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| Afghanistan |
| Anne Applebaum: Like 'em or not, we're stuck with Northern Alliance |
| 2001-10-29 |
As the bombing campaign began, however, our new friendship with the Northern Alliance lost its bloom. In the early days, American planes did not bomb Taliban front lines, apparently on the grounds that the administration did not trust the Northern Alliance and did not want its commanders to march into Kabul too quickly. The press coverage changed tone as well. Salon, among others, accused the alliance's leaders of "shocking human rights records, thievery and sheer governing incompetence." A more recent Washington Post report described the alliance as "tired, hungry and ill-equipped to face the Taliban." In the past few days, however, we seem to have returned to square one: The most optimistic scenarios for the war have been abandoned. Three weeks have passed, but we haven't found Bin Laden and haven’t forced the Taliban leaders to make mistakes. Fewer Taliban soldiers have defected than expected. Perhaps this explains why, according to this morning's reports, we have finally begun to bombard Taliban artillery which threatens the alliance. Like it or not, the Northern Alliance are the only serious fighting force in the country. Like it or not, they are still our only potential friends in Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance is a mixed lot, with some of them very bad characters indeed, others a lot better than painted. The whole lot of them was tarred with the brush wielded by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who blew away a considerable portion of Kabul because he couldn't have his way. Dostum and Ismael Khan, in particular, are much more competent than they're painted, and Masood, had he lived, would have made a fine head of state -- perhaps Afghanistan's only hope. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |