Anniversary

[Brad DeLong]

>  writes:
>
>>  Do I think an unmolested Al Qaida probably would've killed far more
>>  than 5,000 Americans (hell, they almost did last year)?  Yep.  Do I
>>  think Afghanistan is better off now, all things considered, than they
>>  were last year?  Yes again.  I guess holding those two beliefs in
>>  conjunction (although the latter alone would probably suffice) makes
>>  me an inhumane asshole in your book.  So be it.
>
>The inhumanity lies in assuming that the thousands of dead Afghans were
>Al Qaeda members.
>
>-- Shane

Nobody has assumed that. People have argued that (a) there would have 
been a second Al Qaeda strike that would have killed even more 
people, and (b) the Taliban government of Afghanistan was worth 
overthrowing even at the cost of perhaps 1000 civilian lives.

Brad DeLong