Posted on: Monday, March 11, 2002
EDITORIAL
Bush must share plans for war on terrorism
President Bush and his top military leaders had warned us that the fight in Afghanistan was far from over. Perhaps we didn't quite believe him because the Taliban and al-Qaida foes collapsed so quickly.
Now the pitched, ongoing battle near Gardez bears out that warning. Commanders who had been led to expect around 150 foreign fighters now say 500 to 600 of them have been killed, and perhaps that many or more are still fighting. While alliance troops had ringed the area to prevent the enemy from escaping, it was apparent that enemy reinforcements were going the other way, infiltrating those lines to join the fight.
Thousands of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters walked away from earlier battles. While many melted into the hills, it was an American stratagem to let them regroup so they could be surrounded and pummeled. Perhaps it worked better than planned.
Thus the extent and duration of American involvement in Afghanistan is problematic. Sen. Dan Inouye, when he said after a recent visit to Kandahar that the U.S. role should be completed in a couple of months, appears now to have been over-optimistic.
Far less clear is the emerging shape of the rest of the global war on terrorism. Several members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Sen. John McCain, have braved attacks on their patriotism to demand more openness from the White House.
In recent weeks we've seen initiatives begun in the Republic of Georgia, Yemen, the Philippines, Indonesia and Colombia. In some of these countries there's danger of being sucked into ongoing civil wars. American troops are building new bases in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, no doubt with as much an eye to their proximity to strategic oil pipelines as to Afghanistan.
It's important that Congress, the American people and our allies have an understanding of where all this effort is headed, how much it will cost and how long it might last.
And it's vital that these new efforts not be allowed to stretch U.S. forces in Yugoslavia and South Korea to the danger point.
If the Bush administration has a coherent plan for all of this activity, there are many eager ears waiting to hear it.
