Bush Makes Surprise Stop in Afghanistan

Air Force One made a previously unannounced stop in Afghanistan:

President Bush, on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, vowed Wednesday to stand by this emerging democracy despite a resurgence of violence, promising the United States will "not cut and run."

He also sought to rally U.S. troops and express solidarity with the U.S.-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Standing alongside Karzai outside the presidential palace, Bush pledged that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and other planners of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks would be caught.

"It's not a matter of if they're captured and brought to justice, it's when they're brought to justice," Bush said.

It was the first presidential visit to Afghanistan since the United States routed the Taliban and began a thus far fruitless five-year search for bin laden in the region.

Bin Laden is believed to be hiding out somewhere along the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The writer of this article is obviously trying to imply that the failure to catch bin Laden means the whole mission has failed, which is nonsense. Although I'm sure we have people looking for bin Laden, I doubt that he's our highest priority in Afghanistan. Catching him would be nice, but hardly crucial to the overall mission.