Ann:
Yes, it is a major policy change and it is fraught with danger because it is a decision taken in a moment of passion -- understandable passion, but passion nonetheless, and it can actually have more far-reaching implications than did the triggering events.
From the moment I heard the first report of this dastardly act (series actually) I felt Osama Bin Laden was the most likely suspect. But on reflection he's not the only suspect. And quite possibly not the best suspect. I was struck pretty hard by a statement I heard during the coverage yesterday, "These people knew how to fly sophisticated passenger airliners. Where in Afghanistan can you get that kind of training?"
Certainly, unlike WW II kamikaze pilots, they didn't have to know how to take off, since someone else did that for them, but just as certainly they killed or incapacitated the pilots and took control themselves.
But they weren't perfect. One plane went down many miles from a target, and the one at the Pentagon actually hit the ground short and then bounced up and into the building. That probably saved a whole bunch of lives.
As usual, I've digressed.
Even if Bin Laden is behind this, the most logical conclusion is that the training was done elsewhere. And, in my mind, such sophisticated training implies the assets of a state government behind the scenes, probably actively involved. Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, and North Korea are the immediate candidates. But if the terrorists were trained in Libya at the behest of Bin Laden, do we become a rogue nation by squashing the Afghani Taliban? Personally I think the Taliban in and of themselves are beneath contempt, but it IS their country and they have a right to run it any old way they see fit. If the people in Afghanistan who don't like it don't do something to stop it, who are we or England or Australia or Germany to do something to stop them? But if Bin Laden is in their country legally and has done nothing against their laws, can we be morally right in punishing Afghanistan for actions Bin Laden has instigated in other countries?
Quoting someone else, "Revenge is best served cold."
In sorrow and in anger,
TEd
