Liberals seem to be as bad with history as they are with math. Many claim we have let Afghanistan and Pakistan go wanting as we diverted our energies in Iraq. The truth is AQ designated Iraq their key battleground and shifted their resources and fighters there – where they have been decimated and cling to small areas in the North. The fact is Afghanistan and Pakistan have become the center of AQ activities because that is where they ran to when they were defeated. But there is no sanctuary there either. This is a view shared by many paying attention:

The U.S. government still believes Iraq is the main battle, even though the terrorists are on the run there and suffering heavy losses. In Afghanistan, or, actually, across the border in Pakistan, al Qaeda has established bases it was unable to maintain in Iraq. Some of the terrorist camps in Pakistan have been there since 2002, but al Qaeda, admitting defeat in Iraq, has sifted people, cash and energy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

They are beaten, smaller and retreating. The growing numbers in Pakistan and Afghanistan is the result of their losses in Iraq and the retreat back to the places they arose from. The fact is they fled into a grist mill in Afghanistan:

The terrorists are having a very different experience on each side of the border. In Afghanistan, the Taliban and al Qaeda are betting beaten. High losses, and lost influence, mark the past few years operations in Afghanistan. In Pakistan, there is much less police and military influence with the terrorists, and the tribal areas along the border have become a rest and rebuilding area for the Taliban and al Qaeda.

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The victories in Afghanistan come largely because of the 70,000 U.S. and NATO troops there. The Afghan army only has 70,000 troops. Well trained, by regional standards, the soldiers are used all over the country. … The Taliban cannot win by running, and if they stand and fight, they die. Al Qaeda thinks they can win using suicide and roadside bombs. This strategy failed in Iraq, mainly because of the large number of Iraqi civilians killed. The terrorists are killing lots of Afghans the same way in Afghanistan, and with the same result.

They are being chased into ever smaller enclaves where they can be surrounded and systematically destroyed. To say Iraq was a diversion is like saying France and Italy were diversions in World War II, that we should have focused on Germany only. We had to beat the Nazis in the field before we tool the fight to Germany and Berlin. This obvious fact of how todefeat an enemy is what the liberals seem unable to grasp. Or more likely, afraid to admit.