"Probably the US has already made up its mind what to do, and any recommendations by me will be too late. However, military action by itself in the present circumstances is only making things more difficult - especially if this war goes on a long time and many civilians are killed."

That isn't a quote from some liberal pacifist or left pacifist sitting in safety far from the bloodhsed. It comes from an interview with Abdul Haq reprinted in today's Guardian(England). Abdul Haq was the opposition Afghan leader who was executed by the Taliban last week when he was picked up trying to rally opposition to the Taliban in Afghanistan itself. He gave the interview a few days before that. He has surely earned the right to be listened to by anyone who thinks that the present bombing campaign makes some kind of sense.

Here's another quote from his interview:

"But the US is trying to show its muscle, score a victory and scare everyone in the world. They don't care about the suffering of the Afghans or how many people we will lose. And we don't like that. Because Afghans are now being made to suffer for these Arab fanatics, but we all know who brought these Arabs to Afghanistan in the 1980s, armed them and gave them a base. It was the Americans and the CIA. And the Americans who did this all got medals and good careers, while all these years Afghans suffered from these Arabs and their allies. Now, when America is attacked, instead of punishing the Americans who did this, it punishes the Afghans."