War in Afghanistan far from being over

Operation Anaconda, America's military campaign against Taliban and Al-Qaida fighters holed up in the Shah-e-Kol mountains in Afghanistan, is over and has been declared a success by U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks. If success is measured by the large number of enemy fighters who escaped capture or death, then the general is right.
But Afghan commanders, who fought alongside U.S. troops for the past three weeks in what was described by Bush administration officials as a key campaign in the war on global terrorism, insist that most of the Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters got away. If that's true, it means there are thousands of individuals in Afghanistan linked to the world's leading mastermind of terrorism, Osama bin Laden. It also means that the threat of the Taliban's returning to power, with bin Laden's support, remains very real.
Long haul: When American forces were dispatched to Afghanistan after the then Taliban government refused to hand over bin Laden, who had been granted safe haven and had been permitted to operate terrorist training camps in the mountain regions, President Bush made it clear that the United States was in for the long haul. The decision to invade Afghanistan came on the heels of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on America's mainland. More than 3,000 people were killed in New York City, Washington, D.C., and western Pennsylvania when fuel-laden commercial jetliners were hijacked and used as missiles. Two jets rammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in a field in western Pennsylvania.
The shedding of innocent blood and the brazenness of the attack brought a national cry for revenge. The president has been on target in his unfaltering opinion that the U.S. and other peace-loving nations will never be safe from further terrorist attacks until Al-Qaida and other such organizations located in more than 60 countries around the world are destroyed.
That is why the military campaign in Afghanistan -- it includes troops from America's allies, such as Britain and Canada-- is of such importance. So long as there are Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters armed to the teeth and willing to engage in battle, victory cannot and must not be declared.
The American people do not need to be protected from the truth. The war on global terrorism will last many years and will be costly in terms of lives and money. But that's the price that must be paid in order to rid the world of terrorist organizations and the governments that protect them.