I thought the Afghanis Hated the US "Occupation"?

[rushmc 23]

Karzai Wants Permanent U.S. Bases in Afghanistan
NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday he is preparing a formal request to President Bush for a long-term security partnership that could include a permanent U.S. military presence.

At a joint news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Karzai said he had consulted many of his country's citizens in recent weeks about "a strategic security relationship," with the United States that could help Afghanistan avoid foreign interference and military conflicts.
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"The conclusion we have drawn is that the Afghan people want a long-term relationship with the United States," Karzai said. "They want this relationship to be a sustained economic and political relationship and most importantly of all, a strategic security relationship to enable Afghanistan to defend itself, to continue to prosper, to stop the possibility of interferences in Afghanistan."
Karzai said he has previously discussed this with Bush, but is now planning to formalize the request, but did not say when.

Rumsfeld was asked about America's willingness to offer security guarantees to Afghanistan and to establish permanent military bases here. He said this was a matter for President Bush to decide.

He described the military-to-military relationship between Afghanistan and the United States as good, and said it had grown and strengthened, but he was noncommittal on whether Washington hoped to establish permanent military bases.

"What we generally do when we work with another country is what we have been doing. We find ways we can be helpful, maybe training, equipment or other types of assistance. We think in terms of what we are doing rather than the question of military bases and that type thing," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld was on an unannounced, whistlestop visit to the war-torn country before flying on to Pakistan later Wednesday for meetings with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and other leaders.

Earlier, Rumsfeld met with U.S. troops in the southeastern cities of Kandahar and Qalat, following Tuesday's visit to Iraq.

In Qalat, where U.S. troops are running what they call a provincial reconstruction team that provides civic aid as well as security for reconstruction projects, Rumsfeld visited U.S. soldiers on a morale boosting mission mixed with official talks on the future U.S. role in Afghanistan.

U.S. commanders told Rumsfeld in detailed briefing on their operations in Zabul Province along the Pakistan border that Taliban fighters still have some sanctuaries and support among the local population, but that U.S. forces operating with newly trained Afghan troops are making steady progress in eroding that support.

Qalat is in a region about 90 miles north of Kandahar and 30 miles from the Pakistan border where the Afghan government is struggling with a counternarcotics campaign while also fighting remnants of the Taliban militia that ruled the country before U.S. forces invaded in October 2001.

Rumsfeld's visit to Qalat underscored the importance the Pentagon places on the approach of using troops to facilitate reconstruction and civil affairs work.

He shook hands and posed for photographs with a group of soldiers in Qalat and thanked them for their work before flying back to Kandahar where he spoke to several hundred soldiers and answered questions from several of them.

One soldier asked when the Army would shorten tours from 12 to six months for those serving in Afghanistan or Iraq. As he also had said a day earlier in Iraq, Rumsfeld said the Army was thinking about that, but had not made a decision.

Rumsfeld, whose itinerary was not being disclosed in advance by U.S. officials for security reasons, told the soldiers that both Afghans and Americans one day will look back on this period as a turning point in the spread of freedom. "You're earning your place in history," he said.


© 2005 The Associated Press

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,119]

> I thought the Afghanis Hated the US "Occupation"?

> President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday he is preparing a formal request . . .

Hamid Karzai controls a small area around Kabul. Most of the country is run by local warlords who prefer to be left alone to sell their heroin and fight their wars. Since Afghanistan now supplies about 80% of the world's heroin, they have plenty of money to do so.

[rushmc 23]

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> I thought the Afghanis Hated the US "Occupation"?

> President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday he is preparing a formal request . . .

Hamid Karzai controls a small area around Kabul. Most of the country is run by local warlords who prefer to be left alone to sell their heroin and fight their wars. Since Afghanistan now supplies about 80% of the world's heroin, they have plenty of money to do so.

So this isn't a good start?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,119]

>So this isn't a good start?

Karzai has made a good start. But there is a long way to go. The popular image is that Afghanistan is now a democratic country with women barefaced in schools, law and order everywhere etc. And that's not really true except around Kabul and a few of the larger cities.

[pajarito 0]

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Karzai has made a good start. But there is a long way to go. The popular image is that Afghanistan is now a democratic country with women barefaced in schools, law and order everywhere etc. And that's not really true except around Kabul and a few of the larger cities.

True

[justinb138 0]

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law and order everywhere etc.

Damn.... They'll put that show on anywhere I guess.

[kallend 2,150]

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Karzai Wants Permanent U.S. Bases in Afghanistan
NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday he is preparing a formal request to President Bush for a long-term security partnership that could include a permanent U.S. military presence.

