The original question (not on this thread, but there you go) in Afghanistan was about eliminating a staging ground for Al-Qaeda, that was the whole purpose. The need for a stable government was to prevent the Taliban from regaining power, and by extension, bringing back Al-Qaeda. But that now seems implausible as a domino theory. The allies are now talking to the Taliban, and Karzai is threatening to go over to them.   The Taliban will always be there: it is a tribal society. It is very, very hard to see how the Allies can create a stable government in such a situation. Anyway, it probably doesn't matter any more. I'm someone who thinks that the Osama bin Laden days are over, it was one "lucky" demented moment -- it could have been blown earlier, if the Bush administration had been paying attention. He's a cave dweller now. Everyone has been warned about that particular toxic mix. If something new is going to happen, it isn't going to happen like before.

When you look at what has happened since, it is obvious that there is no vast Al-Qaeda army (which even reasonably sane people could have been forgiven for thinking in the aftermath of 9/11). What there is is a bunch of semi-connected, disaffected Muslims -- none of whom are Afghans! -- most of whom are in the West, well-educated, and angry at America's policies concerning Israel and the Palestinians. The solving of the terrorist problem, as a million people have said, is in Jerusalem, not Kabul.
There will always be nutcases, an army will not solve them.

The problem is that America has a hammer, and everything looks like a nail. Using external armies to create stable internal governments hasn't worked out all that well recently. The Afghans should be left to work out their own fate. We will always be interlopers and do-gooders (I say this as someone who has helped fund a girl's school in Afghanistan -- among the few sensible things the Allies have grudgingly decided was a good thing). The whole thing breaks one's heart, but that's the terrible reality, not just in Afghanistan, but in many parts of the world.

yours,

Peter T.   

yours,

Peter T.