This is what effective military, intelligence, and diplomacy work yields you, as reported today by Newsweek:
Another leader of the Afghan Taliban has been captured by authorities in Pakistan working in partnership with U.S. intelligence officials. Taliban sources in the region and a counterterrorism officials in Washington have identified the detained insurgent leader as Mullah Abdul Salam, described as the Taliban movement's "shadow governor" of Afghanistan's Kunduz province.
This comes on the heels of the capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. So who, exactly, is Mullah Abdul Salam?
Mullah Salam was one of the Taliban's most effective commanders in northern Afghanistan and therefore one of the men most wanted by U.S. and NATO forces fighting there. Salam's soldiers are reputed to have been particularly deadly in their attacks on German troops fighting in northern Afghanistan.
Let's hope that his capture will have positive ripple effects and make this war less deadly and reach its conclusion more rapidly.
These two captures herald a breakthrough in sorts of cooperation from Pakistani security and intelligence forces as well:
"Thanks to solid intelligence work and some courageous partners in Pakistan, this hasn't been a good time for the leadership of the Afghan Taliban," said the official, who, like others cited in this story, asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information. "While these kinds of operations aren't the whole answer, you can't succeed against an enemy like this until you prove he can't win on the battlefield. Taking out [the] top guys is part of that."
Obviously, there is a lot more work to do and this war is a long way from won.
But every moment that passes the American people see what it means to have an effective national security apparatus in place, as opposed to an ineffective one (albeit one highly effective at scaring people).
Sorry Dick Cheney, but your scare tactics aren't working. On the issue of national security, the actual results of this administration are already far superior than that of yours. I'll give you credit though, your rhetoric is far more panic-inducing.