Berube, Part Two

[Gordon Fitch]

Brad DeLong:
> Well, what more would you require? If the Taliban were not 
> responsible, wouldn't they have handed over Osama bin Laden and the 
> other responsible parties immediately after 9-11?

ChrisD(RJ):
> For one thing, they may not have had the firepower. I was reading back
> somewhere -- don't ask me where, I don't remember -- that Al-Qaidi was
> actually better-armed than the Taliban.

As I recall, the Tabiban said they would (try to) hand over
Osama bin Laden if evidence were presented linking him with
the 9/11 attacks -- in other words, they wanted something like
an extradition proceeding.  This demand was rejected out of
hand -- it's pretty obvious that the U.S. government wanted
to have a war somewhere, if only for domestic consumption.

-- Gordon