> Then I don't understand why you condone or call for "considerable use of
> force," since application of US force is guaranteed to be "out of all
> proportion to the stimulus."
I don't recall anyone on this list singing joyful odes to air-to-ground strikes. The issue is whether the UN ought to intervene, to try to save as many lives as possible, and to keep al-Qaeda on the run. If you accept that some sort of UN action is necessary, then there's going to be a military component to that. So far, Powell is following the UN script -- keeping away from civilian targets, going after the volunteer forces in Afghanistan and not the indigenous Taliban, etc.
-- Dennis