Hey George, where's Osama?

Al Qaeda's strength is building

Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban are gaining strength despite being battered since Sept. 11, 2001, two top spy masters told Congress yesterday.

Despite the "substantial losses" Al Qaeda has suffered as a result of top leaders killed or captured, Bin Laden has a "pretty deep bench" of young operatives, CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden told a Senate panel.

"Although a number of these people are new to senior management, they're not new to jihad," Hayden said. "These new leaders average 40 years of age and two decades of involvement in global jihadism."

"In the face of our substantial success against it, the group's cadre of seasoned, committed leaders have allowed it to remain fairly cohesive," he added.

Hayden also said that Bin Laden and deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri still "play a crucial role" by inspiring jihadists and staying alive - which "promotes unity."

Bin Laden's henchmen operate freely on the Afghan-Pakistan border in Pashtun tribal lands, said Hayden and Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, who leads the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The spy chiefs' remarks before the Senate Armed Services Committee were at odds with President Bush's past rhetoric.

One of Bush's boilerplate talking points has been that three-quarters of Al Qaeda's leaders have been killed or captured.

Hayden and Maples also said the link between Al Qaeda in Iraq and Bin Laden's network in Afghanistan is not as strong as some believe.

"I have not seen a linkage to Iraq," Maples said.

Hayden agreed, but said, "We may not see arms or individuals transiting from West to East, [but] certainly the tactics and lessons learned in Iraq are being applied in Afghanistan."

The failure to capture and kill Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri is an everyday reminder of what a disgrace the Bush administration has been in fighting the war on terror.

They need to be held accountable and the new Democratic majority in Congress needs to begin immediately investigating why they diverted our military's pursuit of those who were responsible for the attacks on 9/11.