Osama bin... Forgotten?

I was just wondering, what ever happened with that whole "Afghanistan-al Qaeda-Taliban-bin Laden" thing? You remember - the real war on terror. Our globally supported mission to exact righteous vengeance on the group that actually was a threat to our security. That must all be over now, right?

Well, wouldn't you know it - looks like we, unnhhh, never really finished the job there, before moving on to what was always the main event in the mind of George the Younger. Turns out our soldiers are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan, and the Taliban, though no longer in power, is still going strong and apparently getting stronger.

Oh, and that tall, lanky fellow who seems to have been forgotten by everyone except the families of those lost on a bright September day four years ago? You know who I'm talking about. George used to talk about him all the time, too, back when we believed that he might be serious about addressing the problem of Islamic fanaticism. Damn! What was his name again? Obama? Benihana?

No matter (or, as the President would say, "I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority.")... Rumors continue to fly through the Arab world that he could be dead. Or maybe not. But hey, if our Commander in Chief doesn't care, why should we? After all, it's not like we have a reason to be interested in his whereabouts, now, do we?

Is it just me, or is there something very wrong with this picture? Why is Afghanistan an ongoing theater of war that's apparently been forgotten by the American media? What are we doing in Iraq, when the task this Administration set out to do initially down Kabul way (or so we were told) is so obviously incomplete?

Why are our Congressional representatives and news gathering organizations not asking these same questions of the White House? Not only are the Taliban and Osama still in operation and inspirational to the terror underworld, but Bush's obsession with Baghdad has fostered an additional terrorist network (that previously didn't exist) which analysts say rivals the strength and reach of bin Laden's.

I know I began by making light of Afghanistan's demoted media status. But this is no laughing matter. We should all want to know more about a conflict which continues to claim American lives - and we deserve to know why this Administration downgraded the real war on terror to second-class status before its mission was fully accomplished.