The Bush administration can claim all it wants that things are going great in Afghanistan. However, there are reports indicating just the opposite, particularly that the Taliban has gained such a foothold in that country again that teachers who embark upon the forbidden — teaching girls — are disembowelled.

This is just the latest in a series of stories that show the situation in Afghanistan getting worse.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush noted only yesterday that despite the recommendations of the Iraq study group, his preference is to stay the course.

we’ll be in Iraq until the job is complete, at the request of a sovereign government elected by the people. I know there’s a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there’s going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq. We’re going to stay in Iraq to get the job done, so long as the government wants us there.