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Editor: 

Reading The Daily Planet regularly, I’ve seen nearly unanimous support of the Berkeley City Council’s anti-bombing resolution and the condemnation of our country’s current efforts in Afghanistan. With this week’s heroic victories by the United States and Northern Alliance in Kabul and the northern half of the country, have any of the aforementioned readers changed their tune? 

It’s quite easy to preach “war is not the answer,” cloaking one’s anti-war rhetoric behind the would-be civilian deaths in Afghanistan (of which there have actually been less than 300), without providing any kind of realistic solution which doesn’t involve all-out war on the Taliban. Patting one’s self on the back for being “the voice of reason” and a pacifist may put to ease the minds of those who hate getting their hands dirty or faint at the sight of blood, but it doesn’t change the current situation one iota. Suppose Bush, Cheney et al had followed the recommendation of the Berkeley City Council (and majority of Berkeleyans) and ceased its attack on the Taliban, choosing instead to negotiate for the release of Bin Laden. Not only would the men, women and children of Kabul and much of Afghanistan still be oppressed under draconian Taliban law, the United States would be recognizing the Taliban as the true government of Afghanistan. Sometimes, the ends do justify the means; and I don’t see many Afghans complaining about them today. 

Nat Mastick, Berkeley