Special Access:With the General

Thursday is the seventh anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on the United States.Those attacks set off the recession of 2001.National security has a definite economic impact,so I am observing this anniversary with a military update on the Global War on Terror.Major General Jeffrey Schloesser,U.S. Army,is Commander,Combined Joint Task Force 101 in Afghanistan.In a teleconference with reporters at the Pentagon,General Schloesser,wearing his camouflage uniform,noted that there are several Islamic militant groups fighting in Afghanistan.Even the LET,a Kashmiri terrorist group from India,is among them.Al Qaida is serving as ideological ringleader and helping with funding the groups.These militants join together in their quest for a radical Islamic regime in Afghanistan,from where the 9-11 attacks were planned,prepared and directed.There are 7,000-11,000 of them in Eastern Afghanistan.Some of them are expected to remain in the country over the winter,so that they can resume their attacks more quickly when spring arrives.We are not losing the war,General Schloesser feels,though we need to proceed in a more timely manner.The enemy cannot win-even with what we have now.