So far, so fairly good

摘要

For a war effort that has been billed by its American and British instigators as a long, complex and grinding affair, the military campaign against the Taliban has got off to a brisk start. On October 9th, the third day on which targets in Afghanistan were pounded with bombs and missiles, America's defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, declared that "air supremacy" had been achieved. The Afghan regime's puny air defences, and its tiny air force, have been disabled to the point where the United States could carry out air operations "around the clock, as we wish".