Yeah – that other war!

Islamic militants are using a recent peace deal with the government to consolidate their hold in northern Pakistan, vastly expanding their training of suicide bombers and other recruits and fortifying alliances with Al Qaeda and foreign fighters, diplomats and intelligence officials from several nations say. The result, they say, is virtually a Taliban mini-state.

The militants, the officials say, are openly flouting the terms of the September accord in North Waziristan, under which they agreed to end cross-border help for the Taliban insurgency that revived in Afghanistan with new force this year.

The area is becoming a magnet for an influx of foreign fighters, who not only challenge government authority in the area, but are even wresting control from local tribes and spreading their influence to neighboring areas, according to several American and NATO officials and Pakistani and Afghan intelligence officials.

While Bush has had us tied up in Iraq with a never ending nightmare, our true enemies have been gaining major ground and power. It is almost like he wanted this to happen. Kind of how he flew Osama’s family out of the country the day after the 9/11 attacks. If any other citizen of the United States continued to hand our nation defeat while enabling our enemies to gain power, they would be characterized as a traitor. The same needs to be applied to the Oval Office.