thedrifter
10-15-03, 11:38 AM
Keep Afghanistan on radar screen
October 15,2003
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to expand the NATO peacekeeping presence outside Kabul, the Afghan capital, into eight other cities.
While Iraq has grave reservations about the presence of foreign troops, Afghanistan's interim government welcomed NATO's expanded role and rightfully observed that it is long overdue. Curiously, even warlords feuding with each other and the central government say they want the peacekeepers in their regions.
Afghanistan is very much unfinished business - and, one fears, increasingly forgotten. The level of violence in the much less populous country is on a par with Iraq, and unlike Iraq, al Qaeda really does operate in Afghanistan. A separate, U.S.-led combat force of 11,500 troops is even now battling resurgent Taliban guerrillas and their al Qaeda allies.
The NATO contingent, called the International Security Assistance Force, consists of 5,500 mostly German and Canadian troops. It is not large enough. Iraq seems to have consumed all the Bush administration's attention and efforts, but Afghanistan, not Iraq, is where 9-11 was planned and directed. It cannot be allowed to slide back into anarchy.
Few other countries have offered to help in Afghanistan, but that peacekeeping operation doesn't have the diplomatic obstacles of seeking outside help in Iraq.
Surely, the Bush White House powers of persuasion are up to cajoling additional peacekeepers for a country that desperately needs help - and is desperately asking for help.
Afghanistan has fearful obstacles to reconstruction in the form of corruption and bureaucratic incompetence - it requires 40 permits to start a business in Kabul - but its overwhelming need is security. The U.S.-installed interim government has a frail claim on legitimacy, but that could change next June when national elections are to be held - if it's safe enough to hold them.
And there's another reason for not letting Afghanistan slide off the American agenda: Osama bin Laden and his host, Mullah Omar, are still at large.
http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=Details.cfm&StoryID=16907&Section=Opinion
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
October 15,2003
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to expand the NATO peacekeeping presence outside Kabul, the Afghan capital, into eight other cities.
While Iraq has grave reservations about the presence of foreign troops, Afghanistan's interim government welcomed NATO's expanded role and rightfully observed that it is long overdue. Curiously, even warlords feuding with each other and the central government say they want the peacekeepers in their regions.
Afghanistan is very much unfinished business - and, one fears, increasingly forgotten. The level of violence in the much less populous country is on a par with Iraq, and unlike Iraq, al Qaeda really does operate in Afghanistan. A separate, U.S.-led combat force of 11,500 troops is even now battling resurgent Taliban guerrillas and their al Qaeda allies.
The NATO contingent, called the International Security Assistance Force, consists of 5,500 mostly German and Canadian troops. It is not large enough. Iraq seems to have consumed all the Bush administration's attention and efforts, but Afghanistan, not Iraq, is where 9-11 was planned and directed. It cannot be allowed to slide back into anarchy.
Few other countries have offered to help in Afghanistan, but that peacekeeping operation doesn't have the diplomatic obstacles of seeking outside help in Iraq.
Surely, the Bush White House powers of persuasion are up to cajoling additional peacekeepers for a country that desperately needs help - and is desperately asking for help.
Afghanistan has fearful obstacles to reconstruction in the form of corruption and bureaucratic incompetence - it requires 40 permits to start a business in Kabul - but its overwhelming need is security. The U.S.-installed interim government has a frail claim on legitimacy, but that could change next June when national elections are to be held - if it's safe enough to hold them.
And there's another reason for not letting Afghanistan slide off the American agenda: Osama bin Laden and his host, Mullah Omar, are still at large.
http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=Details.cfm&StoryID=16907&Section=Opinion
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: