September 02, 2003
Liberated Afghanistan
President Bush speaking at the American Legion Convention had this to say about Afghanistan:
...Afghanistan today is a friend of the United States of America. Because we acted, that country is not a haven for terrorists, and the people of America are safer from attack. That nation still faces challenges, and our coalition forces there still face dangers. Yet, we're working every day to make sure that Afghanistan finds its future as a free and stable and peaceful nation. ...
CNN - Battles Rage Across Afghanistan:
...Meanwhile, as many as 1,000 U.S.-backed Afghan forces are fighting a similar number of Taliban guerrillas in the rugged mountain peaks of southern Afghanistan, according to wire reports. ...
Newsweek - Rumors of Bin Laden's Lair:
...according to senior Taliban officials contacted by NEWSWEEK in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They say bin Laden remains directly engaged as a strategist and financier for Al Qaeda, the Taliban and related groups. In April, shortly after the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, the Qaeda leader convened the biggest terror summit since September 11 at a mountain stronghold in Afghanistan. ...
News.com.au - Courthouse Blast in Afghanistan:
TWO small explosions shattered windows and caused other minor damage at a courthouse in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad early Tuesday, police said. No injuries were reported. ...
Washington Times - Road Crew Attacked in Afghanistan:
Four people reportedly were killed and four others kidnapped from a road construction project about 60 miles north of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday. ...
Monday Morning - Afghanistan: The Ravages of Violence and Drug-Trafficking:
[US Colonel Rodney] Davis stressed that not all the violence was due to Taliban or Al-Qaeda militants, with fighting between rival militias and drug-related violence also taking their toll.
“Some of it is factional -- green-on-green, tribe-on-tribe -- some of it is drug-related, so we don’t want to attribute all violence to anti-coalition activities”. The term ‘green-on-green’ refers to clashes between rival Afghan factions. “Nevertheless, we are concerned about all of this, but some of it is out of our sphere of influence”, Davis said.
...Almost daily rocket attacks on US military bases near the border with Pakistan have been blamed on Taliban remnants, their Al-Qaeda allies or militants loyal to renegade former Premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Opium production in Afghanistan is an international problem, United Nations anti-drug chief Antonio Maria Costa declared on a visit to the capital Kabul last week.
...HIV/AIDS infections are also increasing in all countries adjacent to Afghanistan, especially in Central Asia, which has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infections related [to] intravenous drug use in the world, [the UNODC 2003 Global Illicit Drug Trends report] said. ...
Military.com - Rebuilding Afghanistan is Complicated:
...Bandits and warlords still control much of the country, while Afghanistan's problems have been overshadowed by another conflict.
"Afghanistan essentially has fallen off the radar screen, especially in the wake of the war in Iraq, and it's been neglected," said Michelle Flournoy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ...
Glad to know that Afghanistan isn't a haven for terrorists anymore. I don't know how much more good news about that country I could stand. This Reuters article running at the Forbes site has a timeline of other belligerent presidential quotes.
Posted by natasha at September 2, 2003 02:29 PM | TrackBackAnd wouldn't you know that tonight NPR had a chirpy story about how things are getting better in Afghanistan and that the WH says they are committed to sticking it out. Wish the WH had figured out that earlier!
Posted by: Mary on September 2, 2003 10:00 PM