A couple of things are troubling about articles like this.

1,000 ground troops, with air support instead of artillery, came under heavy fire, suffered no casualties, and may have killed "several suspected Taliban in battles that raged for several hours."

"American officials said tonight that 100 Taliban or Al Qaeda fighters are believed to be in the area."

Long fight, heavy odds in favor of the good guys, seems like fairly skimpy results. Wonder how fast the Taliban can recruit? And, if they can effectively attrit the badguys this way, more power to 'em.

The other part is a bit more bothersome, not necessarily by itself but in the aggregate.

"The new fighting came as Afghan officials reported that a separate, unrelated American bombing near Khost killed nine people who appeared to have no ties to the Taliban and Al Qaeda."

Every time this sort of thing happens it's a local tragedy for those involved. In one area "several" suspected Taliban were killed, in another area 9 people not involved were.

I don't know how long the Allies can keep killing people who are not involved in the struggle without generating some pretty powerful resentments. A lot of the folks over there don't give a rip about WTC or the western war. Do care about their neighbors.

Arf