Meanwhile, remember Osama bin Laden?

Osama bin Laden. He's the one who masterminded the 9/11 attacks. Remember him? We used to hear all about him. In 2005, CNN did a huge special report you can read here. The report refers back to a September 15, 2001, article that states, “The 19 men suspected of Tuesday's hijackings were either directly or indirectly linked to Osama bin Laden.”

Osama bin Laden is still on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, although his page there hasn't been updated since 2001. In reality, no one even knows if bin Laden is still alive. ABC news reports:

Earlier this spring, coalition forces in Afghanistan launched a major offensive in the Eastern Kunar province, a lawless frontier area where bin Laden was rumored to be hiding. Just a few days earlier, however, the Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell told Congress that he believed bin Laden to be in Pakistan. Many experts believe that bin Laden is able to travel somewhat freely between both countries along the border where tribal leaders are quite sympathetic to Al Qaeda. McConnell said just last week, that wherever they are, bin Laden and Zawahiri are still engaging their followers.

Which brings us back to Afghanistan and Pakistan, in an extremely complicated region of the world. Our leaders sent troops in with a grand yet simplistic plan to overtake the enemy (sounds familiar, doesn't it?). And in typical Bush Administration behavior, at same time playing down the actions, as if we don't really care so much about it. In March 2002, Bush was asked about bin Laden at press conference and replied:

And, again, I don't know where he is. I — I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.

So while we spend a lot of time right now focusing on bringing our troops home from Iraq, let's not forget that we have soldiers and marines in Afghanistan, also in harm's way because of the misguided policies of the Bush Administration. Today, a suicide bomber killed 17 people in Afghanistan. Look for the story, it's buried in the news. Also look for this from the Associated Press, because it didn't get much airtime, either:

As of Sunday, July 8, 2007, at least 342 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

When all the evidence points to Osama bin Laden as the leader of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and other terrorist acts against the US, it is unconscionable to throw American lives and money into a misguided war in Iraq. The Iraq war was initiated on the basis of lies and deceit by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Please join me in calling for their impeachment.