August 06, 2007
Bush, Karzai Upbeat On Afghanistan Despite Setbacks
President Bush today got an earful of two words he hasn't heard much lately: Thank you.
That effusive gratitude came courtesy of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whom Bush is hosting at Camp David.
"I'm here to once again thank you and the American people for all that you've done for Afghanistan," Karzai said during a joint press conference at the presidential compound. He went on to repeatedly thank Bush and the American public "for our liberation first and then for our stability and prosperity," adding that Afghanistan has "come a long way."
Karzai went on to say that since U.S. and NATO forces toppled the Taliban in 2001, the infant and child mortality rates had greatly improved. "Afghanistan would not have 85,000 children living today had you not been there to help us," he told the president.
Still, there are signs that progress in Afghanistan may be hitting a wall.
Security and economic growth are largely confined to Kabul, the seat of Afghanistan's nascent government. U.S. officials have quietly complained that Karzai has only limpidly fought against corruption in his government and against the increasingly powerful Taliban warlords seizing parcels of his country.
Neither Bush nor Karzai addressed the resurgence of the Taliban or al-Qaida in Afghanistan, though they acknowledged that both remain a challenge. "The Taliban do pose dangers to innocent people," Karzai said, but later added that it was "not posing any threat to the government of Afghanistan."
Karzai described the Taliban as "a force that is defeated" and "acting in cowardice by killing children who are going to school."
Taliban fighters are increasingly employing tactics that are more commonly seen in Iraq, such as suicide bombings. The rate of foreign hostage-taking has also picked up; the Taliban has been holding 21 South Korean missionaries for more than two weeks. Two Koreans kidnapped with the group were killed.
Moreover, profits from the explosion of the poppy trade -- more than half the country’s annual gross domestic product, according to reports -- is believed to be financing the Taliban's activities.
Karzai said that the fight against the drug trade "will take time, we are realistic about that."
As for the fight against al-Qaida, Karzai said that topic would be front and center at the "loya jirga," or grand meeting, to be held in Kabul with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf starting Thursday. The two neighbors have sniped at the other for not doing enough to dig out al-Qaida fighters camped out along their shared border.
Washington has largely sided with Karzai in this squabble. Musharraf is viewed as an ally by necessity, and the administration has grown increasingly impatient with him. The latest National Intelligence Estimate reported that al-Qaida has replenished its strength, a turn some observers have blamed on Musharraf's playing to both sides in the war on terror.
When asked the question of the week -- whether the U.S. should move to capture Osama bin Laden in Pakistan even without Musharraf's permission -- Bush answered cryptically, "With real actionable intelligence, we will get the job done."
The loya jirga has already hit a roadblock; Reuters has details. The Economist has another grim assessment of the state of affairs in Afghanistan.
Posted at 1:32 PM
Posted to:
Afghanistan, Asia, Pakistan, President Bush
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