Posted on 12/22/2004 5:30:17 AM PST by OESY
It wasn't long ago the story line coming out of Afghanistan was that the country was sliding toward warlordism and anarchy. This, it was said, was just one example of how the Bush Administration's war in Iraq was causing reverses in the broader war on terror.
Or not. Earlier this month, Pakistan's Daily Times reported that the U.S. military has been contacted by Taliban fighters seeking to lay down their arms in exchange for an amnesty. Barring some bitter-enders, it seems many former Taliban fighters now realize their future lies within the country's democratic political process, not against it.
We also read that a confidential report by Lieutenant General David Barno, the senior U.S. military official in Afghanistan, offers a positive assessment of the Afghan army and police forces, whose ranks this year are projected to double to 33,000 and 62,000, respectively. In part thanks to them, the report says, the power of warlords and their militias is on the decline, while the reach of the central government is widening.
Add to this the success of October's presidential election, and Afghanistan -- economically destitute, culturally backward, ethnically fractious, Islamic, the "graveyard of empires" -- is emerging as a success story in rebuilding failed states. It is solid evidence that President Bush is right to insist that a democratization strategy for the Middle East is a security strategy for the United States.
We realize Afghanistan is not out of the woods. General Barno's report is said to warn that Taliban holdouts.... But it's also worth pointing out the enormous progress that has been made despite two years of criticism that we didn't have enough troops, hadn't disarmed the warlords, and in the words of former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer -- aka "Anonymous" -- had made an "ignorant lunge to failure."....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Many, many Afgans want their country to improve socially and politically. Sometimes they've backed the Communists, sometimes the Taliban, and now us.
someone tell me why the oppressed muslim of Afganistan is happy to be saved from Taliban, but the dignity of Iraq is their reason for fighting by those proud muslims? Once the NYT figured out some way to create a crack in our help the dignity story won't die.
Iraq is more complicated than Afganistan, but I fully expect to see this story rewritten with different names a year from now.
Just imagine if the leftist America hating media were consentrated in Afganastan, along with OBL and his cult.
You would see suicide bombings by Afgan "insurgents", "abuse" by the evil US soldiers, and Rumsfeld "wants soldiers to die" stories.
Just as in Isreal, (where terrorism has been declining since Iraq), when the world's leftist media is focusing their propaganda, the good guys are evil, and the bad guys win.
Great news! Pray for our soldiers and the Afgan people.
Owe-kay, Abdul, tell us where Hakim and his band of dead-enders hide out and you and you crew get a blanket amnesty. I won't tell if you won't."
Wonder how many would rat out their buddies, especially if they were from a different tribe.
True, in spite of all the nay-sayers. The President's perseverance in the face of the scorn & disdain of the establishment media & academia is his strongest personal characteristic.
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