World at a Glance

Here's a snapshot of the global security situation for the United States, as it stands today:

In Afghanistan, the Taliban gather in numbers not seen since the 2001 invasion to launch attacks on U.S., NATO and Afghan forces. Pakistan has retreated from Waziristan, a region bordering Afghanistan, where a reconstituted Al Qaeda and other extremist and terrorist groups operate free of any harassment by Pakistani or American forces.

Al-Zawahari, bin Laden's top deputy, urged the world's Muslisms to continue battling the United States, only days after a video was aired purporting to show bin Laden plotting the 9/11 attacks. U.S. officials admit that bin Laden's trail has gone completely cold.

And in Iraq, a secret Marine intelligence report concedes that the Anbar province is now ruled largely by Al Qaeda in Iraq, as troops intended to battle insurgents in Anbar have been re-routed to the largely unsuccesful attempts to secure Baghdad. Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army continue to grow in strength as Sadr gains more and more political influence, and Sunni legislators reject calls for a break-up of Iraq.