THANK YOU FOR CARING. This morning, on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, NATO Commander Gen. James L. Jones, Jr., who is leading NATO efforts in Afghanistan, thanked the host for showing "interest" in "this important part of the world." He sounded truly grateful. That, on the day after the fifth anniversary of al Qaeda's attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, and given the current chaos and killing in that troubled land, the general should be in anything other than extreme demand as a talk-show guest is downright pathetic. NATO appears to have led successful attacks, killing hundreds of Taliban fighters in recent weeks, but the Taliban remain strong and resurgent. Recently, a provincial Afghan governor was assassinated by the Taliban. Then, marchers in the governor's funeral procession were killed. Calls by NATO brass for more troops for the Afghan campaign have so far gone unheeded by the alliance's member countries. And precious little has been done to create any kind of infrastructure in this nation, where fewer than 10 percent of households are hooked into an electrical grid. Gen. Jones today asked, as liberal internationalists have advocated for years, for a real commitment from the West for the rebuilding of an ancient nation.
--Adele M. Stan
