In 2002, intensive aerial bombardment of Taliban military bases begins.

Bombing of sites identified as Al Qaeda camps is intensified. Additional U.S. troops enter Afghanistan. Unlike their predecessors, they are under explicit orders to consider the Afghan military an enemy force and not to wait until fired upon to attack.

At a meeting of the National Security Council, President Gore discusses U.S. military and political options. He is advised that once Kabul is captured, which is considered to be a matter of weeks at the most, he must move quickly to establish a new government purged of Taliban and pro-Taliban elements.

Conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly, on his syndicated radio show, condemns the Afghan intervention as "a pathetic effort on the part of a weakling Whiten House to look tough on terrorists like the ones who took down Flight 93 on his watch". Echoing a comparison making the rounds on the Web, O'Reilly accuses the President of 'wagging the dog,' a reference to a popular movie in which a beleaguered administration starts a war to divert attention from its problems.