The Economist 20011103 SEARCH RESEARCH TOOLS Economist.com Choose a research tool... advanced search » Subscribe Activate Help Saturday October 7th 2006 Welcome = requires subscription My Account » Manage my newsletters LOG OUT » » PRINT EDITION Print Edition November 3rd 2001 Previous print editions Subscribe A heart-rending but necessary war Slow progress? Yes, but it's only been four weeks … More on Oct 27th 2001 Subscribe to the print edition this week's lead article Oct 20th 2001 Or buy a Web subscription for Oct 13th 2001 full access online Oct 6th 2001 The world this week Sep 29th 2001 RSS feeds Receive this page by RSS feed Politics this week More print editions and covers » Business this week Leaders Full contents Fighting terrorism Enlarge current cover A heart-rending but necessary war Past issues/regional covers Subscribe A survey of the near future Weapons of mass destruction Dealing with the unthinkable GLOBAL AGENDA The next society European securities exchanges POLITICS THIS WEEK Liffe story The new demographics BUSINESS THIS WEEK Argentina's economy The new workforce OPINION Time to end the agony The manufacturing paradox Leaders World trade Letters High stakes at Doha Will the corporation survive? WORLD Zimbabwe The way ahead United States Curbing Mr Mugabe The Americas Offer to readers Asia New York city's election Middle East & Africa Goodbye, Rudy Tuesday Europe Business Britain Britain's glorious past Country Briefings History lessons The shake-up at Ford Cities Guide Jacques knifed SURVEYS Letters Satellite television Soap opera BUSINESS On globalisation, abortion, Quebec, oil and manure Management Reading Chinese telecoms Business Education Into the crucible Executive Dialogue Special Report European liberalisation FINANCE & ECONOMICS So much for dynamic Economics Focus Fighting terrorism - By invitation Economics A-Z Could worse be yet to come? The Executive Life affair A strange tale SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY The military campaign Low-cost airlines Steadying nerves Technology Quarterly No frills, plenty of promise The bombing of Bagram PEOPLE Face value From the control tower Obituary Where's the beef? The West's favourite warlord BOOKS & ARTS As good as it gets Finance & Economics Style Guide Afghanistan's forests A financial black hole Bare mountains, poor people MARKETS & DATA Houston, we have a problem Weekly Indicators Correction Currencies Fixing broken companies Big Mac Index A matter of life and death United States DIVERSIONS New-old Russian finance The home front Bait, switch, swallow, gulp RESEARCH TOOLS Looking hard for an enemy—and for better news Securities exchanges CLASSIFIEDS The Pentagon After Liffe DELIVERY OPTIONS Changing, yes—but fast enough? Investment banking E-mail Newsletters The victims' compensation fund Men overboard Mobile Edition A fragile peace RSS Feeds World Trade Organisation California's Republicans A deal at Doha? 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Security in Germany Overview Tightening up International Internet bandwidth Turkey and corruption Rotten eggs unbroken Economy Transalpine tunnels Financial markets No road Charlemagne Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz Britain Asylum A little less lunacy Parliamentary sleaze Sacked, but so politely Civil defence The stiff-upper-lip policy Teaching history Achtung! Too many Nazis The economy Leader of the pack Executive pay In the money Television Football's revenge Bagehot Spinning the war Correction Articles flagged with this icon are printed only in the British edition of The Economist Advertisement Classifieds Sponsors' feature About sponsorship » Jobs Business / Tenders Jobs Tenders Jobs Consumer Public Administration WSI Internet - Start Various positions Request for Health Sector Adviser Reform Specialist WSI Internet - Start Your Own Business INTERNATIONAL Proposals: A course Ref. 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Advertising Info | Legal disclaimer | Accessibility | Privacy policy | Terms & Conditions | Help Produced by = ECO PDF TEAM = Thanks xxmama About sponsorship Politics this week Nov 1st 2001 From The Economist print edition Air raid America continued its attacks on Afghanistan from the air, launching some of the heaviest raids yet. America's air force also began a concerted effort to help the Northern Alliance capture strategic northern cities by intensifying strikes on the Taliban front line, and supplying weapons and advisers. See article: The war this week Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, fought the war on the diplomatic front. EPA After a speech urging a wavering British public not to “flinch” or “falter”, he embarked on a mission to keep the support of waverers in the Middle East. Mr Blair's first stop in Syria boomeranged. President Bashar Assad condemned the attacks on Afghanistan, and spoke of Israeli “terrorism” and Arab resistance. Mr Blair's other stops were Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the occupied territories. See article: Bagehot: Spinning the war Alien threat George Bush said he would tighten immigration rules so that “aliens who commit or support terror” would be barred from entering the United States. A “foreign-terrorist tracking task force” will police borders for incoming suspects and “locate, detain, prosecute or deport” those already in the country. America's attorney-general, John Ashcroft, gave warning of another imminent terrorist attack after “credible” intelligence reports, although he said he did not know the nature of the threat. The Federal Aviation Administration restricted flights near the World Series baseball games in New York city and around nuclear sites. See article: The home front, going badly A hospital