PERISCOPE

An army platoon was mopping up Al Qaeda positions along a ridgeline last week when they came across a fortified bunker. They blasted the structure with antitank rockets and dropped grenades down pits near the entrance. Sgt. John Wightman charged through the entrance, assault rifle blazing, and saw a figure in a white T shirt. "I blasted it, like, five times and it kept coming at me," he said later. The enemy turned out to be some terrorist's underclothes, flapping on a clothesline.

The question now is whether Qaeda and Taliban fighters are as resilient as their laundry. Two weeks of intensive airstrikes and ground combat have effectively eliminated resistance in the Shahikot valley. But claims that the fighting is finished are premature. Despite estimates of as many as 700 enemy killed, fewer than 10 corpses have been found. Even friendly Afghan commanders say dozens of guerrillas could have escaped. While the fighting still raged, Taliban commanders were sending boastful emissaries across the border into Pakistan. "We have made a point," one told a Pashtun leader in Peshawar. "We have proved we can stand up and fight the Americans."

Anaconda may be the first fire fight in the kind of guerrilla war planners feared. Throughout eastern Afghanistan, leaflets known as shabnamas, night letters, have appeared, accusing America of having killed tens of thousands of civilians. Sources in Peshawar claim Taliban and Qaeda forces have begun to regroup along both sides of the border. Most units are small, 20 to 30 fighters, and led by former low-level Taliban. Sources claiming to be in contact with the holdouts say they are only waiting for an opportune moment to strike. Time is on the guerrillas' side. Resentment is growing across southern Afghanistan. Many Pashtuns feel alienated from the government in Kabul, which is led by a Pashtun, Hamid Karzai, but dominated by Tajiks from the Northern Alliance. Civilian casualties have bred animosity. Squabbling among warlords has revived respect for the Taliban, who stamped out internecine fighting during their reign. And America won no friends when they needed reinforcements, and the central government sent 2,000 Tajik troops from the Panjshir Valley.

Over time, too, some of the inherent cracks in the U.S.-Afghan coalition are likely to widen. The ambush that claimed eight American and three Afghan lives was based on advance warning of the attack. During the fighting, Qaeda guerrillas managed to buy or win over local Afghans, who reinforced their positions. "My heart is still with Osama bin Laden," says Gulbat, a foot soldier who boasts that he was given his pickup truck by U.S. Special Forces for helping them clean out the caves at Tora Bora. "If anyone starts fighting the Americans, I'll join tomorrow." So far those are only tough words. But Washington would do well to heed them.

Rod Nordland, Babak Dehghanpisheh, Scott Johnson, Sami Yusefzai and Ron Moreau

WHITMAN

'A Little Bitterness There'

Whitman's remarks sounded to some like a career-ender. "Ouch," said a GOP pollster. "A little bitterness there." But the White House took it in stride. "You only make those jokes if you know your position is secure," said a senior official. The president "loves" Whitman, he said. "She gave him his dog, Barney, and he loves that dog." Whitman gets more leeway than most members of the loyalty-sensitive administration in part because George W. Bush is vulnerable on the environment and wouldn't want to lose her. And she took the job knowing the limitations, but still believing she could do some good. "It's one of those Faustian deals," says a friend.

Environmentalists regard her as their main ally in the administration, and she occasionally wins a battle, like ordering General Electric to clean up the Hudson River. Once touted as a candidate for higher office, she denies any interest in running for the Senate in New Jersey. Whitman says her Gridiron comments were meant in good humor. "I actually do have a seat at the table," she told NEWSWEEK. "It's a real chair. It has a little plaque on the back of it." But she confided that one joke she told is "close to home": "When you give a Republican a choice between more poison and less regulation, we need some time to think about it." While she would have done some things differently, Whitman says, "Every decision made thus far I can live with."

Politics: Tipper's Turn

WTC DEBRIS

Unclean Cars?

New York City was planning to release hundreds of vehicles recovered from the WTC area beginning Monday. In recent weeks, city officials sent owners and insurance companies a letter about how to retrieve the cars from the Fresh Kills landfill, along with a three-page tipsheet on how to clean them of WTC dust and debris. But last Thursday, New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler wrote a letter to the EPA's Christie Whitman urging her to file an emergency injunction against the city to prevent the vehicles' release. On Friday the EPA asked the city to delay releasing the cars until it meets with EPA officials to discuss procedures. The NYC Department of Health will honor the EPA's request, but Kelly McKinney, associate commissioner for environmental health, says the decision to release the cars was based on a careful review of numerous tests. "There is no significant risk to human health," he says. "People will not get sick by taking these cars."

