Quote of the day: You know, that boy who cried wolf must have lived among smarter people than the amnesiacs of Chimpy the Prez's America

"There's no doubt that it will have an immediate impact on their ability to conduct attacks."
--U.S. military spokesman Col. Tom Collins (feel free to make your own joke), speaking about the death of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani, "a top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar," according to the AP, who "was killed [on Tuesday! it appears that news in, or maybe from, Afghanistan travels slowly] in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday"

Note: "A Taliban spokesman denied the claim." But you know those Taliban fibbers! Also: "There was no immediate confirmation from Afghan officials or visual proof offered to support the claim. A U.S. spokesman said 'various sources' were used to confirm Osmani's identity." (One hates to be overly technical, but wouldn't "immediate confirmation" have come Wednesday or maybe Thursday? Oh right, there was no annoucement till Saturday.)

Meanwhile, even the fizzy Colonel Collins says, "But the Taliban is fairly adaptive. They'll put somebody else in that position and we'll go after that person, too." I bet we will. And our favorite colonel will be there to tell us about it when it happens.

As to who and what the great and mighty Mullah Akhtar is, or rather was, he is, or rather was, "regarded as one of three top associates of Omar," and "is the highest-ranking Taliban leader the coalition has claimed to have killed or captured since U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime in late 2001 for hosting bin Laden." (And if it turns out that there really was such a person, and he really was killed Tuesday, or sometime, will any of us be surprised if it turns out that being Mullah Omar's No. 3 meant that he handled party favors for the mullah's weekly wienie roasts?)

I can't wait to hear Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, our trusted Rummy, tell us how we've really got those TallyBs on the run now! Then we'll mop up the Iraqi bad boys, and . . .

Oh, he's not? He what? Who? Gates? Well, he's gonna hafta tell us all about how we're wiping their butts in . . . in . . . you know, over there. Right?

[About the photo: "This undated photo," says the AP, "which has been handed out by the U.S military, shows Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani. A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader." Just so you know.]