It's the most effective form of military preventive dentistry:
Four truckloads of weapons and munitions have been seized in raids by Afghan forces targeting suspected Taliban hideouts in eastern Afghanistan.The haul includes rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, assault rifles and other weapons.
An Afghan commander says it's believed the Taliban wanted the weapons for terrorist attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. No one was arrested in the raids this week in Afghanistan's Khost province.
The Associated Press report is undated and unclear as to whether the operation was related to the Afghan army's first assignment, Operation Warrior Sweep. I'll update if the information becomes available.
Also, Saddam's seven-inch singles are stiffing on the charts:
There is a reluctance among Muslims to replicate in Iraq the jihad fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan.Saddam Hussein's exhortations to the Muslim world to join him in a war may strike a powerful chord, but for now, many of the Muslims are staying out of the fray.
[...]
[T]here may be recruitment drives in the future, but it would take six to nine months to yield results. Right now, there is little evidence of recruiting on campuses or on websites.
[...]
Many of those non-Iraqi fighters [detained by Allied forces in-country] have returned home, disillusioned by Baghdad's quick fall and stories of Iraqis showing little enthusiasm to fight to save Saddam's regime.
The article serves up an obligatory reference to the anger "stirred up" in the "Arab world" by Allied postwar conduct but as has been demonstrated for two years now, the Arab street never rises. The article's author is astute nonetheless, and understands Bush's judgment of being "With us or with the terrorists":
[A]rab governments may think twice about supporting Al-Qaeda, for fear of US punishment.
Bingo. The next step is, over the next years, enabling liberated Near East populations to think twice about even listening to hateful ideologies, for fear of destroying their newfound freedoms.
