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Article: A tough road ahead in Afghanistan's war.(Opinion)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- November 16, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Edward Girardet
GENEVA -- Logistically and psychologically, the fall of Kabul is good news for Afghanistan. But as past rulers have found, holding the Afghan capital does not signify control of the country.
The American-led bombing certainly contributed to the collapse of the Pashtun-dominated Taliban forces in the north. Primarily, this has meant the Taliban and their Islamic backers have pulled out of areas, such as Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat, where they acted more as arrogant occupiers than representatives of the people.
The Taliban have never functioned as a tight military organization. Knocking out Mullah Omar's Kandahar headquarters ...