NEW YORK, N.Y. -- It now looks, with 20-20 hindsight, as though
he should have taken a few more deep breaths before smacking that tar-baby
that is Afghanistan. We're running out of time for three reasons -- winter,
Ramadan and the prospect of millions of people starving to death.
We've run out of time to set up a bridge or coalition government
and so, of necessity, are throwing our lot with the Northern Alliance.
According to the Afghan women's organization, the Northern Alliance is as
bad as the Taliban and, in addition, consists of minority tribes who have
always warred with the majority Pushtan.
We seem to have bombed everything bombable, including the Red
Cross twice. At this point, it seems to me, we can give it another month and
call the war for the season, which is what the Afghans do, and wait 'til
next year without any disgrace. What would be worse than disgraceful is
causing mass starvation. The humanitarian aid folks are getting frantic
about this, and we need to stop and figure out what we can do about it.
The trick to smiting back those who smote us is to first figure