[dirtboy]

It seems too late for such an approach now, I suppose.

Actually, I think that's the goal of the current campaign, to weaken the Taliban so that the warlords that are not firmly under their grip will consider easy lease terms from the United States. The worst approach, IMO, would be to insert massive numbers of ground troops to give the Pathans a common enemy (and something new to shoot at). It's hard to say whether the current approach will work - but I think it has a chance and is not the futile method some folks make it out to be.

[NewAmsterdam]

The problem with this line of thought is that it hasn't worked in the past. Bombing, on the whole, galvanises the population of a country, rather then weakening and demoralising it. For instance: Loondon during the Blitz and germany during the British bombing campaigns later in the war. Also: Yugoslavia in 1999. I believe that you can be far more succesful by letting the thing fall apart all by itself, helping the process along with bribery and cynical disinformation.