Bush, Rice concerned about Afghanistan

[underpants]

Source: AP/Yahoo

WASHINGTON - President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern Thursday that the commitment of NATO allies in Afghanistan may be flagging and warned against allowing the country to again become a cauldron for extremism.

"My biggest concern is that people say, 'Well, we're kind of tired of Afghanistan and, therefore, we think we're going to leave'," Bush said at the White House. "That would be my biggest concern."

Later, Rice made the same point at a joint news conference at the State Department with Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier. The Canadian government and parliament will begin debate early next year on whether to extend Canada's military operations in Afghanistan beyond its current mandate that ends in February 2009.

"Afghanistan as a failed state was, of course, very much the near-term cause for the emergence of a trained and capable al-Qaida," Rice said. "It is an absolutely essential mission to stabilize Afghanistan. We learned the hard way what happens when we allow a failed state to emerge in Afghanistan."



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071220/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_afghanistan

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

1. Must be nice to have such a rich fantasy life.

What in hell do they mean "again"??? :shrug:

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. If only we'd stopped Saddam from sneaking his WMDs to his secret Afghan al-quaidiban training camps

kids might be able to pray in schools today.

[MasonJar]

3. Hey, hairballs, you haven't thought about Afghanistan since Rummy said there

was nothing there to bomb. Fizzle!!!!The sound of the air coming out of the Bush Afghan bubble. Sizzle!!!!!The sound of "shock and awe" killing innocent men, women and children in Iraq.

[bemildred]

4. Is this some kind of joke?

Do these people have no grasp of irony at all?

[Binka]

9. They Don't Have A Grasp On Anything

It's the FIRE< READY< AIM approach. I fucking hate them with a red hot passion. I am against physical violence but these two deserve to be punched in the mouth. Sickening, disgusting, pieces of filth.

[bemildred]

11. Hey Binka!

How's that boy?
:hi:

[lovuian]

5. maybe they know why they really are there

protecting the Poppy fields and they have had enough

[pinto]

6. Geez, Rice at least knows better. We funded the mujahadeen in our global chess

game with the Soviets (supposedly Rice's forte). Afghanistan was *secondary* to the all-encompassing Soviet vs West mindset of the Reagan years. Some of them split to form the Taliban, 'the students', with strong ties to the madrassas in Northern Pakistan. Osama bin Laden, as well as many other Saudi extremists, came to the fray, found a home with the Taliban and bred al Qaeda 'the base'.

I don't think this mindset has evaporated with the collapse of the Soviet state. The global chess game seems to remain the basis here, regardless of the feel-good, spreading democracy spin.

Geez.

[HuffleClaw]

7. harper won't renew, he has an election to worry about

but he IS a bush toadie...

[tabasco]

8. These are the people who allowed Bin laden to escape at Tora Bora

because it was more important to get US forces on top of the Iraqi oil.

Any advice they give - - just pick the opposite and you'll do better.

[underpants]

12. "not more than 50, 60, I think"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=116&topic_id=13367

AMANPOUR: More than two weeks of bombing, solid intelligence, the U.S. had thrown its biggest bombs, its most sophisticated missiles, bunker busters, daisy cutters, at bin Laden, but somehow, some way, it wasn't enough.

BERGEN: The policy of using very limited number of U.S. Special Forces on the ground calling in airstrikes and a large number of Afghan ground troops worked brilliantly at overthrowing the Taliban, but at the battle of Tora Bora, it was a total disaster.

AMANPOUR (on camera): The plan was for Afghan and Pakistani soldiers to block any escape routes, but Osama bin Laden managed to slip away through the mountains. And the mission to capture or kill the al Qaeda leader failed. By most accounts, the main problem was not enough American soldiers on the ground.

BERGEN: By my calculation, there were more American journalists than American soldiers at the battle of Tora Bora, and that fact kind of speaks for itself.

BERNTSEN: In the first two or three days of December, I would write a message back to Washington, recommending the insertion of U.S. forces on the ground. I was looking for 600 to 800 Rangers, roughly a battalion. They never came.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Also hunting bin Laden in Tora Bora, then Afghan militia leader, General Mohamed Zahir (ph).

(on camera) Do you have any idea how many American soldiers were at the battle of Tora Bora?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was not more than 50, 60, I think. There was not more than that at that time.

[tabasco]

14. The most absurd part of the Tora Bora operation:

Having the Pakistanis "guard" the border.

Sort of like asking Pennsylvania to guard the border for George Washington in the Revolutionary War.

"Sure, we'll capture him, give him a warm meal, and shuffle him off to a secure hideaway."

[muntrv]

10. Why? Cuz you took your eye off Afghanistan to fight a false threat in Iraq?

[eringer]

13. That Does It! NATO Now Becomes the Coalition of the Unwilling!

Thats just too much! Lets hope they don't remember that Bush got them in there to begin with or they will all be home by Christmas.:grouphug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. 5 years too fucking late.

Shitheads. :grr:

[badgervan]

16. Laying the Foundation...

... so NATO gets the blame. Our spineless media will dutifully go along. These people who have hijacked our country NEVER are at fault, don't you see?