Afghan Minister Warns U.S. Credibility at Stake (Reuters)

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON (Reuters)

The Afghan foreign minister warned the United States on Monday that its credibility around the world would be at stake unless it does more to help his country rebuild and to strengthen the central government.

Abdullah Abdullah also proposed another donors conference to raise up to $20 billion over five years and brought up the possibility of postponing elections scheduled for next year. ---

"If in the year 2004 Kabul citizens are still in the dark because of (lack of) electricity ... this government will lose credibility, its friends will lose credibility," he added. ---

"One can understand other engagements of a country like the United States but our case is a situation which would affect the ability and the credibility of the United States in relations with every other state." ---

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[Bandit]

1. Kick

:kick: "American Credibility" Kind of like Military Intelligence, an Oxymoron if I ever heard one.

[salin]

2. The trick will be getting this message beyond the White House

who in their first proposed budget after the completion of the war against the Taliban - budget $0 dollars for Afghanistan - reportedly the house GOP was so embarassed (afterall the administration was recycling the arguments used before the war to justify a war in Iraq - that by rebuilding the nation, and building a democracy that the country would become a stabilizing force in the entire region) that it added some money for Afghanistan.

The short-attention-span adventurers in the White House don't care. The mission (to give the public an emotional release after 911 - rather than to actually disband al queada and rebuild Afghanistan as is apparent by the Admin's actions) was completed. Now it would be used as an excuse for the next mission.

The only way this plea will be heard is if it gets past Condi, Rummy, Cheney and Bush - and to actual policy thinkers. Ooops - they have been banned from the White House.

Cynicism aside, this is an ongoing, brewing danger. We should be more engaged both for security reasons and for humanitarian reasons (we blew up much of what little was left, we should have a moral obligation at the least on those grounds alone.)

[w4rma]

3. Information on Bush's treatment of Afghanistan

...
The United States Congress has stepped in to find nearly $300m in humanitarian and reconstruction funds for Afghanistan after the Bush administration failed to request any money in the latest budget.

One mantra from the Bush administration since it launched its military campaign in Afghanistan 16 months ago has been that the US will not walk away from the Afghan people.
...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2759789.stm
...
At a time when the United States is promising a reconstructed democratic postwar Iraq, many Afghans are remembering hearing similar promises not long ago.
Instead, what they see is thieving warlords, murder on the roads, and a resurgence of Taliban vigilantism.

"It's like I am seeing the same movie twice and no one is trying to fix the problem," said Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghanistan's president and his representative in southern Kandahar. "What was promised to Afghans with the collapse of the Taliban was a new life of hope and change. But what was delivered? Nothing. Everyone is back in business."
...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/09/11/attack/main310701.shtml

...
Skepticism over the durability of Karzai's regime is hardly surprising, since for months it has been apparent that his power is almost entirely derived from the presence of foreign armies — the U.S. special forces and air power that put the Taliban to flight and keeps more ambitious warlords in their place, and the International Security Assistance Force composed primarily of European troops (currently led by Turkey). And the reluctance of the U.S. to sanction any expansion of the peacekeeping mission beyond the 4,000 ISAF troops currently in the capital has earned Karzai the unkind nickname "Mayor of Kabul," since his writ doesn't run much beyond the city limits. Even there, some U.S. foreign policy experts believe he's in danger both from the Pansjiris and from the increasingly confident anti-Karzai jihadis.
...
http://www.time.com/time/world/printout/0,8816,347638,00.html

[lkinsale]

4. This just INFURIATES me!

Everytime I think about it, steam comes out of my ears.

It's beyond unbelievable. Beyond forgiveness. ONE BILLION A WEEK on that disaster in Iraq. ONE BILLION A WEEK.

Just think what one crummy billion would do in Afghanistan.

They actually WANT us there. They are begging for us. We could have done so much to put that country back on its feet, to have a showcase and a friend and do some real GOOD in central asia, and we have just wasted it. While bin Laden prances back and forth across the border any time he feels like it.

Oh. My. God. If I think about this too much, I'll crack.

[Bandit]

5. We did help them get their opium fields back on track

:shrug: What more you want?

[salin]

6. w4rma, thanks

for linking the related articles. The irony of our actions in Afghanistan compared to our claims of intent in Iraq seem to be lost on far too many Americans. These articles help make that case.

[SeattleDem]

7. there's no electricity in Kabul either?

OK, we know that Iraqi infrastructure has suffered and we've failed to restore power, water etc, but I didn't know people were waiting for us to repair electric lines in Kabul too. Why haven't we heard about this before?