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Clerics urge bin Laden to leave country
Afghan Clerics recommend that bin Laden be asked to leave the country for the good of the Taliban.
This seems a positive development, but maybe not so much in light of this:
Bush deploys bombers, to address nation at 9 pm Thursday
US warplanes are being deployed to within striking distance of Afghanistan, and Bush is going to detail the "sacrifices" the US will need to make to win the "war" on terrorism tonight in a speech to Congress and the nation.
This is a particularly galling development, as the Bush administration has flat out rejected an overture from the Taliban to turn bin Laden over to a "neutral" Muslim nation to stand trial in exchange for diplomatic recognition of their regime. While I don't condone recognizing the Taliban as legitimate, and I wouldn't support such an action, deporting Bin Laden to another country besides the US, or to the UN, seems a perfectly reasonable solution to me. If such a thing were possible, it would be the best way for the US to show that they are concerned with maintaining global stability and not just interested in blood. But the Bush administration seems to have only one tactic: brinksmanship. Among other things, they refused to negotiate with China about the spyplane. While that tactic may have been appropriate for playing with the fate of US equipment, it isn't appropriate for risking civilians around the world.
Incidentally, the stock market dropped again yesterday and only made gains when it was announced that planes were being deployed to "forward locations." I guess the Markets want blood sacrifice. |
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