Word: dostum
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Time for Plan B. The first major ground battle, near Mazar-i-Sharif, took place last Monday, when hundreds of Northern Alliance troops serving under two commanders, Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum and Tajik general Mullah Ustad Mohammed Atta, swept toward the city and the 20,000 entrenched Taliban troops protecting it. The Alliance forces advanced to within 12 miles of Mazar, but a fierce Taliban counterattack led to savage street battles; Alliance forces managed to hold their front line but failed to advance much further. It's unlikely that the Alliance will march on Mazar anytime soon. The Taliban...
...conceived raid on Oct. 16, during which roughly 200 of his men were captured and an undetermined number killed. But U.S. jets had since started bombing Taliban positions and munitions in and around Mazar-i-Sharif. And this time, Atta would be accompanied by the forces of General Rashid Dostum, the notorious and ruthless Uzbek warlord who was being advised by U.S. military strategists. From his hillside camp overlooking the barren plains between him and his target, Atta forecast nothing less than annihilation for the Taliban: "We'll kill them...
...When the push finally came, Atta's bravado was thoroughly exposed. On Monday evening, he and Dostum sent their men forward on foot and horseback, armed with AK-47s. Almost immediately they met resistance from the better-manned and better-armed Taliban. Depending on which account of the battle you believe, it was at best a defeat, at worst a rout. What is certain is that the reversal set the tone for a very bad week for the ragtag coalition of warlords ranged against the Taliban...
...Even as Atta and Dostum were taking a beating outside Mazar-i-Sharif, the Alliance was faring poorly in the initial rounds of a p.r. effort designed to shore up its place as a crucial element of the U.S.-led military strike against the Taliban and, as important, a power player in any post-Taliban government in Afghanistan. From the start of the campaign, the U.S. has kept the Alliance, still the recognized government of Afghanistan, at arm's length. Knowing they needed the rebels' experience fighting the Taliban on its own terrain, the Americans promised logistical and material support...
...bickering among themselves about what to do next and growing increasingly frustrated with mixed signals from Washington. Last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell said he hoped the Alliance would be able to capture Mazar-i-Sharif, but the support that might have increased the odds in favor of Dostum and Atta never materialized. Yusto Khalili, Northern Alliance commander and member of Afghanistan's war council, south of Dostum at Yakawland, said, "We do not know how long the war will continue. It all depends on American help and the world community. If they give us more help, then...