Word: talibans
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...been supported by the Reagan administration in his war against Iran, then Washington's most immediate foe in the Muslim world. More recently, in Afghanistan, instead of sending in tens of thousands of its own troops, the U.S. relied on local warlords to provide the infantry component against the Taliban. Supported by U.S. air power and directed by U.S. Special Forces, they were more than sufficient to put the Taliban to flight. But today, many of those warlords have reverted to their old ways, running personal fiefdoms with scant respect for democracy or human rights, restoring Afghanistan's place...
...single rogue scientist who supposedly managed to export the country's nuclear weapons technology unbeknownst to the military - and who, in turn, appears to have also been forgiven after appearing on TV in Pakistan and saying he was really, really sorry. Pakistan, of course, had pretty much invented the Taliban as its own proxy in Afghanistan, and remains, by all accounts, the sanctuary from which Mullah Omar and his men operate. But as long as his men are helping in the hunt for Bin Laden, other trespasses may be overlooked...
...drones to start hunting for bin Laden once the winter weather cleared in early 2001. The first successful test of an armed Predator was in February 2001. However, the lethal planes weren't used in Afghanistan until after 9/11. CIA officials were worried that bin Laden and his Taliban hosts might learn how to evade or shoot down the drones when there were few available, and the agency was also concerned that assassinating enemies with the Predator would provoke an international outcry against...
Invading Afghanistan before 9/11 would have been politically difficult. It's highly doubtful that neighboring countries such as Pakistan, then an ally of the Taliban, would have allowed the U.S. to use their territory for basing operations. And there were other difficulties. As it was, when Clinton sent cruise missiles into Afghanistan in 1998, he was accused by members of Congress and the media of a wag-the-dog strategy--of attempting to divert attention from the scandal over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. After the Cole bombing, Clarke advocated striking al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan but could...
...policy away from great-power relations. The crisis reminded the world that--quite apart from the President--there were plenty of people among his top advisers with far more experience than Rice and with very firm agendas of their own. As the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban morphed into plans for an attack on Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, it became clear that the Bush team was deeply split. By 2003 there were at least four different streams of thought among Administration officials. Some people, epitomized by Deputy Secretary of State Paul Wolfowitz, wanted...