters riding in pickup trucks and firing rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles attacked the compound in the Farah provincial town of Kalaigar at about 1 a.m., said provincial police chief Sayed Agha. Two police were killed by the Taliban, who also burned two rooms of the compound and a health clinic in the town, said Agha.

Resurgent Taliban fighters have been most active in southern provinces. But attacks have started occurring in the west amid intense NATO military operations targeting Taliban in southern provinces like Kandahar and Helmand.

In fact, Afghanistan is more deadly for coalition troops than Iraq.

Bird said the risk to the NATO forces fighting militants in Afghanistan -- including more than 2,000 Canadian troops -- is approaching the level faced by the then-Soviets, who abandoned their war there in 1989 after 10 years.

Did you know that? Do Republicans mention that? No, because it would remind people that Bush didn't get the national security job done. It would remind people that Omar is still alive and well, and Bin Laden got away at Tora Bora on Bush's watch.

Here's a quick list for Middle America in the Indianapolis Star of the unfinished business Bush left on the table or made worse on his watch. It includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and possibly Iran. To steal an analogy, Republicans are dropping national security eggs in the kitchen left and right and then complaining that Democrats don't have a plan for cleaning up the mess. Well, dropping more eggs (stay the course) is not a plan. Better to get these kids out of the kitchen and get the adults back in charge.

As you watch Bush remind us in the next 24 hours of his failures to lead, don't forget his failures as a national security president.  Where's Osama? Where's Omar? Why is Afghanistan falling apart? More to come on that, you can be certain.