On September 21, 2001, President Bush delivered a joint address to Congress and delivered the following message to the government of Afghanistan:
[T]onight, the United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban: Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of al Qaeda who hide in your land. (Applause.) Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens, you have unjustly imprisoned. Protect foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers in your country. Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, and hand over every terrorist, and every person in their support structure, to appropriate authorities. (Applause.) Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating.
These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. (Applause.) The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.
When the Taliban failed to respond, the War in Afghanistan began. The Taliban regime was destroyed, al Qaeda’s operational capacity severely impacted. But al Qaeda was not destroyed, and it’s leadership has taken refuge in the mountain country of Pakistan, a supposed ally. The Pakistani’s of course, have done nothing to combat al Qaeda, and neither, it seems, will the United States:
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The senior U.S. officer in Afghanistan said on Wednesday there are no plans to send American troops into neighboring Pakistan’s tribal areas where al Qaeda is rebuilding and its leader, Osama bin Laden, is thought to be hiding.
Washington has been buzzing with speculation, fueled by tough talk by Bush administration officials, that the U.S. may change its policy of non-intervention and send troops into Pakistan to battle islamic militants. A U.S. intelligence report earlier this month said al Qaeda has been able to reorganize networks in Pakistan’s wild tribal regions.
But Army Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez told reporters at the Pentagon that, “We’ve made no plans to use any U.S. forces on their side of the border. They’re a sovereign country.”
In other words, we know where our enemy is, but we aren’t going to do anything about it at the risk of offending a supposed ally who is similarly aware of the existence of terrorists inside it’s borders and refuses to act.
And I thought the spectacle of 3,000 dead Americans would have been enough to compel us to actually win a war. Boy was I wrong.