worker in New York city became the fourth person to die of inhalation anthrax as the bacteria were found at four more government buildings and the Supreme Court in Washington. Contamination has now been found at ten locations in the capital. America and Russia seemed to be close to a deal that would allow America to continue testing missile- defence technology and would make deep cuts in both sides' nuclear arsenals. Christians under fire Gunmen burst into a church in Bahawalpur, in eastern Pakistan, and killed 16 Christians. The attack was assumed to be linked with protests against the American bombing of Afghanistan. See article: Christians in the Middle East Japan's parliament amended its pacifist policy to allow its armed forces to support the American-led war on terror. In the latest of a number of accidents at Japan's nuclear plants, fire broke out on the site of a fast- breeder reactor at Oarai, north-east of Tokyo. Police said that there was no radiation leak. Japan has 51 reactors supplying a third of the country's electricity. Withdrawing, in part EPA Under American pressure, Israel withdrew its troops from Bethlehem and Beit Jala. But it is still occupying parts of five other Palestinian towns in the West Bank and raiding neighbouring villages. Shimon Peres, the foreign minister, said he was presenting a new peace plan to the prime minister, Ariel Sharon. An interim power-sharing government was launched in Burundi. A Tutsi president will rule for 18 months and then hand over to a Hutu; rebel leaders say they do not feel bound by the deal. Several hundred South African soldiers arrived in the capital, the first of a 1,400-strong “protection force”. See article: South African foreign policy South Africa's opposition alliance collapsed after weeks of squabbling. The New National Party, which had split from the Democratic Party, began discussions with the ruling African National Congress about joint rule in the Western Cape and a possible role in central government. Zimbabwe reiterated its refusal to accept European observers to monitor its election process but agreed to talk about human rights. European ministers said Zimbabwe had not honoured its promise to restore the rule of law and could face sanctions or the withdrawal of EU aid within two months. See article: Curbing Mr Mugabe Poles together Poland's new coalition government, made up of the ex-communist Democratic Left Alliance and the smaller Peasants' Party, formally took office after winning a vote of confidence in parliament. See article: Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Poland's foreign minister Georgia was in a state of confusion after President Edward Shevardnadze's decision to sack his entire government amid rows over corruption and incompetence. Fireworks in Italy as its anti-rackets commissioner, Tano Grasso, resigned after a special commissioner was appointed to do the same work. A victory for the mob, said anti-Mafia groups. A political fix, said opposition parties. Britain's government announced yet another supposedly major reform of its shambolic rules on asylum- seekers, the fourth such change in a decade. See article: A little less lunacy on asylum France's Communist Party chose Marie-George Buffet to lead it as national EPA secretary, alongside Robert Hue, who had previously held the post and will run in next year's presidential election. Both are ministers in France's Socialist-led coalition government. See article: France's Communists Copyright © 2006 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved. About sponsorship Business this week Nov 1st 2001 From The Economist print edition New driver Jacques Nasser, chief executive of Ford, was driven out. A worsening economy, on top of the recall of vehicles fitted with Firestone tyres, had led to a second consecutive quarterly loss. The Ford family, still owners of 40% of the company, decided to put one of their own back behind the wheel. William Clay Ford, Ford's chairman, will take over as chief executive as well. See article: The crisis at Ford as Jacques Nasser is ousted A day later Jonathan Browning quit as managing director of Jaguar, a Ford subsidiary. The firm said his departure was unconnected with Mr Nasser's. Mr Browning was apparently unhappy about Ford's decision to create a joint committee of Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin, introducing a layer of management over his head. James Goodwin, chief executive of United Airlines, was ousted. He had added to the problems facing the airline in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th with a letter to employees suggesting that United could “perish” unless matters improved. United's shares plunged and unions representing employees, who own 55% of the airline, demanded Mr Goodwin's head. Software settings There were reports of a tentative settlement in the government's long-running antitrust case against Microsoft. Lawyers close to the talks suggested that the settlement might leave the software giant's market largely undiminished. But final details remained unclear, and it was also uncertain whether state attorneys-general would be willing to sign up. General Motors sold Hughes Electronics, owner of DirecTV, to EchoStar for $25.8 billion. EchoStar's acquisition of DirecTV, its only serious rival as a satellite-TV broadcaster in America, dashes Rupert Murdoch's ambition to buy the company and create a worldwide satellite network through Sky Global. But American antitrust authorities may yet block the deal. See article: The battle for DirecTV Ericsson installed Michael Treschow as its new chairman. The former boss of Electrolux will see the mobile-phone company through a restructuring necessitated by slowing world demand for mobile phones and