So far, we've got dozens dead and probably close to 200 injured in mob violence targeting UN personnel, Afghan police, security forces and girls' schools. Why is it taking so long for security forces to restore some semblance of order? From afar, it almost seems as though the strategy is to let this chaos burn itself out -- which isn't much of a strategy at all.

These are not protests. You don't "protest" by beheading people or stoning them to death, or burning schools to the ground. This is pure mob violence by fanatics either acting in league with the Taliban or directly led by them.

In a normal country, this is when the security forces would prevent the violence with an overwhelming display of force -- two days ago. Yet the latest reports seem to indicate the army is cooling its heels:

In Kandahar, several thousand young men, shouting slogans calling for death to Americans and to the government of President Hamid Karzai, were still rioting after several hours on Saturday, setting tires on fire throughout the city, burning cars and attacking journalists trying to cover the disorder. Shops and businesses were closed, and most

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