Think Progress highlighted this great little sound bite from Tony Snow on CNN yesterday:
BLITZER: Let’s move on and talk about some other issues. I know your time is limited. Afghanistan. Is the Taliban making a serious comeback right now?
SNOW: I think what the Taliban is doing – and it’s predictable – is that they are trying to test in the south, where the U.S. forces are handing over to NATO…But A, it’s predictable, and B, in the encounters, as you know, the Taliban fighters have overwhelmingly been losing. Now, I think it is predictable…you can expect there to be pushback by the Taliban.
Of course saying it is predictable is kind of odd for a group that was supposed to be no longer in existence:
And as a result of the United States military, Taliban no longer is in existence. And the people of Afghanistan are now free. (Applause.) In other words when you say something as President you better make it clear so everybody understands what you’re saying, and you better mean what you say.
That was what Bush said in September of 2004.
So what is this “none existent†group up to:
Taliban militants killed 32 friends and relatives of an influential lawmaker in southern Afghanistan and 10 others are missing, the legislator said on Monday.
MP Dad Mohammad Khan told AFP that 27 of the men had been killed in Helmand province when they had gone to the scene of an earlier attack in which five others were shot dead.
“Yesterday morning in Taliban attacks, 32 of my relatives and friends were killed,” said Khan, the influential former intelligence chief of the province.
Ahh yes – very predictable, as Tony would say. So should Bush really be looking at taking on North Korea and Iran when both wars he has been commander in chief of are failing so badly? Will the American people allow this to happen or will they finally get louder on having Bush put into a greater checks and balances? Also, will our military be able to handle anymore strain? These are very serious questions that must be debated in the halls of Congress as well as within the public arena.