But is bombing the $hit out of Afganistan in the hope of getting Osmond Bin Liner really the answer? I don't think so. The notion that an enemy will collapse and give up the fight because you have smoked out and killed their supreme leader exists only in the annals of the spaghetti westerns.
The solution has got be the "hearts and minds" approach espoused to so eloquently by Michael Howard. It's likely to take a lot longer and will do nothing to satisfy the journalistic feeding frenzy which accomapnies such campaigns, but it has to be the answer. PGMs were clearly unable to achieve their objective, and carpet bombing will only kill more innocents, so some means of regrouping is necessary to allow the more sensible solution to prevail.
Even if Afganistan is ultimately flattened beyond recognition will the problem have gone away? Doubtful; the extremists will move to another of their haunts and the 'war' will be continued by them from there. On the other hand the more measured approach has some historical precedent of success.
Let's hope there is light at the end of this tunnel.
OBM