I am in f*cking shock. From the NY Times?!? Al-Qaida Core Has Degraded Since 2001

To an unknowable degree, the Madrid attack and others reflect success in the hunt for the al-Qaida leadership responsible for killing nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania five years ago.

A global dragnet against bin Laden's group has been far more effective than most people realize (ed. - that means liberals) in neutralizing al-Qaida's top command. Osama bin Laden and his top deputy are still at large, but many of their most trusted men are not.

Abu Zubaydah. Ramzi Binalshibh. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani. Abu Farraj al-Libbi. All were once among al-Qaida's top commanders, and all were arrested in Pakistan and handed over to American custody, along with hundreds of lesser figures.

The one-time al-Qaida No. 3, Mohammed Atef, was killed in U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan in 2001. Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, al-Qaida's chief operative in Yemen, was blown up by a Hellfire missile in Yemen in 2002. More recently, al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was taken out by two 500-pound bombs.

While others have stepped in to fill their shoes, many experts doubt the organization can replace the experience of its top leaders as quickly as they are lost.
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If the continued existence of the Taliban in Afghanistan is some sort of evidence that America is losing the War on Terror, what can we say about WWII? Is it too late to claim defeat?

Belgium arrests neo-Nazi soldiers

Many of those arrested were soldiers, and some were "people with an extreme-right ideology who clearly express themselves through racism, xenophobia, Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Belgian police on Thursday arrested 17 suspects in an alleged plot by right-wing extremists to terrorize the country.

If I were the Administration, I'd start calling the Taliban "neo-Taliban". It sounds less threatening.

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On a similar note, I have to laugh about the people complaining that the rise of the poppy crop in Afghanistan is some kind of symbol that we lost, or are losing the war.

Afghanistan has become a narco-state. The opium trade has corrupted public officials nationwide and made economic development far harder to achieve. That's not just a shame; it could signal a failed U.S. effort in Afghanistan.

Has anyone ever heard of The Cold War that went on for 50 years and cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars because we didn't end WWII right? Do I have to mention how WWII is generally accepted as having happened for not finishing WWI right? I'm not saying it isn't a problem, but can you possibly have a more defeatist attitude?

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The Times ran a piece today on religious bias after 9/11 and focused on the story of one young Muslim woman, Dena al-Atassi. I don't deny that this woman has been discriminated against and that all discrimination is terrible. I just think the story is a little misleading in that Ms al-Atassi is not just your everyday Muslim-American, she's the chairwoman of the Florida chapter of the Muslim Students Association which the article duly mentions in the next to last paragraph. She is a leading member of a sometimes controversial national organization which is known for supporting anti-Israel rallies, terrorist supporters like Sami al-Arian and others, and other generally anti-U.S. government and anti-war events.

Could they not have made a better choice to make me feel sorry at least, not someone with an agenda?