Friedman vs. ABC News on the state of Al Qaeda

Here's the first line of Friedman's latest column (it's as much as I could afford, I read it in the AJC): "Osama bin Laden is losing in the Arab-Muslim world, but that doesn't mean we're 'winning.'"

So how does this fit with the ABC News exclusive I saw last night:

Al Qaeda and its former protectors — the Taliban — are in the midst of a powerful resurgence, according to accounts by local officials and information contained in new al Qaeda videotapes obtained by ABC News....The fighters seen on tape shout "bin Laden forever! Long live al Qaeda!"

"It has regrouped, reformed and re-emerged with new vigor," said Akbar Ahmed, professor of Islamic studies at American University, "and this is a very dangerous emergence."