to the current situation spelled by Mr. Steele (and many others besides), is one of dissapointment and regret that as a citizen of the United States, I am attached to such arrogance, idiocy and pompousness. Do I feel a bit smug that my distrust of President Bush was justified, of course. Even the most humble of left leaning individuals could not help feel a little sense of "I told you so". But a more overriding feeling is one of sadness and regret. I truly hoped Afghanistan could at least be pushed along the path to a more open and hopeful future. For those of you most critical of the Bush administration (often for good reason), I ask you truly look at the alternatives for power. I seriously doubt, if you truly looked at the situation you would believe the Taliban, the warlords, the extremist Pushtan factions etc., would be an alternative you could support. I say all this as a plea to those of you to at least try to formulate sensible alternatives like the one Mr. Steele has at least tried to formulate. Fulminating against the "fascism" of George W. Bush may get a lot of response on these blogs, but its hyperbolic and I think most of you know it (I have no doubt that many of the Bush administration's policies are dangerous to democracy, foolhardy and alarmingly vengeful, but I just ask for perspective). There is a solution to creating a stable Afghanistan. Sensible commitment from both