dwindling market share. Ericsson's workers noted gloomily that his enthusiasm for job cuts earned him the nickname “Mike the Knife” at Electrolux. As widely expected, Sir Peter Bonfield agreed to quit as chief executive of British Telecom in January 2002, a year ahead of schedule, after six years at the company. BT said he had completed a restructuring ahead of time: a measure required because Sir Peter had helped to run up debts of close to £30 billion ($44 billion) through a series of ill-fated acquisitions and joint ventures. He will receive a pay- off worth some £1.5m. Fair exchange Euronext, formed through a merger of the stock exchanges of Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, succeeded with its £555m ($806m) bid in an auction for the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe). The pan-European outfit beat off the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse. The troubled LSE may now become a takeover target itself. See article: After Liffe Running out of energy Enron, the world's biggest energy-trading company, faced mounting financial problems. Doubts increased about the company's unorthodox financial dealings and the potential liabilities they might carry. Enron's shares continued on a downward path to their lowest since 1992. See article: A financial black hole Lockheed Martin swooped to capture the biggest defence contract ever handed out by the Pentagon. Building America's next-generation Joint Strike Fighter could be worth some $200 billion to Lockheed's consortium, which includes BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman. The deal is bad news for Lockheed's main competitor, Boeing. See article: California's passionate Republicans Renault and Nissan took steps to deepen their partnership. Nissan will take a (non-voting) 15% stake in the French car maker for some euro1.4 billion ($1.3 billion). Renault will raise its stake in the Japanese concern from 37% to 44%, at a cost of ¥216 billion ($1.76 billion). The French government will reduce its 44% stake in Renault first to 38% and eventually to 25%. A consortium led by ExxonMobil announced the biggest-ever foreign investment in a Russian oil project. Some $4 billion could be spent to develop offshore oilfields at Sakhalin island in the far east of the country. McDonald's announced its latest special offer: a $5 billion share buyback over the next four years. The hamburger giant also gave warning that profits next year would grow by only 5-10%. See article: Face value: Jack Greenberg of McDonald's America founders News about America's economy continues to be dismal. GDP contracted in the third quarter by 0.4% at an annual rate, the worst fall since 1991. Consumer confidence also tumbled to a seven-year low, according to figures from the Conference Board. See article: Real and nominal growth Prices of Argentina's bonds sank to their lowest since 1995, amid fears that the country is on the brink of default. The government delayed promised economic measures while it sought to press reluctant provincial governors to accept further spending cuts. See article: South America's troubled economies A World Bank report estimated that growth in developing countries could be as low as 2.9% this year (down from 5.5% in 2000) after the events of September 11th combined with the slowdown of the world's big economies. Ahead of next week's Doha trade meeting, the report also said that abolishing all trade barriers would boost global income by $2.8 trillion over a ten-year period. See article: A deal at Doha Germany launched a cinema advertisement intended to convince the public of the benefits of the euro. The commercial stars Götz Georg and Ingolf Lück, two well-known actors, as well as Hans Eichel, Germany's less-famous finance minister. Copyright © 2006 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved. About sponsorship Fighting terrorism A heart-rending but necessary war Nov 1st 2001 From The Economist print edition Slow progress? Yes, but it's only been four weeks Get article background IT HAS been a wobbly few days for the West's warriors. Television news bulletins and newspapers, when pausing between anthrax scares, became dominated by pictures of injured, dead or just fearful Afghans, young and old, and by reports of civilian casualties and other evidence of mis-targeting by American bombers. There was nothing new or dramatically different about what was happening to civilians, but reporters and cameramen were closer than before to the bombing, and they did not have much else to send back to their editors. Which also reflected a second cause for concern: that little progress was apparently being made in the effort either to topple the Taliban or to find Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorists. On some interpretations, it was even worse than that: when, on October 26th, the Taliban captured and executed Abdul Haq, a would-be rebel leader, despite efforts by American forces to protect him, the campaign seemed to have suffered a setback. All these worries were exaggerated. But they nevertheless managed to create an awkward alignment of view between two sorts of people who are otherwise at odds: those who oppose the war altogether on the ground that it is wrong to kill more, innocent people; and those who favour military action but believe that American generals and their political masters are being far too cautious and are getting bogged down as a result. And looking nervously on was yet another group, partly in the West but most critically in the front-line Muslim states, who support action against al-Qaeda and the Taliban but who are anxious that it should succeed quickly and with a minimum of civilian casualties. We all want peace The divide endures. The pacifist