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| Afghanistan | |
| Bush gets an earful from Afghan governors | |
| 2008-04-10 | |
WASHINGTON - Eight Afghan governors met Tuesday with US President George W. Bush to tell him a few unpleasant truths about the plight of their country as coalition forces fight terrorists and the Taliban. While grateful for the overthrow of the Taliban regime and the changes taking place since 2001, the governors complained about the slow pace of progress and how it was serving militants’ interests, and about the “excesses” of coalition forces.
Asadullah Hamdam, Governor of Oruzgan province, was first to raise the thorny issue of indiscriminate arrests by coalition troops. Bush, attempting to soften the moment by appealing to their shared experience as governors, told the group that he understood. “They come and complain to you,” he said, remembering his years as Texas governor (1995-2000). But seeing his Afghan guests’ serious demeanor, Bush added haltingly: “When somebody gets arrested that shouldn’t have been arrested you file a complaint obviously ...” “First, we don’t even know who is arrested,” answered Asadullah Hamdan in his native language. “If I just may,” Khost Governor Arsala Jamal politely cut in. “I think the issue is greater than that: we have 640 detainees in Bagram and like the governor said, all the governors are facing this problem.” “Special operations is the biggest, biggest challenge and (it has a) negative impact on the people’s mind in regard to coalition forces. There is no single bigger issue than that,” Jamal added. The governor complained about the restricted access Afghans had to Afghanistan’s Bagram prison, where hundreds of suspected terrorists are held by US forces under controversial conditions. Jamal told Bush about the nightmare people arrested without charge face, and became downcast when Bush apparently failed to understand his suggestion that some operations were best carried out by Afghan rather than coalition forces. “I got you,” Bush repeated several times. The danger of alienation between US and NATO troops and the local population is another unsettling aspect of the Afghan conflict, as the struggle against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda continues unabated six years after coalition forces first landed. Bush last week returned from a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Bucharest with a promise from US allies that they will boost their troop contingents in Afghanistan. But the US president also stressed the need for economic and political progress in the country. And so, Bush eagerly questioned his eight guests on how the police force in Afghanistan was doing and on the results of the mixed, civilian-military Provincial Reconstruction Teams he holds so dear and which the governors praised for rebuilding their nation. The governors also talked at length about the reigning insecurity and unemployment in their country, and the problems neighboring Pakistan poses. “It’s hard work in Afghanistan, but I told these leaders that I think it’s necessary work,” Bush told reporters before escorting his guests to the Oval Office for a head-of-state reception. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 Hey, a few nukes will end these governors' problems once and for all. Maybe Bush should suggest it. No, I didn't think that was acceptable, either. These guys want miracles. Maybe they should pray to Allan. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-04-10 13:02 |
| #5 Yep. In addition, Pakistan is making a huge profit from the logistics and US aid. Before Sept 11, 2001, the Pakistan economy was collapsing. I wouldn't worry about Western forces fighting the Taliban, instead pay a bounty to the Tadjiks, etc. for Arab and Pashtun scalps. Bullets and cash are easy to airlift in. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-04-10 09:47 |
| #4 Bush should tell them that to address their concerns he will be remanding all the inmates to their custody and removing the troops from the country. Afghanistan has no secure logistical routes from the sea. Our mission in Afghanistan will prove to be untenable when the new Paki government provides no security for our lines of communication and covertly aids those who seek to interdict it. When we have to go to Afghanistan next time, we should do so by working with India to assure we have a secure route to the sea. Right now it seems like a Dienbienphu in the making. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-04-10 09:33 |
| #3 yup 1, but more like "you got baddies in Bagram, but some guy comes crying on my doorstep that his kid is missing, and I cant tell em a thing - not only dont I know why hes being held, I dont know IF hes being held, cause we govs dont get lists of whose detained. And the dad may try to kill me, and under the local code of honor most folks where I live are gonna think its justified. I's got problems, and the fact that things arent as bad as some leftie moonbats said way back in October 2001 doesnt pay my bus fare" |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-04-10 09:26 |
| #2 ..a few unpleasant truths about the plight of their country... You mean like the foretold mass starvation that the usual critics and writers waxed about that was to befall Afghanistan if we dared to enter the country? Or the explosion of refugees that would swamp already overburden dislocation camps in Pakistan? The Awesome Humanitarian Disaster(tm)? That one? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-04-10 09:01 |
| #1 "You got a lot of baddies jugged at Bagram - but some of 'em is also our kin..." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2008-04-10 08:50 |