The White House announced a major shift in its strategy towards Afghanistan yesterday that will see more aid and military help for the country after four years in which it has suffered from Washington's overwhelming focus on Iraq.
Facing failure in Iraq, where violence is worsening, the US is anxious to avoid a similar catastrophe in Afghanistan.
Billions of dollars are to be pumped into Afghanistan to help build up the army and for reconstruction projects such as roads, water, schools and clinics.
About 3,200 US troops in Afghanistan from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division who were due to return home are to remain for a further 120 days to help Nato counter an expected Taliban spring offensive.
The White House is to ask Congress next month for $8bn (£4.1bn) in new funds, which is more than half the $14.2bn Washington has spent on Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.
Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said yesterday: "It had been over five years since we went into Afghanistan and the situation on the ground - economic and security - has changed.
"Substantial progress has been made in many areas, but it's also clear that the policy needed to be reviewed, so that we continue to improve the lives of Afghan citizens."
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, is to brief fellow Nato ministers at a hastily-arranged meeting in Brussels today. Senior members of Congress, including Hillary Clinton, who recently returned from Afghanistan, have been pressing for more resources to avoid a repeat of Iraq.
Richard Boucher, the US assistant secretary of state, who was in Brussels yesterday preparing for today's meeting, said Nato would "take the initiative" to drive Taliban fighters out of their sanctuaries to pre-empt any spring offensive.
About three-quarters of the proposed $8bn is for the Afghan army and police and the remainder for reconstruction.
The change in direction had its origin at a Nato summit in Latvia in November where George Bush, Tony Blair and other leaders were told of the danger posed by the resurgence of the Taliban.
Ms Rice is to appeal to other Nato countries today to match the US funds. Britain and Canada, along with the US, have borne the brunt of the fighting in southern Afghanistan.
She will also press for tougher action to combat an increase in drug production and trafficking since the US-backed invasion in 2001. The US favours destroying poppy crops by spraying them from the air but the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has so far rejected this. Ms Rice will reiterate US requests to countries such as France and Germany to play a bigger role in the fighting.
Many Nato countries' forces have stayed in Kabul and the north of the country, which is relatively stable.
Jacques Chirac, France's president, agreed a compromise at the Nato summit that opened the way for troops from other Nato countries to operate outside Kabul. But Ms Rice is not satisfied with this. Poland is sending about 1,200 soldiers and Germany is expected in the next few days to announce the dispatch of six Tornado warplanes.
The US has about 20,000 troops in Nato's 32,000-strong force compared with 132,000, with a further 21,500 being deployed, in Iraq.
In one country we have insurgents, in the other resurgence, and in our own country we have decay.
I will say this now, if the President gets this money from Congress then you can forget about change happening in Washington. As if I held out hope that any would occur. I have been saying this for a while now. There is really little difference between the two political parties because they both worship and pray at the same alter of money. They may sit on opposite sides of the room, but they all eat from the same table and the lobbyist don't care who they feed as long as it is getting eaten. After all, they are just new customers.
Politicians do not want anything other than to stay at the table. That is all, resume Starbucks, fast food, television coma.
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2 comments:
Have not checked recently, but last I looked into it, the yearly GDP of Afghanistan was around $2B, with half of that amount generated by poppy farming. What I wonder is how much of the $8B will go toward destroying one half of their economy?
AMEN!
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