THE MIRACLE WORKER

Charles Krauthammer, in this morning's Post:

For almost a decade before Sept. 11, we did absolutely nothing about Afghanistan. A few cruise missiles hurled into empty tents, followed by expressions of satisfaction about the "message" we had sent. It was, in fact, a message of utter passivity and unseriousness.

Then comes our Pearl Harbor, and the sleeping giant awakens. Within 100 days, al Qaeda is routed and the Taliban overthrown. Then the first election in Afghanistan's history. Now the inauguration of a deeply respected democrat who, upon being sworn in as the legitimate president of his country, thanks America for its liberation.

This in Afghanistan, which only three years ago was not just hostile but untouchable. What do liberals have to say about this singular achievement by the Bush administration? That Afghanistan is growing poppies.

Indeed. I'm just starting in on Robert Kaplan's "Soldiers of God," mostly written during the Soviet invasion of the 1980s. Karzai himself puts in a brief appearance as the "most moderate and Westernized of the mujahidin," and he cuts a slim but interesting — and promising — figure as a son of privilege who came around late to responsibility and political leadership. Hmmm, why does that sound familiar?