Since the noose seems to be closing around Osama Bin Laden and company at this point I wonder what the US response to Afghanistan is going to be and what our true options are.
IMO I think the US populace will be pretty irate at our leaders if we allow the Taliban to play us the way Saddam has, on the other hand as a “lawful” country I can’t see how we can send the message “Yield him now or suffer the immediate consequences” without observing at least some diplomatic niceties. Not being an international law maven I appeal to those in the know to set the stage. Assuming it is OBL what is the standard protocol for extraditing him.
I’m going hazard a guess that, IMO, the Taliban is not going to deliver him up no matter what kind of noises they make to us initally. In this context what would it take to destroy the Taliban, because I think that is what it will escalate to in fairly short order if we press the issue of getting our hands on him.
I know we’re angry right now but do we truly have the means to defeat the Taliban. What would it take to fight a protracted war in Afganistan? What useful lessons can we learn from the Russian experience?
Actually, very few governments officially recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
IMHO, the Taliban are a cancer upon humanity and should be eradicated. Their extremist policies are simply so insane and so far removed from anything that a sensible, civilized person could believe, that they have no legitimate standing among civilized nations. Even before the recent attack, the Taliban has harbored the mass murderer Bin Laden, whose organization planned the killing of hundreds in and around U.S. embassies in Africa. The Taliban have tried to construct a society where women have no substantial rights, where any view that slightly deviates from theirs is not tolerated and where art and culture are absent. They have destroyed giant buddha statues, forced Jews to wear special garments, and thwarted religious freedom.
The tricky part is the logistics. We want to take out the cancer with minimal loss of healthy tissue–i.e. innocent people.
For the past 5 years I have been hoping and praying for the Taliban stinkers to vanish from the face of the earth. My gut reaction is to relish the imminent prospect of them ceasing to exist. But then I think of the millions of good, innocent Afghan people who have been suffering nonstop, worse and worse, for the past 23 years. And wonder how much more they will have to suffer now. My heart is torn two ways.
The sheer hypocrisy of the Taleban sheltering bin Laden and then presenting their condolences makes all of their declarations ring hollow. Nothing they could possibly say can redeem their complicity in the crimes of Osama bin Laden.
It only remains for us to remove them from power with any and all means at our disposal.
I’m not at all suprised the Taliban made polite, sympathetic noises. And that’s all it was: noise. They’re wedged in a tight corner of their own making. They won’t/can’t give up Bin Lauden for several cogent reasons, namely that he’s bankrolling them and he’s as wacko zealous as they are.
The Taliban was isolated from world approval before but now the stakes have been upped immeasurably. Neighboring Islamic nations previously feared and mistrusted the Taliban and Bin Lauden but tolerated them to appease their own extremeist factions. The Taliban grew out of the chaos left after Soviet occupation so they know war well. But that war was just a dim preview for what could be unleashed against them now–with international consent if not active approval and cooperation.
Tuesday’s attacks effectively removed any fence for Arab states to sit on. Even Pakistan and Iran have closed their borders against Afghanistan, and both are working out terms for cooperation. Reluctantly, I’m sure, and looking for escape clauses but still doing it. NO nation can survive as a total outlaw in the world anymore. I rather suspect this unwelcome fact is just dawning on the Taliban. To be blunt, they bit off more than they can chew.
All the Arab states have been forced, hard, into a very tight corner. I also suspect their cooperation will take the form of very covert assistance in inflitrating the terrorist networks. From a very pragmatic viewpoint they wanted the fight even less than we did but, now that the decision’s been forced, they’ll opt for staying part of the world community while ridding themselves of domestic extremists.
Betcha dollars to doughnuts some of our most effective assistance will come from Arab states who’d rather be deep-fried than credited openly. Islamic moderarates have suffered from rabid extremists for years. I personally discount much of what’s said but have a lot of faith in the power of enlightened self interest. This one won’t be won by splashy assaults with CNN coverage. The real problem is way too diffuse. I’d wager that, now that the issue’s been forced, terrorist branches will just be quietly eradicated, without any of us knowing about it. Fewer awkward questions all around.
Whatever works. The coalition building, economic and diplomatic pressure, etc. make for lousy soundbytes and photo ops but they’re what will keep the fire burning.