Since the United States disclosed their intention to topple the Taliban the Northern Alliance has expressed concerns about the potential power vacuum this might create. A leading civilian official of the Northern Alliance, who identified himself as Abdullah, said, “The U.S. will succeed in driving the Taliban out of Kabul and out of power. But nobody has worked out a political plan for the future. The political process is well behind the military operation.”

Although the United States has begun military action, many feel it should pay more attention to the situation that will follow. “I hear a lot of talk about breaking things, but I haven’t heard much about the U.S. mopping up afterwards” said first-year David Johnson.

Senior U.S. officials have been in contact with the rebels but have not embraced them as closely as rebel leaders would like. Rebel officials are making a public case for why they deserve international support and complain that they were ignored by much of the world until now.

If the U.S. assaults result in the Taliban’s departure from Kabul, the alliance could move its forces into the capital without serious resistance. Abdullah said the alliance would then declare the city a demilitarized zone and call for an emergency meeting to form an interim government.

However, he promised the rebels would not simply declare themselves in charge. “That’s not our intention, nor would anybody be happy with that situation,” he said.

The alliance has agreed to gather a supreme council to discuss post-Taliban Afghanistan, with 120 delegates scheduled to arrive in the Panjshir Valley in the next 10 days. The council is being organized along with the former Afghan king Mohammed Zahir Shah, who has been living in Rome since he was deposed in 1973 by his corrupt brother.

There will be a grand assembly to decide the make-up of a temporary government that is hoped to represent the many tribes and ethnic groups in this nation of 25 million people.

But the Taliban might not be gone before the council arrives, since bad weather has been delaying helicopter flights over the mountains. This could produce a volatile period in which no consensus government exists, possibly leading to further friction among the many factions vying for power.

Afghanistan is misunderstood by the West, Abdullah said, and now faces a choice. Either it will finally help bring peace and stability to a country that has known 22 years of war, he said, “or the world will continue to abandon Afghanistan. It means the suffering of our people will continue, the misery of our people will continue. Instability in our country will continue.”