Just a bit found online. From Oct 2001.   
      
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     War in Afghanistan   
      
    ...   
      
    Although the Taliban had refused to turn Osama bin Laden over   
    to the United States, it had offered 1) to negotiate, 2) to put   
    him on trial in an Islamic court and 3) to turn him over to a   
    third country if the United States provided evidence of his   
    guilt. These offers were rejected out of hand by the Bush   
    administration as nothing more than delaying tactics. Since the   
      
    ...   
      
    While the U.S. arguments are strong, the curt refusal to   
    negotiate makes the United States look to many in the Islamic   
    world like a bully; and in a war on terrorism, Muslim public   
    opinion matters. And while there is no possibility of a fair   
    trial in Kabul (he was a major military and financial supporter   
    of the Taliban), the idea of bin Laden trying to defend himself   
    before an Islamic court is very attractive. In a fair trial   
    before unbiased Islamic jurists, he would face conviction for   
    violating Islamic principles in attacking innocent civilians.   
    Such a conviction would do more to undermine terrorism in the   
    Muslim world than anything the United States could do on its   
    own.   
      
    We will never know what would have happened if the United   
    States had called the Taliban's bluff and suggested some   
    ...   
      
    countries and jurists about such a scenario. Alternatively, bin   
    Laden could be tried by an international criminal tribunal.   
      
    Even if war is justly engaged in as a last resort, it must also   
    be waged in a just manner. The intention should be to seek   
    justice, not revenge; direct attacks on civilians must be   
    avoided, and the force used must be proportionate to the ends to   
    be achieved.   
      
    ...   
      
    this struggle primarily in military terms, but the war on   
    terrorism cannot be won simply with bullets. The United States   
    needs the support not only of the elites governing Muslim   
    countries, but also of Muslim public opinion. That is why it was   
    foolish for the administration to wait a month before accepting   
    invitations to appear on Al Jazeera, an independent all-news   
    satellite channel based in Qatar, which could be used to send   
    our message to the Muslim world. This war will not be won in the   
    mountains of Afghanistan. It will be won when Muslims are   
    convinced that the United States acts justly.   
      
      
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
   ... Republicans-united by feelings of Victimhood, and obsessed with Revenge.   
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