The haven Osama bin Laden found in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has collapsed and he and his one-time host, Mullah Mohammed Omar, are on the run. Not everything has progressed so rapidly in the three months since Sept. 11.
At home, the pall the attacks cast over the economy threatens to darken the holiday season, and investigations into the attacks and into the deadly anthrax mailings that followed them remain inconclusive. Afghans face a massive refugee crisis that won't be solved anytime soon.
THE WAR:
Local fighters backed by US firepower rooted the Taliban out of its last stronghold last week, forcing the core still loyal to bin Laden into the hills. Omar is nowhere to be found.
Officials warned that although the war is on a different footing, it is far from over.
``It remains the case that large numbers of al-Qaida terrorists, including senior leaders as well as senior leaders of the Taliban, are still at large in Afghanistan,'' Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said. ``It's going to be a very long and difficult job to find them, to root them out.''
Marines mobilized near the fallen Taliban stronghold of Kandahar on Monday to cut off escape routes for Taliban leaders and fighters from bin Laden's terror network.
In 66 days since the bombing began Oct. 7, coalition forces have shredded the Taliban as a political and military force. Al-Qaida terrorist training camps have been destroyed and B-52s are dropping heavy bombs on a network of caves in eastern Afghanistan. On Monday in Kabul, Americans reclaimed the US Embassy 12 years after it was abandoned.
Nine US personnel have died, and the numbers of Afghan casualties - while difficult to assess - are likely in the thousands.
Even as its soldiers keep fighting, US diplomats are pressing the case for a stable postwar Afghanistan, working closely with the United Nations to set up the provisional government.
Four Afghan factions have agreed to a six-month interim government and named a leader, Hamid Karzai, who pledged to restore rights for women - naming two to his Cabinet - and rejected any truce that would allow Omar to go free.
The Bush administration - hoping to draw Islamic nations into a postwar effort to stabilize the region - has stressed the mission's humanitarian thrust. So far, US aircraft have dropped 2.1 million food packs to war-beleaguered Afghans.
Andrew S. Natsios, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, estimated that 1.5 million of the 12 million Afghans are on the brink of starvation.
Many of Afghanistan's hungry people soon will be battered by cold and snow.
``We're racing against time to get food in,'' Natsios said at a State Department news conference. ``Winter is upon us.''
THE ECONOMY:
Progress in the war did little to stem the economic downturn that Sept. 11 accelerated.
The nation's unemployment rate shot up to 5.7 percent in November and the total job loss for the past two months hit 800,000, the worst in more than two decades. The figures reflect huge post-attack layoffs across a swath of the US economy, with airlines and other travel industries particularly hard-hit.
Christmas shopping returns are the weakest since 1990, although there was one seasonal bright spot: Attendance has increased at theme parks, buoyed by steep discounts, cheap hotel rates and a focus on regional visitors.
ANTHRAX
Seasonal cheer has also been dampened by the government's failure to put a face on the anthrax terror.
Two months after the first inhalation anthrax death Oct. 5, four other people have died, among them two postal workers.
A batch of mail tested positive last week at the Federal Reserve. Officials assured government workers that all federal mail is being irradiated to render any anthrax spores harmless, and cautioned people to wash their hands with soap and water after opening mail.
As part of its appeals for help with the inconclusive investigation, the FBI released copies of the letters, all of which bear the Sept. 11 date and were postmarked from Trenton, N.J.
TERROR INVESTIGATION:
Investigators assigned to the Sept. 11 attacks have yet to catch a big break. Civil libertarians say sweeping new rules introduced by Attorney General John Ashcroft have had little effect so far, except to weaken constitutional guarantees.
Ashcroft has allowed the FBI to listen in on privileged communications between attorneys and their detained clients, has ordered interviews with young Middle Eastern men visiting the United States and has backed military tribunals to try noncitizens accused of terrorism.
About 4,000 FBI agents are working to sort through 445,000 tips and potential leads. Criminal charges - few having anything to do with Sept. 11 - have been brought against 110 individuals, including 60 who are in federal custody. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has detained 563 people on immigration violations.
On the financial front, 138 countries have issued orders to block assets of people and groups with links to terrorism. So far, US$61 million in assets have been seized.
(China Daily December 12, 2001)
