Nowhere are the results of said action morein doubt than in the area most Americans consider key: namely, will ourmonth-long bombing of Afghanistan, and whatever remains to be done there,actually have an impact on reducing terrorism the likes of which we experiencedon September 11th? After all, the whole point of this war — or sowe were told — was to destroy al-Qaeda, and to a lesser extent its leaderOsama bin Laden. That the fall of the Taliban has happened, and that we mayrejoice in this occurrence, does not change the fact that such an end is onlyone small part of a much larger picture. If our actions not only fail toincrease security from terrorism, but actually decrease it by inflaming certainsegments of the Islamic community, then the verdict on bombing and thedestruction it has wrought may yet prove to be an unfavorable one, even in theeyes of those presently overjoyed.