Seven Years Later

On the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and the flight that would have crash-landed in the White House, but was diverted to a field in Pennsylvania instead--killing nearly 3000 people--it might be a good idea to ask: Where are we today?

The two remaining presidential candidates--Senators Barack Obama and John McCain--buried the hatchet for a few hours to lay wreaths on the site where the WTC used to stand (and will stand once more, once all the construction delays end around 2015). Tomorrow, they'll go back to debating whether putting lipstick on a pig is sexist.

President Bush announced a drawdown of a few thousand troops from Iraq, meaning what's left is the same number of soldiers he started out with when he invaded the country. The job of ending the war will be left to the next president.

A top military official told Congress that the war in Afghanistan is in danger of being lost because of the resurgence of the Taliban.

A poll finds that one-third of Americans believe another terrorist attack is only a few weeks away.

Major breaches in security are still being found in areas most vulnerable to attack, such as shipping ports and nuclear power plants.

More laws intended to keep Americans safe are instead being used as a means of intimidation. For example, both Obama and McCain voted for a bill making it legal to wiretap your phones.

Pakistan has a new leader, the husband of the late Benazir Bhutto. But his mental fitness is being questioned, which is not a good thing in a country with nuclear weapons that could be stolen by terrorist groups.

By the way, whatever happened to Osama bin Laden? Is he dead, or just hiding in a cave someplace? And why hasn't he been caught?