Mir Tamim Ansary on Afghanistan: The first point this Afghani expatriate writer makes is that we spare the Afghani people:

“… the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They’re not even the government of

Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997.

Bin Laden is a political criminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you

think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think “the people of Afghanistan” think “the Jews

in the concentration camps.” It’s not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this

atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would exult if someone would

come in there, take out the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up

in their country.”

But here’s where it gets interesting:

The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with ground troops. When people

speak of “having the belly to do what needs to be done” they’re thinking in terms of having

the belly to kill as many as needed. Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about

killing innocent people. Let’s pull our heads out of the sand. What’s actually on the table is

Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would die fighting their way through

Afghanistan to Bin Laden’s hideout. It’s much bigger than that folks. Because to get any

troops to Afghanistan, we’d have to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The

conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see

where I’m going. We’re flirting with a world war between Islam and the West.

And guess what: that’s Bin Laden’s program. That’s exactly what he wants. That’s why he did

this. Read his speeches and statements. It’s all right there. He really believes Islam would

beat the west. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam

and the West, he’s got a billion soldiers. If the west wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that’s

a billion people with nothing left to lose, that’s even better from Bin Laden’s point of view.

He’s probably wrong, in the end the west would win, whatever that would mean, but the war

would last for years and millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for

that? Bin Laden does. Anyone else?” [via Scripting News]

And, while we’re listening to Dave Winer, here’s something else he has to say which I like:

“What you can do: Renew friendships with people who

are considered enemies, but actually are not. Use the

Internet to meet people with strange last names, and ask

questions and listen to what they say. If they express

anger, try to validate it, not negate it. Have the courage

to go through your beliefs.”