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Afghanistan Will Succeed


Craig Read

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The blowhards in the liberal media - most of whom have never bothered to go to the places they report on - have assured us that Afghanistan is a disaster and that the US has disengaged.

Piffle.

The US has spent hundreds of millions of dollars, eliminated the Taliban, is now cleaning up the fascist remnants and rebuilding a failed and broken society. This effort will take at least 5 years. In 5 years Afghan. will be unrecognisable compared to what it was before 2001.

Report from Mr. Natsios -- the administrator of USAID, Dec 24 2003.

This month I returned to stand on a reborn highway, paved with aid from the U.S. and Japan, and the work of Indian and Turkish construction firms and the Afghan Ministry of Public Works. The new ribbon of asphalt stretches 439 kilometers, linking Kabul with Kandahar in the southeast. I say "reborn" because 35 years ago U.S. aid built it the first time. And once we complete the next stage it will run once more all the way from Kabul to Kandahar to Herat in the west.

The first leg of the highway was rebuilt through the courage of countless people who cleared mines, graded and paved the road, protected workers and defied threats by the residue of the Taliban to halt construction work. The road is a symbol of the restoration of Afghanistan as an independent, free nation that is a friend to its neighbors. But the road is more than a symbol. It allows women to visit a doctor at childbirth, it brings children to schools, and it helps farmers market their crops.

As completion of the highway was celebrated, Afghans journeyed to Kabul for a Loya Jirga -- an assembly to approve a foundation for a new government. U.S. aid helped President Hamid Karzai's government prepare for the Loya Jirga and publish draft copies of a constitution. Afghan ministries already function with increasingly well-trained staff who manage the budget and guide donor contributions. They've reformed the Ministry of Defense, begun building an army, and replaced recalcitrant governors and local officials.

Afghans also have a new banking law, a new currency that is holding its value, and are writing a new investment law. They're rebuilding homes and communities, sending sons and daughters to school, and remaking the agricultural economy. They're doing this despite attacks from al Qaeda, warlords, and ordinary criminals, who are trying to undermine Mr. Karzai's government and destabilize the country.

Aside from bricks-and-mortar projects, at the Central Bank we've trained hundreds of people and helped set up a system to transfer money to every province, and abroad. With the Afghan Ministry of Finance, USAID and the U.S. Treasury Department have worked to improve customs collections and reform customs administration. USAID is working with the Afghan Commerce Ministry to encourage investment and the private sector. We're also helping devise an export strategy, develop opportunities for businesses owned by women, and prepare to join the WTO.

The $87 billion supplemental budget President Bush signed Nov. 6 includes $925 million to continue rebuilding Afghanistan. As Presidents Bush and Karzai said in a joint statement last year, "a secure, stable Afghanistan, at peace with its neighbors, is critical to achieving our shared goals." The new highway we officially completed on Dec. 16 is a major step in that direction.

Yep sounds like a failure to me.

But wait ! The entire world is awaiting Canada's Afghan rebuilding plan. Can't you see the world - with hand cupped to ear - straining to listen to what the venerable Canadians are stating is the way forward ?

The great Canadian colossus, so moral, strong and upright....oh sorry I thought the year was 1950....

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Dear Mr. Read,

This may come off sounding a trifle cynical, but...

"Get a paved highway!"

Problems with Shari'a law? Pave a road!

Infidel Infestation? A paved highway can cure that!

Democratic reforms backed up? You say that the vast majority want Islamic rule? Get 'em a new highway!

Fearful of problems with an oil pipeline? Build a highway alongside!

Yessir, with a new highway, insurgents become instantly marginalized! The populace can ride those oxen and camels right up to the polling station! Rumsfeld by a landslide!

I am only joking here.( Debo)

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Lonius, surely you are not so simple as to underestimate the imortence of actually being able to bind the country together with a dependable land route? That is what built Canada, that's what made the Roman empire.

Trade, military movement, safeguarding the far reaches of Afganistan. Without a means to project government rule the Warlords carry on as if nothing has happened, complete anarcy. Without it no polls can be taken, no way of moving ballots and such. Surely you know this and are just being a smarmy guy in jest?

BTW, where are the WMD that Michael Moore says are in Iraq?

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But wait ! The entire world is awaiting Canada's Afghan rebuilding plan. Can't you see the world - with hand cupped to ear - straining to listen to what the venerable Canadians are stating is the way forward ?

The great Canadian colossus, so moral, strong and upright....oh sorry I thought the year was 1950....

I have my views on this, so for the sake of discussion, why has Canada's role and stature on the world stage changed so radically from a half century ago? (Other than a decade of Liberal rule).

Is it a fundamental difference in our foreign policy? The state of our military? Or simply the rise on the same stage of other nations, diminishing our own capabilities and accomplishments?

And second, how do we return to this position of international prestige?

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