Bush visits Afghanistan amid surge in militancy
15/12/2008 17:11
US President George W. Bush paid an unannounced visit to Afghanistan this
morning amid increasing security incidents in the post-Taliban state.
This is
Bush's second but the last visit to pay farewell to Afghans and Afghanistan
where his troops ousted Taliban fundamentalist regime from power seven years ago
but have failed to ensure security there.
Currently more than 70,000-strong
international troops, with over 30,000 Americans, have been battling Taliban and
allied al- Qaida insurgents in Afghanistan to stabilize security in the war-
battered country.
The outgoing US President Bush at a press conference with
Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai expressed satisfaction over progress in
Afghanistan, adding he sees more development in Kabul than the past.
Bush
told newsmen after meeting that Afghanistan is in America' s interests and it
will not allow the central Asian country to become a safe haven again for
al-Qaida which is greatly weakened since 2001. "It is in America's interests
that we will forever deny safe havens for people who still want to kill our
citizens."
Bush added that "the interest is to build flourishing democracy as
an alternative to a hateful ideology, but it is not easy work."
The US
President, who earlier toured Iraq, told journalists accompanying him in plane
that the United States "would continue to help this young democracy to develop
the institutions so it can survive on its own, not to repeat the mistakes of the
1980s," a reference to leaving Afghans alone after the pullout of Soviet troops
which led to the emergence of Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.
Militants
in their latest waves of violent attacks against the troops killed four NATO
soldiers on Friday in the southern Helmand province by carrying out suicide
attack and roadside bombing.
The US commander of the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) General David McKiernan has called for
additional 20,000 US troops to Afghanistan to bolster the war against Taliban
and associate militants.
Bush who is going to handover the power to his
Democrat successor Barack Obama in January also added that the US would continue
to support Afghanistan in the war on terror and strengthening
democracy.
However, Afghans have shown mixed reaction to Bush's farewell
visit to their country.
"He has done nothing to Afghanistan except deploying
his troops to our country. Today we have no electricity and no roads even in the
capital city Kabul," a taxi driver Mohammad Amin told Xinhua.
Another common
Afghan Rohullah thanked Bush for ousting Taliban regime from power and added
Afghans want Washington to pay more attention in reviving the country's
economy.
"We are grateful to President Bush for driving out Taliban fanatic
regime from power. We want the United States to help us revive our economy and
stand on our own feet in all fields including security," the 55-year-old
Rohullah maintained.
Taliban insurgents who staged a violent comeback in 2006
carried out bloody suicide attacks, roadside bombing and ambushes against the
Afghan and international forces' interests almost everyday.
Spiraling
conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency have claimed the lives of more than
5,000 people with over 277 foreign soldiers so far this year in strife-torn
Afghanistan.
Xinhua
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