The bushit administration may be funnelling more & more money into Iraq, but Afghanistan - yes, the same Afghanistan that Osama bin Laden & Al Qaeda used as a safe haven to plan the September 11th attacks - has fallen by the wayside.

Sunday marks the sixth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. The goals: to oust the Taliban & Al Qaeda & build a stable, secure Afghanistan.

Six years later, the situation looks bleak. Al Qaeda is resurgent & has set up shop along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Osama bin Laden & his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, have not been captured.

Suicide bombings & improvised explosive devices have been introduced & used with increasing frequency in the Afghan theatre, & 750 civilians have been killed in 2007 alone.

Opium production is booming & 93 percent of the world’s opium is coming from Afghanistan. And according to the Center for American Progress-Foreign Policy’s Terrorism Index, 84 percent of foreign policy experts believe the United States is not winning the war on terror.

But Afghanistan is not Iraq. There has been some important, fundamental headway in strengthening the Afghan state: a legitimate government is in place that is representative of the people, the UN & NATO are contributing to the mission, Afghan security forces are loyal to the Afghan government & the public supports an international troop presence. These factors make stability in Afghanistan achievable.

This success hinges on a change in US Middle East policy. Resources should be redeployed from Iraq to Afghanistan; operations in Afghanistan need increased funds, attention & military and civilian manpower.

John Pilger speaks truth to power.

Breaking The Silence