Schools on the front line

The soldiers were en route to the opening of a girls school that had been rebuilt with American funds, the American Embassy said in a statement. The school had been destroyed by the Taliban last year as they swept through Lower Dir, and the nearby Swat Valley, where a months-long battle raged between the Pakistani army and the Taliban.

That's from the Times account of three American soldiers killed yesterday by suicide-bomb attack in Pakistan. The reports are that those close to the situation think the soldiers were the target and the students who died were the collateral damage. And yet, we know enough about the Taliban to know that blowing up girls who want to read could also have been the main point.

Hug your daughters, and wave to a kindergartner tomorrow.