[url]http://www.newsmax.com/commentmax/articles/Notra_Trulock.shtml[/url]

                            Al-Qaeda won a major battle in the war on terrorism recently. Not on the
                            battlefield but in Washington, where politicians often squander the hard-earned
                            victories of U.S. forces. The defeat received only cursory attention from the
                            media, which is surprising given their appetite for second-guessing any
                            administration once U.S. troops are committed abroad.

                            The "defeat" stems from the sudden resignation of Army General (ret.) Wayne A.
                            Downing as President Bush's Deputy National Security Advisor for
                            Counterterrorism. Downing brought years of experience fighting terrorism and a
                            reputation for candor with him when he joined the administration after the
                            September 11 tragedy. His replacement, Air Force General (ret.) John Gordon,
                            comes out of the strategic missile forces, lacks hands-on experience in fighting
                            terrorism, and is a "political general."