Bush Announces Taliban No Longer In Existence?

Two weeks ago, President Bush announced, "[The] Taliban no longer is in existence." He was egregiously mistaken. The Taliban may not be in power in Kabul, but they have been making a steady comeback throughout the countryside. The Afghan death toll attributed to the Taliban rose by 45 percent this year, and more than 40 election workers have been killed or wounded by the Taliban in the past four months. Moreover, as a new paper commissioned by the Center for American Progress, "Security in Afghanistan: The Continuing Challenge," warns, the Taliban "continue to enjoy substantial support in the provinces and tribal areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, regardless of enhanced efforts in 2004 by the Pakistani government to cooperate with the United States in the counter-terror fight."

AL QAEDA THREAT: Senior members of al Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden and his top deputy, remain at large. Last month, Maj. Gen. Eric Olson stated, "[t]here are senior leaders of al [Qaeda] that are working through operatives in Afghanistan?They are involved in planning and in some cases directing attacks inside of Afghanistan."

Will there ever come an end to this habitual and flagrant lying? If they are not lying, could this President be that stupid?