The answer is that if Bush had devoted American resources to winning in Afghanistan...

...the war in Afghanistan could have been concluded without the needless slaughter of innocents.

See? You just did it, right in front of me.

Look, I understand you don't like war, or violence. God knows you probably have good reason for it.

We were attacked by al Qaeda-trained terrorists. The leaders who planned the attacks lived in Afghanistan, in large base camps, protected and supported by the Taliban government that ran the country at the time.

You cannot deal with people like this by simply opening a U.N. aid center down the street from their bomb-building and training facilities.

And when you use violence to deal with them, as you inevitably must, innocent people will get hurt, just as they do in every war in history. Particularly when the enemy makes it a policy to wrap themselves in civilians.

If you're going to be a pacifist, do so. But don't pretend we can win wars without violence. Stop trying to straddle two horses five miles apart.