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| Afghanistan |
| U.S. accused of neglecting Afghanistan |
| 2003-02-02 |
| More Pravda. In his traditional State of the Union speech delivered in Congress on January 29, US President George W. Bush laid special stress on two objectives: war in Iraq and rehabilitation of the national economy. Americaâs president mentioned other hot spots just in passing: he briefly touched upon the problem of stability in Afghanistan and the Mideast situation, where he said âthe USA will further aim at achievement of peace between Israel and Palestinians.â This went right over the heads of the The head of the White House has probably forgotten that Afghanistan was the starting point from which world order in an American manner began. No, Ivan, the WTC, the Pentagon, and a small field in rural Pennsylvania was our starting point. After the 9/11 tragedy, the USA immediately started speaking about revenge, about a response action, although it wasnât clear at that moment against whom the blow is to be delivered. These guys clearly weren't paying attention. We knew exactly who we were going after. A hail of bombs was dropped on Afghanistan; the newest weapons were used and the best ground troops operated there. But not only terrorists are killed there, civilians also die, like at any other war. Now itâs Iraqâs turn. Washington considers the operation in Afghanistan to be completed. Nope, not paying attention at all. It is true that George W. Bush didnât mention who exactly won that war, but it is evident that the USA and the allies were not the winners. Why don't you ask Hek what his chances look like right now? And Omar, if you can catch him on his motorcycle. Americans gave up special operations and withdrew the troops from Afghanistan (highly likely they were transferred to Iraq). And consequences of USâs short-sighted policy produced an immediate effect. As soon as Afghanistan became neglected, it actively started reminding of itself with terrorist acts, skirmish, crashed helicopters and deaths of civilians. This reads like a Harold Pinter manifesto but without the venom and spittle. The recent information reports that a strong blast destroyed a bridge in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, 18 people were killed. All of the victims were civilians, ordinary bus passengers; only two passengers survived. Nobody hasnât claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack yet. But Deputy Chief of Kandahar police Ustad Nazar Jan said it was a terrorist act organized by remains of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. He thinks that a bomb could be laid by terrorists headed by field commander, former prime minister Gulbeddin Hekmatyar, who vowed to wage a war against American troops all over the territory of Afghanistan. So the Pravda editors read Rantburg! The US command supports this opinion as well. The international US-led military contingent already participated in a cruel skirmish in the mountainous region Spin Boldak, to the east of Kandahar. So in the last paragraph the editors shoot themselves in the foot by pointing out that it's a US-led contingent. Guess we're still there, aren't we? |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 "Nobody hasnât claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack yet" = double negative Translation:They know |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-02-03 07:33:02 |