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It's Bathmat Bombing, Not Carpet Bombing
But At Least We're Getting More Serious

by Randy Barker

Apparently The Powers That Be read my editorial last week. That's the only logical conclusion one could come to after the latest events in the war.

Last week, I suggested you didn't need to be a military genius to know we need to start using B-52 bombers to aid the Northern Alliance around Mazar-e-Sharif, and to diminishTaliban forces around Bagram, the key to Kabul. And that's just what our military has started doing. But as a droll British journalist on the ground in Afghanistan has observed, it's "bathmat bombing", not the carpet bombing we grew to know and love in Vietnam and the Gulf War. But just as "There's nothing like the smell of napalm in the morning", any B-52 bombing is good B-52 bombing.

There's also good news on the Ignore The Politically Correct Colin Powell front. His influence on war policy seems to be diminishing. It was Condoleezza Rice, not Powell, who made the first announcement that we wouldn't be stopping the war for Ramadan. Trouble is, they apparently forgot to tell Supreme Commanding General Tommy  Franks. He indicated that decision had not been
made yet on ABC's This Week on Sunday.

Another move I approve of was sending Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld to Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and India instead of Colin Powell. Maybe Rumsfeld can get more ammo and replacement armaments for the Northern Alliance from Russia.  And more military installations in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan where we can base the increased number of U.S. troops that will be needed to assist the Northern Alliance. Unfortunately, the Northern Alliance
is really only a collection of disparate tribal bands whose best commander Akmed Shah Massud, was assassinated by the Taliban on September 10th. They may need more assistance than we now know.

There's also the good news that Turkey, in addition to sending about 90 commandos into the fray, will also help supply a "peace force" in a
post-Taliban Afghanistan. This, of course, will cost us money. Turkey needs $9 billion in IMF funds to keep their economy from tanking. One gets the idea that everyone in the Middle East is for sale. And that the money spent on the war could be used to buy friendship. Trouble is, once you buy a Bedouin, you can't trust them to stay bought.

These happenings make me hopeful. It feels much better not having to align myself with the likes of John McCain, who I think opposes Bush more out of pique about the Republican primary than about principle. It's interesting to note that McCain is now opposing Bush by supporting the Democrat version of the airport security bill, one that will lead to typical federal bureaucracy inefficiency and 28,000 more Democrat-voting unionists. Why McCain goes along with Daschle  is beyond me. The Democrats, with typical Taliban-like deceit, are already warming up to scream that Republicans will be to blame if a
terrorist not frisked by a union worker boards a U.S. plane. No doubt the DNC would use any incident to help the Democrat's 2002 election efforts.

I wrote a letter to George Bush Sr. during the Gulf War complaining that he and Powell were trying a last-minute appeasement of Saddam. Soon after, Bush The Elder started straightening up and flying right. My e-mails to Dubya seem to be doing the trick, too. So, if you're feeling better that we now seem to be actually waging war, rather than some political "police action", you have only me to thank.

Excerpt from NotSo SERIOUS MONEY,
a weekly online financial newsletter
written by RandyBarker@aol.com