OH, REALLY?

Rip Van Rummy says we can fight two wars at once.

By which he seems to mean Iraq and North Korea.

Oh, hmm, how's that Afghanistan thing going these days anyway?

FORT BRAGG, 2:02 p.m. EST December 21, 2002 - An soldier based at Fort Bragg was killed in Afghanistan early Saturday morning when his unit came under fire from enemy forces, army officials tell NBC 17.

Sergeant Steven Checo, 22, was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division assigned to Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Checo was the first American soldier killed in combat in Afghanistan since May.

His unit came under enemy fire while conducting a security patrol with special operations and other conventional forces near Shkin along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The forces that attacked the unit are suspected of being linked to the ousted Taliban regime or the al-Qaida network, said Army spokesman Maj. Steve Clutter. "They had these individuals under observation for awhile," Clutter said. "They were actually getting ready to approach them to investigate and as they got closer they realized they were armed." The enemy forces fled across the border into Pakistan, Clutter said. (emphases mine)

TFM recalls Andy Card's comments a couple months ago, saying that the administration took a "marketing" angle on pushing the potential Iraq war. What happens when you "roll out a new product" in september? You roll out the old producs from the summer! Hence less attention is paid to Afghanistan, and we get incidents like this. And not only that, but the attackers fled to Pakistan! Ugh. Was Rummy thinking about this?