Meanwhile, In Afghanistan...

How are things going in Afghanistan (the war actually connected to Al Qaeda/9-11)?

Ummm, notsogood.

NY Times: Afghan Symbol for Change Becomes a Symbol of Failure

...When the Taliban fell nearly five years ago, Lashkar Gah seemed like fertile ground for the United States-led effort to stabilize the country. For 30 years during the cold war, Americans carried out the largest development project in Afghanistan’s history here, building a modern capital with suburban-style tract homes, a giant hydroelectric dam and 300 miles of canals that made 250,000 acres of desert bloom. Afghans called this city “Little America.”

Today, Little America is the epicenter of a Taliban resurgence and an explosion in drug cultivation that has claimed the lives of 106 American and NATO soldiers this year and doubled American casualty rates countrywide. Across Afghanistan, roadside bomb attacks are up by 30 percent; suicide bombings have doubled. Statistically it is now nearly as dangerous to serve as an American soldier in Afghanistan as it is in Iraq.

Helmand’s descent symbolizes how Afghanistan has evolved since the initial victory over the Taliban into one of the most troubled fronts in the fight against terrorism...

The war where the President should've stayed the course and didn't.

If I were a certain minority party on the verge of a comeback, but still needing to seal that deal, I might want to make this an issue. "Where's Osama", I might ask. I might also initiate a discussion of our priorities (balancing between domestic and foreign), how we allocate our resources, and the limitations of our reach. A comparison with Iraq, specifically focusing on how unnecessary it was and the false premises on which it was sold, might also help make the point. Is said party listening?

[PS- Our 'ally' Pakistan says bin Laden will get a free pass if found in their borders. Oop.

Related reading:
The "central front" in the terror war? Look out, it's right behind you! (Salon War Room)]