Working Hard? Or Hardly Working?

On the day of September 11th, 2001, after spending most of the morning flying from one undisclosed location to the next, hiding, in fear of terrorists, President George W. Bush finally made his first statement. He promised, above all else, "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."

That evening, finally back in the Oval Office, Bush set into motion the plan that would eventually become his "War on Terror."

"I've directed the full resources for our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

Nearly six years later, has George W. Bush fulfilled his promise? Perhaps that's unfair. It was, indeed, a tall order. So let me instead ask, are we safer today from terror than we were on September 10th, 2001?

WASHINGTON (AP)- U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al-Qaida has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press has learned.

The conclusion suggests that the network that launched the most devastating terror attack on the United States has been able to regroup along the Afghan-Pakistani border despite nearly six years of bombings, war and other tactics aimed at crippling it.

Yes, of course the CIA is nothing but a bunch of communist baby-haters. And the media is their willing concubine. But Bush isn't exactly denying it.

Bin Laden is still at large. Despite all the power at the United States disposal, the ringleader of the organization that attacked us is free. And he is free because of a concious decision by the Bush administration. "I'm not to worried about him," Bush famously said.

What has Bush acheived? He's torn apart Iraq, destroyed America's reputation, and sent thousands of patriotic boys and girls to their deaths. And Al-Queda keeps growing back, every time its tail is cut off. Yet Bush still refuses to go for the head.

I'll never understand how Iraq became responsible for 9-11. How Bin Laden became Saddam. How "winning hearts and minds" turned into sanctioned torture and collateral damage.

But I guess it was all part of that vision George W. Bush had for America while he was flying to Nebraska on September 11th, afraid for his life.