Flight from Kabul an early victory for U.S.

While people in Kabul celebrate the flight of the Taliban, Americans can take a moment to experience a certain quiet satisfaction. Then, we must return with renewed resolve to the business of rolling back terrorism and barbarism.

Americans were prepared for a much longer and harder fight to take the capital of Afghanistan. Instead, the opposition melted away. And Kabul’s people, oppressed for the past five years by Taliban brutality, came into the streets of a much-freer capital.

The Taliban, lest we forget, had ample chance to avoid attack. Despite the Sept. 11 massacre, coldly planned and orchestrated on their territory, President Bush offered them peace in exchange for Osama bin Laden. The Taliban refused, and they are beginning to pay the price for such arrogant complicity in murdering men, women and children from America and the world.

Early reports from Kabul indicate there have been some acts of revenge. President Bush and Russia’s President Putin promised to work with the advancing Northern Alliance to prevent human rights abuses. That’s a vital task.

The Northern Alliance’s seizure of Kabul should make it easier for humanitarian aid to be delivered. Most of the hunger and malnutrition is in the northern region, so the aid should get where it is most needed rapidly.

On the diplomatic front, the Taliban’s flight opens new opportunities for the Bush administration. The emphasis must be on international action, an arena in which the president and his advisers have shown special skill. An international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, drawing largely from Muslim countries, can help re-establish the understanding that human rights and peace are goals for all the world, not just America or the "West."

While the advance into Kabul brings freedom for an ancient city, the Taliban and bin Laden continue to dream of terror and international oppression. As they fled, the Taliban made sure to kidnap the eight young Christian workers accused of missionary activity. Those young people and millions of Afghanis remain subject to people with no respect for human rights.

The fight against terrorism is far from over. Bin Laden and his top lieutenants remain at large. But a much-needed victory has come, much earlier than most decent people would have imagined. And it was achieved with an American restraint that speaks well of the nation’s leadership and military. Perhaps bin Laden, whose pronouncements have increasingly suggested desperation, is also a bit surprised.

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