No surprise here. Puppet governments generally defer to the puppet masters.

The US now has an empire on which the sun never sets.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[rushmc 23]

Evil dam USA

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[LouDiamond 1]

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The popular image is that Afghanistan is now a democratic country with women barefaced in schools, law and order everywhere etc. And that's not really true except around Kabul and a few of the larger cities.

I beg to differ. There is now a democratically elected Government and officials in place for the first time in history. The ANA(Afghan National Army) has also had a large prescence in the hinterlands and shown the people, who for all practical matters are still living in the 14th century, that they now have a Government that supports them.The people of Afghanistan want to change and it's apparent in their cooperation so far. Yes, there are some areas of sanctuary for the taliban and Anti Coalition Members out there and surprisingly enough most of them come from Pakistan and force people to help them out of fear. Is there a long way to go? I'd say yes in that what they have undergone is akin to the forefathers over throwing the British rule and a civil war all wrapped up in one. They are in the "founding father" stages of development still and they know it. They also know they can't do it alone at this stage which is why they still seek support from the many nations currently here. Believe it or not, there are women in schools with their faces uncovered, I have seen it for myself.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[Zenister 0]

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Karzai Wants Permanent U.S. Bases in Afghanistan

of course he does.. both for increased security and a significant boost in economy... expect several communities throughout Europe to shrink drastically when US Bases realign to closer more deployable locations in the Mid East..

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[JohnRich 4]

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Puppet governments generally defer to the puppet masters.

Are university professors puppets of their puppet-master university administrators?

[sangiro 26]

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Are university professors puppets of their puppet-master university administrators?

Be very careful....

Safe swoops
Sangiro

[crotalus01 0]

Afghans actually love the US and Americans for the most part. They do not see us as an occupational force. I was there visiting a friend in September 2003, and never once lied about being American. I got nothing but positive responses, invitations to dinner and lunch, people that refused to accept payment saying "No, no, you helped us defeat the Taliban. We love America", etc. Having said that, there are definitely areas of the country where you do NOT want to go, namely Paktia and anywhere near the Pakistan border - they are still hotbeds of Al-Qaeda and Taliban supporters. Kandahar is also very dicey. Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Panjishir, Bamiyan and Herat are very friendly. Afghanistan is an amazing country and I have every intention of going back this year to visit the many friends I made there.

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[crotalus01 0]

[replyThe popular image is that Afghanistan is now a democratic country with women barefaced in schools, law and order everywhere etc. And that's not really true except around Kabul and a few of the larger cities.

[crotalus01 0]

AFGHANIS are the currency used in Afghanistan. the PEOPLE are called AFGHANS.

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[rushmc 23]

Thanks for the info!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

Quote

Are university professors puppets of their puppet-master university administrators?

Be very careful....

This was meant as a test of the consistency of his logic, not as a personal insult.

[KevinMcGuire 0]

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[replyThe popular image is that Afghanistan is now a democratic country with women barefaced in schools, law and order everywhere etc. And that's not really true except around Kabul and a few of the larger cities.

WRONG. the women in Kabul and elsewhere (with the exception of really remote areas like Waziristan) who wear the burqa choose to wear it. In fact, many of the Afghan women I spoke to told me that the big deal about the Taliban and the Burqa was not the requirement to wear it, but the fact that it could only be white or mustard colored - they perfer the light blue ones.
and yes, there most definitely are women in the schools (and elsewhere) that choose NOT to wear burqa with little or no negative concequences. oh, and Afghan women are friggin BEAUTIFUL. no wonder many choose to cover up....

[crotalus01 0]

a whole shitload more
seriously though, if I hadn't been staying with a local at the Afghan Womens Educational Center in Kabul I would have been asking for trouble if I even spoke to a woman. and definitely couldn't talk to a woman on the street. even at the wedding I went to the men and women were seperated, and only the groom and his family were allowed on the brides side. i did get to meet her later, and yeah, she was a fox

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[KevinMcGuire 0]

even at the wedding I went to the men and women were seperated, and only the groom and his family were allowed on the brides side.reply]

Hey yea, I remember that from junior high school only then, when we got "shot down", it was only a metaphor.

I guess freeing their country was much eisier than than it will be to free their minds

[crotalus01 0]

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Hey yea, I remember that from junior high school only then, when we got "shot down", it was only a metaphor.

I guess freeing their country was much eisier than than it will be to free their minds

no shooting going on. I accidentally ended up on the bride's side when looking for the toilet, and was politely shown to the toilet and then back to the mens side of the wedding.
but on the other hand you are correct - freeing the mind is much easier than liberating the country
but keep in mind that we are halfway there in Afghanistan

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...