In any town there is always at least one run-down house used by neer-do-wells. It is run-down and left alone because no one wants it, not even the neer-do-wells, who only want to use it because no one else does.

That is what Afghanistan is, a run-down house no one wants. The Bin Laden types want it because it is the one place they can go and not be bothered too much.

But the problem in any town is not simply the existence of run down houses but the fact that people are willing to tolerate the existence of the neer-do-wells. And no one thinks that the mere existence of a run-down house will lead to the occupants storming city hall and taking over the entire municipality. If they could do that they would not be living in the run-down house in the first place.

It would be nice to burn the house down and shoot the occupants as they ran out, but that would set up screams of protest and thus is not an option unless you want to, at a minimum, spend a lot of time in court.