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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Inspired by Afghan women who have boldly shed their burqas after years of Taliban repression, Laura Bush urged more educational opportunities and greater rights for women Wednesday in this war-wrecked nation. Under heavy security, Mrs. Bush spent just six hours on the ground after flying nearly halfway around the world. U.S. troops manned M-60 rifles at either end of four helicopters that flew the first lady and her entourage to Kabul University. "We are only a few years removed from the rule of the terrorists, when women were denied education and every basic human right," Mrs....

KABUL (AFP) - US First Lady Laura Bush arrived in Afghanistan on a lightning visit to promote education and the role of women in society and to meet with US troops, an AFP correspondent said. Bush, who is due to stay in Kabul for about five hours, touched down at Bagram Air Base, the US headquarters in Afghanistan, after leaving Washington late Tuesday. She then flew by US military helicopter to Kabul University where she was due to meet a gathering of Afghan women and girls.

Thank you for your warm welcome. It is, indeed, an extraordinary privilege to be with you today to celebrate the incredible progress that has been made by the people of Afghanistan over these past four years. I have especially watched with great pride as courageous women across your country have taken on leadership roles as teachers, students, doctors, judges, business and community leaders, and politicians. And no where is that more evident than on this University campus. The United States Government is wholeheartedly committed to the full participation of women in all aspects of Afghan society, not just in Kabul,...

President Bush's ratings are at a new low. That really is a shame. The news coming out of Iraq is very positive right now. The Iraqis are just about to seat their first popularly elected government in about fifteen camel generations. The news in Afghanistan is also good, and the idea of freedom and allowing people to participate in the selection of those who will rule them is gaining traction virtually throughout the Middle East. So... Bush is trying to bolster his falling approval ratings by sending Laura to Afghanistan and by touting his successes in Iraq. May I make...

Laura Bush's Afghan Visit Preceded by Bomb The Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan An apparent car-bomb exploded in an eastern Afghan city Wednesday, killing the driver, hours before first lady Laura Bush was due in the country. The car exploded at about 8:30 a.m. in Jalalabad, 80 miles east of the capital Kabul, intelligence chief Bahram Khan told The Associated Press. Mrs. Bush was expected in Kabul around noon. Khan said investigators suspected the driver had been planning a suicide attack, but that the bomb detonated prematurely. No one else was injured. Mrs. Bush was to spend about five hours in...

<p>Mayor Bloomberg - wearing a camouflage flak jacket - made a surprise visit to Afghanistan yesterday to thank American troops on the front line of the war on terror.</p> <p>Bloomberg, with his daughter Emma in tow, told U.S. forces at the air base in Bagram: "I was close by, and I would never forgive myself if I did not stop by and just try to express how much everybody in the United States appreciates what our armed services are doing around the world."</p>