One local law-enforcement source says investigators who searched the cars for evidence are worried about a different hazard: body parts. In cleaning, "we found arms, legs, a ribcage--imagine if we missed something?" said the source.

DOLLS

One Less Babe In Toyland

American Girl's flagship line is a series of seven dolls from pivotal times in American history: Molly's story centers on life during World War II; Addy, the black character, lives during the Civil War, and Josefina is a Mexican immigrant in 1824. A spokeswoman for the company says that "a Jewish character is something we're considering" as an addition to that line. "It's definitely one of our top requests," she tells NEWSWEEK.

American Girls come with six stories and, judging from Lindsey, the company may want to finesse her narrative. Lindsey, who is 10, seems like an early retiree, but a read of her self-titled work makes you wonder how she's made it this far. The story--a total caricature--begins: "As soon as I saw the matzo ball sailing across the room, I tried to duck. But I didn't move fast enough. It hit me in the face." Better times next year in Jerusalem, kid.

HEALTH

Gross Out, Smoke Out

Now the U.S. Justice Department is proposing similar tactics, asking a judge to force cigarette makers to cover half their packs with "graphic health warning labels." The move, disclosed last week, surprised anti-smoking forces, who expected the Bush administration to go easy on Big Tobacco. Cigarette makers scoff at the legal maneuver and argue that only Congress can mandate warning labels. "This is ludicrous," says William S. Ohlemeyer, VP for Philip Morris Cos., which is suing the Canadian government overthe warnings. Canadian officials say smoking is declining in Canada, partly due to the warnings. But McCaffrey still smokes a pack a day: "Short of being lobotomized, I just don't know if I can give it up." Now, that would make a really ghastly label.

Hits: 'Nanny Diaries'

BASEBALL

The Big Show

Baseball's natural historical relevance aside, the display showcases the evolution (aha!) of The Game's cultural import and provides you with the Cliffs Notes version of what the Hall of Fame has in Cooperstown, N.Y. There are 35,000 artifacts there. This show has 500, and it's good stuff: the Honus Wagner card, the Doubleday Ball (a.k.a. the original baseball), "Shoeless Joe" Jackson's shoes, the bat Roger Maris used for No. 61. George Brett's bat is there also, the one with too much pine tar. You'll relive his bolting from the dugout, mouth foaming, as your past and baseball's intersect. Or maybe that'll happen when you see the ball from Don Larsen's perfect World Series game in 1956.

That's a once-in-a-lifetime moment. The exhibit--it travels to nine more museums during the next four years--is at its best when it shows how deeply the game has penetrated everyday life. "You'll find stuff here that has nothing to do with hitting home runs," says Ted Spencer, the Hall of Fame's chief curator. "It all has to do with response to the game." A must-see piece is the scoreboard from the Blair Hotel in Pennsylvania, which used levers and pulleys to keep guests up on the action. It reminds you just how powerful the game's grip can be, as does a ball pulled from World Trade Center rubble and Curt Schilling's God Bless America cap. Baseball sustains us in wartime--FDR's letter urging play to continue in 1942 is on hand--and when we're hungry. Check out the "Reggie!" bar and the can of BroccaPop. Though maybe it's best to let that rest in obscurity.

Transition: Bold In Boston

Home Plate

The food is splendid and as American as, well, baseball. The New York strip with garlic probably would appall your physician, but a codicil to the rules of healthy living says the rules are suspended during spring training. The food, though, is almost beside the point. At the tables are many members of baseball's family--players, broadcasters, sportswriters, coaches, clubhouse guys and many others. On the walls are bric-a-brac--signed balls and bats and uniforms, and a billion or so photographs of famous sports types who have dined there. So, this is March in Arizona: baseball, then Don & Charlie's. Life really does not get any better.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Tonya Defeats Paula Edition

  C.W.


Powell            +      Persuades Sharon to withdraw Army. But
                         suicide bombers won't listen to him.



O'Neill           =      Good news: Speaks mind opposing steel 
                         tariffs. Bad news: Bushies hate mind-speakers.



Tipper            =      Ponders Tenn. Senate bid. Advice: Don't
                         stand too close to the guy with the beard.



INS               -      Extends visas of 9-11 hijackers. And that's
                         just the tip of the iceberg. Deport them.

Andersen          -      Obstruction indictment could kill company,
                         but reputation already in shreds.



Fox TV            =      Bad news: No show too sleazy to air. Worse
                         news: No show too sleazy for us to watch.