If you liked Vietnam...

[Roger Baker]

We Americans are given the options of supporting Bush's war-against-evil 
or bin Laden, but nothing in between -- like legal justice under accepted 
international law that can genuinely unify most nations to stop the 
terrorism -- as opposed to near-unilateral militarism by the USA.

In the meantime we have likely already got ourselves stuck in the 
quicksand of a ground war in Afghanistan already, as the following 
link and excerpts make appallingly apparent. 

It may well be that bin Laden understood the instinctive military 
interventionist psychology of the USA well enough to lure us into 
a trap that a true dedication to non-violence and justice under 
international law would have prevented.

Those incapable of learning the lessons of history are sadly 
condemned to repeat its mistakes. You would have thought that
Vietnam and the Russian experience in Afghanistan would suffice,
but a few nations are blinded by delusions of imperial power. 

Peace,  Roger


         *************************************
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/12/international/asia/12FIGH.html


October 12, 2001

STRATEGY 


U.S. Military Goals Entangled in Afghan Politics


By JOHN F. BURNS

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 11 — After five days of American airstrikes on 
Afghanistan, the goals set by President Bush in committing military power 
— rooting out Al Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban government with them 
— have become deeply entangled in the murky politics that have kept Afghans 
fighting for more than 20 years.

The American bombers and cruise missiles that continued to hit Kabul, 
Kandahar and other strategic centers today have taken aim at Taliban military 
defenses that rely mostly on outdated, poorly-maintained Soviet military equipment 
from the 1980's. But the United States' overwhelming advantage in firepower shows 
signs of being blunted, even neutralized, by political restraints growing out 
of bitter Afghan political rivalries.

The problem for American commanders — one that could potentially prolong the 
air campaign for weeks or months — is encapsulated by the situation at the 
central front of the war between Afghans 35 miles north of Kabul, the capital.

There, forces of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance that only a week ago were 
hoping to rumble forward quickly over disintegrating Taliban defenses sit 
immobilized, with Taliban forces arrayed against them building by the day, 
as the American bombing leaves the Taliban forces in that area untouched.

The decision not to bomb the Taliban front lines at the point where a breakdown 
would leave Kabul open to capture by the Northern Alliance in a matter of days 
reflects a grim strategic reality: Pakistan, a crucial ally for the United States 
in meeting President Bush's war aims, has threatened to close its airspace to 
American aircraft and cancel support if the bombing allows the Northern Alliance 
to overrun Kabul.

In effect, American military planners are finding themselves obliged to 
calibrate the bombing to achieve a desired political result — establishing a 
stable, broadly representative government in Kabul — that has eluded Afghanistan 
for decades...

...At present, despite some defections, there is no sign of the Taliban
 disintegrating; indeed, at the Kabul front, there are signs of significant 
reinforcements, bringing the Taliban army's strength there to 10,000 men 
from 7,000.

Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, insists that he has an ironclad 
understanding with Washington that the Northern Alliance will not be allowed
to "draw mileage" from the American bombing by closing in on Kabul before 
arrangements are complete for a new government that will be friendly to Pakistan, 
as the Taliban have been since overrunning Kabul in 1996.

Those negotiations on a new government, aimed at bringing back Afghanistan's 
exiled king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, as the titular head of a coalition government, 
began in earnest only two weeks ago, and have already bogged down...

...While the Pentagon is deeply concerned about the risk of a stalled military 
campaign, the State Department appears equally concerned about the diplomatic 
risk of its coalition, built around Pakistan, unravelling...