The first major phase of the anti-Taliban war in Afghanistan, led by the United States, is drawing to a close with the capture of Kunduz and the landing of US troops near Kandahar. Assuming the latter city falls in coming days, the next phase of the operation begins today as Afghan political leaders meet in Bonn with neighbouring states and United Nations officials to agree on the country's political future.
US forces will presumably concentrate on pursuing the chief suspect for the deadly attacks on New York and Washington, Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organisation, in the Kandahar region. But they must also work together with international humanitarian organisations to provide food and medical aid for the millions of people displaced by the fighting and the aftermath of the Taliban regime's oppressive rule. The role of US forces on the ground continues to be constrained by UN mandates arising from the September 11th attacks, not by any unilateral assertion of US power or interests.
Legality and legitimacy are central features of the next phase of this international operation. They will be the major focus of the meeting in Bonn over the next week, charged with the very difficult task of assembling a coalition capable of bringing political order back to Afghanistan after a generation of civil war and resistance to foreign invaders. There is precious little trust left on which to base a new government. That is why Afghans will require maximum international commitment and aid - especially from the major powers such as Russia and the US primarily responsible for this sorry history, together with neighbouring states such as Pakistan.
The European powers have strongly emphasised the need for political agreement on a post-Taliban government and the provision of urgent humanitarian aid after the military operation. Now is the time for those commitments to be delivered upon, in association with the US and the UN. Within that context, the search for Osama bin Laden and his associates will undoubtedly be prosecuted relentlessly now that US troops are directly engaged on Afghan soil.
Without another UN mandate, the US has no convincing legal case to extend its pursuit of those responsible for the September 11th attacks against other states suspected of harbouring them. Arbitrary US strikes against Iraq, Yemen, Somalia or Sudan would undermine the coalition against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.