Difficult though it may be for the Americans to admit, they seem now to be suffering the consequences of nearly fifty years of neo-colonialist dominance in the Middle East. There is a way out of this mess, but it means that we in the rich world - and the United States in particular - need to face up to some uncomfortable realities.

thanks to BookNotes

If Bush wants an invasion, it could become more costly than Vietnam

And what about those mines? If the Americans are even contemplating a ground force, it can enter only from Pakistan ­ the most dangerous main supply route it would be possible to find ­ and up the Kabul Gorge from Jalalabad. But the Russians seeded the perimeters of Jalalabad, Kandahar, Khost and Herat with anti-armour mines. There are, in Afghanistan today, more than 10 million mines. They lie in fields, on mountainsides, beside roads, around the big cities, along irrigation ditches. On average, between 20 and 25 Afghan men, women and children are blown up by mines every day ­ even if we take the lower figure, this indicates 73,000 civilian casualties from these mines in the past 10 years alone.

Afghanistan: A Nightmare Battlefield

In a war against Afghanistan, the world's only superpower would be aligning the most sophisticated, high-tech military weaponry ever developed against mud barracks, mountain caves, a few hundred artillery pieces and a savvy foe able to melt into the khaki folds of an already devastated landscape.

thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest