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Bush: Afghanistan battle against terror a success
Oakland Tribune, Jun 16, 2004 by Deb Riechmann, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Tuesday called Afghanistan the "first victory in the war on terror," yet he and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the nation remains on a long, rocky path toward peace and economic prosperity.
"Three years ago, the Taliban had granted Osama bin Laden and his terrorist al-Qaida organization a safe refuge," Bush said, standing alongside Karzai in a Rose Garden so humid that the Afghan leader shed his cloak. "Afghanistan is no longer a terrorist factory sending thousands of killers into the world."
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The United States, which in recent months has increased its force in Afghanistan to about 20,000 troops, is helping to build the new Afghan national army and train new Afghan police and border patrol. The president, who is using the battle against terrorism as a centerpiece of his re-election campaign, listed five new ways America would help Karzai.
But he added: "The road ahead for Afghanistan is still long and difficult."
Nearly 500 people have died in fighting in Afghanistan this year. Many are victims of the Taliban-led insurgency; others have died in factional and tribal fighting linked to the country's booming drug trade.
The country's illicit cultivation of opium poppies supplied almost three-fourths of the world's opium last year and helps finance terrorists.
"The Afghan government is adamant, the Afghan people are adamant to fight this menace, to end it in Afghanistan and receive your help in that," Karzai said.
Bush announced that the United States would:
Launch a training program for newly elected Afghan politicians.
Help print millions of new textbooks, build schools for girls as well as boys and develop a new $4 million women's teacher training institute in Kabul.
Set up new cultural exchange programs.
Pursue a bilateral trade and investment agreement.
Dedicate $5 million to fund training programs and grants for small business, including those run by women.
Robert Weiner, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Policy from 1995 to 2001, noted that curbing the cultivation of poppies was not on the list of initiatives Bush announced.
"They offered nothing against drugs despite its obvious importance against terror," Weiner said. "We need a real plan -- eradication and enforcement with the help of our thousands of troops there, with planes spraying and troops burning and chopping -- to get the job done."
Afghanistan's first election since the United States drove out the Taliban rulers in 2002 is on track for September. Security and logistical problems postponed it from June. Karzai, who is president by vote of a grand council, under traditional Afghan practice, is running against a number of challengers.
Karzai denied that he's made any political pacts with former Islamic militant leaders.
"No deals have been made," Karzai said, adding that, as president, he needs to talk with Afghans from all backgrounds to assure peaceful, democratic elections.
Asked who would try fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar and bin Laden, whose al-Qaida network is blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Karzai said Afghanistan would consult other nations on how to bring them to justice.
"Osama and Mullah Omar have committed crimes against the Afghan people, against the people in the United States and against the international community," Karzai said.
"They are wanted by the world conscience," he said. "They have to be arrested and tried. And when they are arrested, we will consult the international community and find appropriate mechanism for their trial."
Before his meeting with Bush, Karzai made a 20-minute speech to members of the House and Senate. Like Bush, Karzai underscored the end of a long period of oppression and terror, but added that there is "a long road ahead."
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