When Pakistan ditched its ally, the Taliban, in September, and sided with the U.S., Islamabad and Washington fully expected to implant a pro-American regime in Kabul and open the way for the Pakistani-American pipeline. But, while the Bush administration was busy tearing apart Afghanistan to find Bin Laden, it failed to notice that the Russians were taking over half the country.The Russians achieved this victory through their proxy--the Northern Alliance. Moscow, which has sustained the alliance since 1990, rearmed it after Sept.

In a new deal, Amazon.com is running commercials near author appearances on NBC, CNBC and MSNBC. The spots lead viewers to Web addresses where they can purchase the books. NBC concedes that it will receive 10% of each book sale, calling that "synergy." Media critic Mike Drew calls it "cynical."

Only paying subscribers receive the latest issue of PR Watch when it first appears, but we make back issues available on our website. In keeping with this policy, the Third Quarter 2001 issue of PR Watch has now been added to our website. It features the following stories: