Much more significant than what's happening in Iraq, is what is happening in Afghanistan, and what just happened in Pakistan.

The recent news that Al Qaeda will have a safe haven in Pakistan was truly a turning point.

Combine that with the Talibans' continued resiliency in Afghanistan, and it's apparent that winning the real "war on terror" in Afghanistan is a long-shot at best.

In theory, we could bring in more equipment and troops into Afghanistan. But that would be very difficult because of all the military resources that have been put into Iraq. (And as everyone knows, that's not going very well either.)

So while high-profile politicians debate whether we can win in Iraq, it's becoming apparent that the war with our true enemies in Afghanistan has already been lost for two reasons:

1. The Bush administration squandered the opportunity to hit Al Qaeda and the Taliban and hard and fast immediately after 9/11, choosing instead to hold back, or redirect much-needed military resources for use in an unnecessary war with Iraq.

2. The Bush administration made decisions that created an environment in which severe abuses of Muslim peoples could occur. "The barbaric cruelty of the Americans" (to quote an Afghan rebel) that resulted, has caused a resurgence in popular support for the Taliban that is allowing them to operate more effectively in the region.

These facts might make for useful talking points for Democrats, and they have the added benefit of being true.

At any rate, the idea that we can defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban by military means alone is now obsolete.