Love your keywords, S! Thanks for the ping!
Bush has handled this meme poorly for over a year. It was an anti-war talking point, I think concocted in Europe.
There's only pockets of Taliban in the SE. Forces for Iraq were not fit for Afstan. An anaolgy could be why stop the war on Japan because some pockets remained on Okinawa.
Kerry even got away with the impression that Osama is alive and living in Afghanistan.