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Promise to Afghans a Distant Memory

Tuesday, April 29, 2003
(12:56 PM CT)
By Cynthia Tucker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Even as we pledge billions to rebuild Iraq, the United States must remain committed to "nation building" in Afghanistan. Of course, that won't be easy. Afghanistan has no history of democratic institutions. It has little infrastructure, centuries-old tribal tensions and a feudal economy. Nation building, if we do it right, will be costly.

Editorial - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Remember Afghanistan? It's the wretched Central Asian country that became a haven for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, which attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon a year and a half ago.

When U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan to drive out the Taliban, al-Qaida's hosts, President Bush promised that Americans would make a sustained commitment to helping the country rebuild. And then he forgot about it.

The United States said it would promote stability, foster economic growth and encourage a progressive indigenous government that would not shelter terrorists. At least that was the game plan the Bush administration offered for public consumption.

But the United States is already reneging on its promise to Afghanistan. After Bush grandly signed a bill last December authorizing $3.3 billion for reconstruction over four years, he neglected to include any of that money in his 2003 budget request. Not one thin dime. Congress hastily penciled in $295 million, but that doesn't come close to Bush's pledge.

No wonder poor Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's interim president, was reduced to a round of begging in Washington in February. "Don't forget us if Iraq happens," he implored members of Congress.
(More: The Afghan News Network)
2003 © The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Dan