Attention Turns Back to Afghanistan

Re “U.S. Troops Gear Up for Bin Laden,” Jan. 29: The Pentagon appears to be using yet another smokescreen, with the help of the U.S. executive branch, to hide the fact that Afghanistan will soon become the United States’ next “guerrilla front.” It appears obvious that, given the present and continued threat of attacks on British and U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, the goal here on the part of the Taliban is to increase hostile activities to draw U.S. and allied troops into another military occupation (quagmire). By the way, this would cause significant problems for President Bush during his election campaign.

Think about it: The United States is running thin on soldiers and is presently dipping into National Guard and military reserves. If Afghanistan increases hostile activities, a large contingent of U.S. and allied soldiers will be required. Given the inevitable in Afghanistan, the U.S. has decided to spin off its previous “capture Saddam Hussein” strategy by applying it in Afghanistan -- the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

It is a big sucker play by the Pentagon and the executive branch on U.S. citizens. However, the biggest suckers of all will be the U.S. and its allies as they fall for the Taliban’s bait, resulting in thousands of military and civilian deaths.

Steven A. Apodaca

La Puente

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Your story reported that officials said that the capture in December of Hussein had freed resources to press the hunt for Bin Laden and his fighters. “There’s an obvious ability now to refocus human assets on a far grander scale,” the U.S. official said. “It’s logical that the hunter-killer types would now be turned loose to deal with this more aggressively.”

Is it reasonable to conclude, then, that the war in Iraq diverted resources from the hunt for Al Qaeda and the Taliban and thus prolonged the lives of these organizations?

Devin Bent

Stowe, Vt.

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Re “Pakistan and Proliferation,” editorial, Jan 28: The notion that it is realistic for Pakistan to retain its nuclear weapons is flawed. Pakistan is a politically unstable country that has been a repeated source of nuclear proliferation to rogue states. Let’s not ignore the fact that Pakistan’s actions are far more dangerous than Hussein’s WMD programs.

At the moment, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is on thin ice, and things could get worse. Looking beyond Musharraf, it is essential that Pakistan be forced by the Bush administration to open its nuclear facilities for inspections. This has to be the price Pakistan must pay for its actions. Hussein was forced to pay a greater price for his actions.

Madan Valluri

Saratoga, Calif.