US President George W. Bush lauded Afghanistan as a model for Iraq on Tuesday as he tried to paint US involvement in the Central Asian nation as a success in his run-up to the November presidential election.
With Afghan President Hamid Karzai at his side at a White House news conference, Bush cited progress in child healthcare, women's rights and education as signs Afghanistan had risen "from the ashes of two decades of war and oppression."
He said a new society was growing up in that country since the 2001 US invasion that ousted the Taliban government and the al-Qaeda movement it harbored.
PHOTO: AP
"And the same thing's going to happen in Iraq. These aren't easy tasks," he said.
In an indication of some of the difficulties Afghanistan still faces, Karzai asked US lawmakers for a multiyear package that would provide funding of US$2.2 billion a year, according to a congressional source.
Bush's popularity ratings have fallen because of concerns over instability and killing in Iraq as the US prepares to hand over control to an Iraqi interim government on June 30.
provincial violence
Karzai has been favored to win a September presidential election in Afghanistan but concerns have mounted about worsening provincial violence and threats from the Taliban and allied Islamic militants.
Democrats say Bush's invasion of Iraq last year diverted military and financial resources from Afghanistan and from the global war against terrorism he declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
An international peacekeeping force provides security for Karzai's fragile government in Kabul, but government control outside the capital is limited, with parts of the country in the grip of regional warlords and militant fighters.
During Karzai's visit to Washington, a rocket hit a military base near the US embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul, wounding an Afghan soldier. A government official was shot to death in a separate incident in Kandahar.
opium
A former Clinton administration official slammed Bush for not proposing new steps to crack down on opium cultivation in Afghanistan, which has grown sharply since the Taliban was ousted.
"Heroin is an enormous threat to the national security of this country," said Robert Weiner, who worked in the office of national drug policy.
Karzai joined Bush in portraying Afghanistan as a success story, touting economic growth of more than 25 percent last year and projections this year of growth of 20 percent.
"This could not have been possible without your help, without America's assistance," Karzai told Bush.
Karzai also defended his talks with regional leaders referred to as warlords.
"First of all, we don't call them warlords. Some of those people are respected leaders of the Afghan resistance," he said.
"It's my job to keep stability and peace in Afghanistan. And I will talk to anybody that comes to talk to me about stability and peace and about movement toward democracy," he said.
Karzai made a plea for more US aid, telling lawmakers democracy requires "sustaining and accelerating the reconstruction of Afghanistan through long-term commitment.
The US has committed about US$2.2 billion to rebuild Afghanistan, an amount some lawmakers have criticized as too low as a result of the emphasis on Iraq, where US$18.6 billion has been committed for reconstruction.
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