Yet even with all that experience, to quote you:

'We've accidentally killed people in past airdrops when heavy bundles landed on them. Those refugees could be in some pretty dense groups, so airdropping supplies could be hazardous to the very people we're trying to help. Helicopters would be a safer choice for the refugees but they can't carry as much as a transport plane and are more vulnerable to being shot down.'

Things can still go very wrong. Which is too bad, considering how badly average Afghans could use assistance.

Your Green Crescent and relaxed borders comments are to the point and illustrate how difficult all this may turn out to be. Which only illustrates the short-sightedness of past leadership in ignoring the problems outsiders - including America - helped create in Afghanistan, which have contributed to the crisis that prevails now. With war in the air, everything becomes harder. And deadlier. Had aid and action been forthcoming early on, perhaps things might not have escalated to such a high level of danger and disaster. Or at least assistance might have reached these people prior to this crisis of war.

Unfortunately, it is too late for all that now. American foreign policy is a patchwork thing, often incoherent, often oblivious to the ruined lives of foreigners left in its wake.

The people working for Bush and for the rest of the government now have a chance to undo some of the damage that has been done. Let's hope they don't blow it and, as you rightly fear, 'make things worse.'