Meanwhile, In The Middle East...

With the media obsessing over the Foley sex scandal (admittedly important, but it's getting the level of coverage given to almost no other Republican scandal of the past year), it would seem the GOP has gained one small victory... the war is knocked off the front page (tee hee, 'page'). And yet, halfway across the world, more and more human beings are dying to defend a policy that is increasingly harder to comprehend. Let's start with first, forgotten war-

NBC News: U.S. is at critical crossroads in Afghanistan

Nearly five years after the U.S. military drove the Taliban out of Afghanistan, total victory appears as distant and remote as the long-embattled nation itself.

In fact, after several years of relative calm, the Taliban and al-Qaida have staged a dramatic comeback, adopting the insurgent tactics that have been perfected with deadly efficiency in Iraq. More than 70 suicide bombings have killed scores of Afghan civilians this year, a 400 percent jump over 2005. Roadside bombs have more than doubled...

...The Afghan government continues to struggle to establish its credibility and spread its authority beyond Kabul. At the same time the U.S. recently cut developmental aid to Afghanistan by 30 percent and less than half of the $15 billion promised in international aid has been delivered...

Bold added for emphasis. Our current leadership really threw this mission under the bus, as evidenced by Sen. Frist's comments that maybe we should give in to the Taliban. As Bill Clinton said in Fox interview, "You know, we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is only 1/7th as important as Iraq."

Or, as Sen. Feingold said, defending his Iraq redeployment plans, "Mr. President, how did we lose the focus on those who attacked us on 9/11? And does it make sense to continue to pour virtually all our resources into an Iraq war that is not working?... It is time to tell the Iraqis that we have done what we can do militarily, that we'll continue to help them in many ways... But the notion of continuing to put all of these resources just into Iraq on the absurd notion that that is the key to the fight against al Qaeda is one of the worst mistakes in American foreign policy history."

Speaking of that mistake, the Republicans are already preparing for victory there-

Even as the Bush administration urges Americans to stay the course in Iraq, Republicans in Congress have put down a quiet marker in the apparent hope that V-I Day might be only months away.

Tucked away in fine print in the military spending bill for this past year was a lump sum of $20 million to pay for a celebration in the nation’s capital “for commemoration of success” in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Not surprisingly, the money was not spent.

Now Congressional Republicans are saying, in effect, maybe next year. A paragraph written into spending legislation and approved by the Senate and House allows the $20 million to be rolled over into 2007...

Their level of delusion grows deeper every week.

This admist news that an Iraqi police brigade was linked to a mass kidnapping by death squads this week. We have a lot more stories like this to look forward to if we stay.

U.S. military deaths, meanwhile, are on the rise.

(UPDATE: Condi makes another 'surprise' visit to Iraq. Why does the media fall for this?)

Money quote from Andrew Sullivan: "The status quo is unacceptable. We must either ratchet up our effort or cut our losses. If I had confidence in the leadership, I'd back the former. Under Rumsfeld, I have zero confidence in any effort to stabilize Iraq. But we know this president is simply immune to pressure unless forced. So vote Democrat. Give them partial responsibility for the war effort - before a presidential election. And force Bush finally to take some responsibility for the chaos he has helped create."

Colin Powell agrees.

[PS- 58% in a new poll believe that President Bush lied about the case for war. Only 58%??]