I‘M READING THE MORNING PAPERS and my mood is shifting faster than Bob Brenly’s. The front page of the Washington Post tells me that American bombers are the military equivalent of Curt Schilling. The bombings have been “very effective,” destroying at least 15 Taliban tanks, according to a Northern Alliance leader in the town of Jabal Saraj. Consequently, the United States now feels that the stage is set for a major offensive against the Taliban.
But then I turn to the front page of the New York Times and see a headline: “Taliban’s Foes Say Bombing Is Poorly Aimed and Futile.” This report, which seems to come from a reporter directly on the front lines, asserts that as the B-52 bombers fly over, they create huge impressive explosions, and then after they’ve left the Taliban forces pop out of their caves and continue their assaults on the Northern Alliance. According to this report, senior Northern Alliance officials are saying the U.S. effort is “increasingly misguided and ineffectual.”
