Two pieces of interesting war news in the Washington Post

today: Taliban Foreign Minister Gives Up. “The foreign minister of the Taliban, Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, surrendered to Afghan government officials yesterday and was turned over to U.S. forces, U.S. officials said last night. He is believed to be the highest-ranking member of the Taliban to have beentaken into custody.”

And “I’m not angry at the Americans. It’s not their fault, it was Mullah Mohammad Omar and his friends’ fault. They’re the ones to blame.”

While Washington debates its culpability for civilian casualties in the U.S. war on terrorism and Omar’s radical Taliban movement, ‘Kabul has proven remarkably forgiving of military attacks that have mistakenly killed innocent people. Afghan political leaders eager to cement good relations with the West for the difficult days of reconstruction ahead have brushed off the issue as largely insignificant. And even many of the ordinary Afghans who have suffered most as a result of what the Pentagon calls “collateral damage” express little bitterness toward the foreigners who visited it upon them.’ While the reporter acknowledges that the sentiment may not reflect feeling in other parts of the country, there is no broad sense of outrage in the capital. Could it be, however, that he has access largely to those who have a vested interest in US reconstruction aid? He admits that the issue of ‘collateral damage’ is discussed, with some irritation, only when brought up by journalists.