Northern Alliance

U.S. air support has helped the Northern Alliance reclaim half of the country in less than a week, opening the way for Russian logistical support that will likely prevent a Taliban comeback in the north for the foreseeable future. And now that they're no longer the masters of all Afghanistan, many local warlords and even Pasthun tribal leaders currently aligned with the Taliban may be inclined to switch sides. And yet the turning of the tide raises new political dangers, most evident in the fact that the U.S. is working very hard to restrain the Alliance from actually capturing Kabul. Foreign observers agree that the one thing Kabul residents fear more than the totalitarian Taliban is the return of the Northern Alliance — tens of thousands of civilians died there in the crossfire of factional battles the last time elements of the Alliance controlled the capital. Fear of the Northern Alliance storming the capital might actually rally Pashtuns behind the Taliban, potentially creating a protracted civil war in which the international community would be obliged to keep the peace. President Bush himself has personally pleaded with the Alliance not to advance on Kabul, and Alliance spokesmen insist that they'll stay out of the capital. Some spokesmen, that is. Local commanders have been quoted as saying quite the opposite, and the truth is that the Alliance remains deeply divided within its own ranks.