on track

Can I say I was on track?  But I suppose anyone could have figured this out
by Wednesday. That is, according to the New York Times today, the US, with
the cooperation of Russia, and probably NATO members, is planning "to occupy
Kabul, the Afghan capital, and overthrow the ruling Taliban."
September 14, 2001

A Vow to Erase Terrorist Networks  bin Laden Is Singled Out
By ELISABETH BUMILLER and JANE PERLEZ

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13  The Bush administration today singled out Osama bin
Laden, the Islamic militant who operates from Afghanistan, as a prime
suspect in Tuesday's catastrophic terror attacks and vowed a comprehensive
military campaign to demolish terrorist networks and topple regimes that
harbor them.

....Mr. Bush, facing a stern test that will recast and define his tenure in
office, said the campaign against terror "is now the focus of my
presidency."

He said he would not neglect domestic concerns. "But now that war has been
declared on us, we will lead the world to victory, to victory," he said.

The nascent campaign is being waged on a broad diplomatic front. The
administration continued today to try to galvanize an international
coalition, its diplomatic and military strategy focused on trying to use
Russia and Pakistan in an encircling movement on the north and south of
Afghanistan.

Russia has bases in the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
and could offer other assets, including intelligence, to the United States
for a military assault on Mr. bin Laden in Afghanistan.

The planning and the language used by administration officials was read by
military analysts as a sign that Secretary Powell, a former chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, is preparing the way for a military force that could
ultimately be used to occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital, and overthrow the
ruling Taliban.

The Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, while the United
States fought a proxy war, using mujahedeen rebels against the Soviet
troops, who began to withdraw in 1988.

Now, Russia and the United States appeared to be looking for ways to work
together against Mr. bin Laden in Afghanistan.
The deputy secretary of state, Richard L. Armitage, accompanied by a team of
Pentagon and National Security Council officials, is scheduled to meet in
Moscow next week with the Russian first deputy foreign minister, Vyacheslav
Trubnikov. Mr. Armitage will be asking the Russians for their detailed
knowledge of Afghanistan as well as for access to the Russian military
facilities in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, administration officials said. ...

Elson Boles, Ph.D.
Dept. of Sociology
Saginaw Valley State University