During the fighting at Tora Bora, I got the distinct impression that American forces were, for whatever reason, hanging back and letting the Afghan fighters do much of the dirty work of prying the Taliban and Al Quaeda out of the mountains.

The good news: no American casualties, and the good political impression given by the Afghans handling their own war.

The bad news: the job of capturing the leaders and keeping the terrorists from escaping into Pakistan was apparently seriously screwed up.

Maybe now, in the current battle, our side has decided that if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. And it ain't easy.