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Al-Qaeda, Taliban defeated in Afghanistan
The Al Qaeda terror group has been defeated in Afghanistan and the Taliban has been destroyed, according to an American general who commanded the joint allied forces in the country. But Osama bin Laden is still around and had not been killed in the devastating October earthquake that is estimated to have taken 70,000 lives in Pakistan, the general noted.Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commanding general of the Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, declared Thursday that after four years of operations in the war-torn country, "although the fighting continues, Al Qaeda has been ejected from Afghanistan, and the Taliban has been toppled". "We have no reason to believe that in the earthquake - that Osama bin Laden was killed by that," Eikenberry asserted at a defence department briefing. He refused to commit to whether the Saudi leader of the terror group was in Pakistan. "Our working assumption is...that he (bin Laden) is alive today. I will not speculate on his location. "What I would say - that it's important for the American people and it's important for the international community and it's important for Afghanistan in terms of bringing that man to justice. And our forces will not rest until he is either found and captured, or killed," the general maintained. Eikenberry counted the successes in Afghanistan as including the formalizing of a political process, a constitution, elections, a national army, a police force, roads, schools and clinics. But the threat from the Al Qaeda still remained, he conceded. And while there was an army and police force, these needed strengthening. National governance also had to be improved. "We're emphasizing quality over quantity. We're working to develop leadership and the organizations necessary for the Afghans to sustain their army and police forces," Eikenberrry said. Apart from building infrastructure, the production and trafficking of narcotics remains and was of "significant concern," he said. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-12-09 |
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