Here is a novel idea. Why not pay Pakistan to take out the Taliban and bin Laden. Literally, pay them to take over the country, set-up a democracy (or some semblance thereof) and then pay them to rebuild? How much would that cost? $30 b (all of Pakistans current debt)? It would be worth it. Regardless, there are nations all around the world that would pitch in.
These cesspools of civilization have to go. The Taliban is a vicious dictatorship that kills innocents freely. I harbors terrorists. It hates. If we can't go in because we aren't muslim, why not find friends that are and fund them to take care of the problem. Can we do the same with Egypt in regards to the Sudan and Turkey in regards to Lebanon? Yes. It may ruffle a few feathers, but the $100 b it costs to do it will be wisely spent.
Dave has another spin on this: Maybe an even better idea — sponsor settlement of Afghanistan by Muslims from all over Asia. Offer them $10K each to relocate there, and free housing, and McDonald's for a year, and free Nikes for all their kids. Also give them a TiVO and DirecTv. I think this would particularly appeal to the 3m Afghan's living in exile right now and the millions of Palestinians living in tent camps.
Dave adds: and everyone would get a free Manila site. Holy Cow Batman, what a feedback loop! We pour money in and people could tell us if it is working. Everyone in the US could tune into what individuals are experiencing on the ground in Afghanistan. All we need is a XML-RPC translation service for Farsi, arabic, and some of the other local dialects. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]