The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were. - David Brinkley
The key question appears to be how long it will take to root them out. The Afghanis will have a hard enough time building a nation and an economy without an ongoing guerilla war within their borders.
Some critics claim that the shield is useless because it would not have stopped the attacks of Sept 11, 2001. Of course it wouldn't, it *was not designed to*! The current generation of ABM defenses are designed to defeat the existing and growing threat of rogue nations gaining nuclear arms and ICBM's.
Astronomers have been using/cooperating with amateurs for decades. It's nice to see that the Internet is making this cooperation easier for other disciplines as well. Many eyes make light work?