Stories from 2002-03-10

"Wounded Americans lie side by side with Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters at this old Soviet airfield." [more]

"Despite President Bush's insistence that America's enemies resent its liberties, most critics of the U.S. don't actually object to America's stated values. Instead, they point to U.S. unilateralism in the face of international laws, widening wealth disparities, crackdowns on immigrants and human rights violations--most recently in Guantanamo Bay. The anger comes not only from the facts of each case but also from a clear perception of false advertising. In other words, America's problem is not with its brand--which could scarcely be stronger--but with its product." [more]

"Even though a pre-emptive, limited nuclear strike might be contemplated in an unexpected emergency, it would probably be a last resort. Otherwise, anyone considering such a strike would be open to scorn as some sort of latter-day Dr. Strangelove embracing the bomb." [more]

"Afghan allies never arrived and [US] troops became the pointed end of the spear engaging adversaries in the first 18 hours of combat." [more]

"Since the gradual demise of the Soviet Union, certain scholars of combat had been arguing that the great lumbering military machine constructed for the cold war was stubbornly ill suited to the new threats of a disorderly world and slow to exploit the new technologies of the information age. As they watched American airliners explode into American landmarks, and then monitored the subsequent rout of the Taliban, the reformers could barely contain the urge to gloat: this is the sort of threat we were warning you about." [more]

"An improved global order cannot come about if the label of "anti-American" is automatically and unthinkingly slapped on any serious analysis of antidemocratic trends, of political excesses and abuse when, as so often happens, the United States provides the clearest examples. Cries of "anti-American" amount to intimidation, as do the labels "leftist" and "bleeding-heart liberal" thrown at those whose conscience and intelligence drive them to rethink political purpose amid their country's technocracy and corrupted media." [more]

"Outlining a broad overhaul of American nuclear policy, a secret Pentagon report calls for developing new nuclear weapons that would be better suited for striking targets. Critics responded by complaining that the Bush administration was not only pushing for the development of new types of nuclear weapons, but broadening the circumstances in which they might be used." [more]

"The United States pulled 400 frontline troops out of the mountain assault on al Qaeda fighters Sunday, turning the battle over mainly to B-52 bombers and a divided Afghan force." [more]