argues that peace is better than war; the realist replies that he agrees, but that the only way to achieve it when war has been declared against you is to fight for it, since Mr bin Laden is evidently not a pacifist himself. Even so, in this televisual age, wars come into your living-room, bringing with them uncomfortable images. The drama and tragedy of military conflict make it appear a rapid affair, yet most wars are actually fairly slow to reach a conclusion. It is only four weeks since the American bombing began on October 7th. President George Bush, when he announced that the military campaign had commenced, gave ample warning that it would be a difficult process, promising not a quick victory but “the patient accumulation of successes”. Patience is certainly required. The Taliban may not be heavily armed or sophisticated, but it has been known all along that they would be hard to find, let alone defeat, in Afghanistan's difficult terrain. That is especially true when you are trying hard to avoid killing civilians with your attacks and when as a consequence those of your enemies who are not hiding in caves seek to mingle with those civilians. Given such difficulties, the Americans have done pretty well in limiting the casualties. Where they do not seem to have done well, on the basis of the limited information available, is in bringing the Taliban themselves close to collapse or surrender. On one view, that too should be no cause for criticism. The task is hard, but the determination to complete it is intact. The ultimate source of that determination, the opinion of the American public, remains resolute. The memory of September 11th is naturally strong, but is also kept fresh by the deaths at home from anthrax and by the fear of other attacks. There is no cause there for impatience. And yet the case for urgency needs also to be taken seriously, for two related reasons. The main one is the need for support from Pakistan and the other countries that have borders with Afghanistan. America needs no direct military assistance, but it does need supply lines and local bases, whether for rescue missions or for attacks. The larger the total of Muslim civilian casualties and the slower the process of accumulating successes, the more domestic pressure will mount on those neighbouring governments (especially Pakistan's) and the less they will be convinced that they are gaining by supporting America. On current evidence, their patience is not near breaking-point. But it will not be unlimited. The second reason is that the tougher the task appears of beating the Taliban, and thus the stronger the Taliban themselves look, the more other Muslims, from near or afar, may be tempted to join them. Already, thousands of Pakistanis have been trying to cross the border to offer their help. The nightmare would be if other governments, or even wealthy organisations, became tempted to send help to what now seemed, to much surprise, to be a viable opponent of the superpower. Then America really would find itself at risk of the Soviet Union's fate in Afghanistan in the 1980s: fighting a guerrilla war against opponents armed and partly manned by outsiders (in that case, Arabs and America itself). Step up the ground war, and threaten even more But what would urgency look like? No one could plausibly argue that the generals in charge are being deliberately slow. The bombing raids are relentless (see article). But what has not occurred as quickly as even some military experts expected has been the switch to the use of fast, hit-and-run raids by special ground forces. If successes are to be accumulated, such commandos are the likeliest way to achieve them. They are also a risky way. The American public is surely willing to accept the risk of casualties in a war to prevent further terrorist atrocities. Military commanders may be another matter, however. Their fear will be of another Somalia, when in 1993 captured American soldiers were paraded on camera and bodies dragged through the streets. That is a genuine risk, and if it were to occur it would be a greater setback than the execution of Haq, a figure of no formal status among the anti-Taliban opposition. But this risk is going to have to be taken. Military experts are unanimous in arguing that a conventional ground war, of the sort used in Kuwait in 1991, would be a bad idea in Afghanistan because of the terrain and the nature of the enemy. They are probably right in warning against that option. Even so, there are gradations of ground operations; it is not a matter of all or nothing. America needs to establish bases inside Afghanistan from which to supply food and arms both to its own forces and to its anti-Taliban allies. It also needs to create more fear on the Taliban side by planting the thought that American attacks could come from any direction, by any means, at any time. The way to plant that thought is by using hit-and-run raids, not just by talking about them. Nevertheless, talking can still play a useful role. President Bush, his British ally Tony Blair, and all their main political and military officials have done a good job of emphasising, time after time, that this will be a long campaign. They have also stated their willingness to use ground troops. But they need to go further, stressing their willingness to use more than small units of commandos. Bad option though it may be, America and Britain need also to be willing, in the end, to send in a massive ground force, if all else has failed, and they should start saying so now, to display their resolution to the Taliban. For if all else really had failed, what would be the alternative? In this war, there will be no going back. Copyright © 2006 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.