Taliban kill dozens in Afghanistan

President Bush assured us that the Taliban were gone. Well, they are back, and killing people again.

Hundreds of Taliban insurgents launched an attack on a town in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, and 13 policemen and 40 Taliban were killed in hours of fighting, government officials said on Thursday.

Helmand's deputy governor, Amir Mohammad Akhundzada, said it was the biggest strike in the province by the hardline Islamists since they were driven from power in late 2001.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks on foreign and Afghan government forces in recent months as thousands more NATO peacekeepers arrive. Violence in parts of the country is the worst it has been since the end of their rule.

This is happening because George W. Bush truncated the post-war effort in Afghanistan to launch his unnecessary war in Iraq. The resurgence of the Taliban is a tragedy for Afghanistan and for the fight against international terrorism.