We keep hearing from the Republicans about how somehow the McCain/Bush/Lieberman escalation of the Iraq quagmire will somehow bring us victory and solve all of our problems. My main questions I have had to date is just why are our soldiers dying in Iraq in the first place, what do they MEAN by victory (no exit strategy has yet been formulated!) and just where is Osama bin Laden, the guy who actually attacked America and who has never set foot in Iraq?

But now I have a new question. Just who is it who is winning? From what I can see, it sure as hell isn't us.

In Afghanistan, things have deteriorated so badly, that Republicans like Bill Frist are practically begging the Taliban to help us out. Remember the Taliban? Our enemies who are allied with Osama bin Laden? Well, Bill Frist wants us to patch things up with the Taliban and get them to pull our asses out of the fire in Afghanistan. So, Osama bin Laden is still free, al-Qaeda still operating in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and we are begging the Taliban to rejoin the government. Who's winning in Afghanistan?

Now let's look at the latest developments in Iraq, a nation pretty much undergoing a civil war thanks to our failure to actually have a plan for what to do once we removed their dictator. The Iraqi government, the one we put into power, is now offering amnesty (after a three month period where legal challenges are allowed) to all members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist Party if they return to their official posts in the government. Yes, the Iraqi government wants to REINSTATE the very group we overthrew. Now what is wrong with this OTHER than the fact that we are reinstating the very group we overthrew? Simple. This is also the party that represents the Sunni minority and disenfranchised the Shi'ite majority and the Kurdish minority. We are being attacked from at least two sides: the Shi'a Islamists and the Sunni former-Baathists. If we make our peace with the latter, who oppressed the Shi'ites and Kurds in the first place, isn't that in essence simply making the civil war worse? We are siding with the dictators...again.

Bringing back the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Baathists in Iraq? Really. Just who is winning Mr. Bush's little crusade? And what about the wider world, how are we doing in stopping the spread of radical Islam?

Failing, of course. In Pakistan, supposedly our main ally against the Afghanistan based al-Qaeda/Taliban alliance, al-Qaeda and the Taliban are increasingly seen as heroes. al-Qaeda-linked Islamists still control the Sudan. al-Qaeda-linked Islamists took over Somalia and were only forced out of the capial through the intervention of Eithopia, increasing tensions in the entire region. The Islamists still control part of Somalia, and the intervention by Ethiopia has made neighboring Eritrea sympathetic to the Somali Islamists. In Bahrain, normally considered the most moderate of the Persian Gulf nations, fundamentalist Islamists have swept to an electoral victory.

Mr. Bush, Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman: We have been LOSING. Everything you have done to date has made America LESS safe. Fundamentalist Islam has GAINED in strength since the invasion of Iraq and al-Qaeda hs become stronger. You have failed so badly even your own allies and own party are starting to look to our enemies, the Baathists and the Taliban, for help. Sending more troops into this situation is INSANE. When something is a dismal failure, you don't keep doing it.

It is clear that the best thing that ever happened to al-Qaeda and other fundamentalist Islamic movements was George W. Bush. His actions have done nothing but boost their power, bringing them into places like Iraq and Bahrain, places where they previously had little influence. The McCain/Bush/Lieberman strategy has failed and it is time for a NEW strategy.