Bush insists progress being made in Afghanistan
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush, facing election-year criticism that the Iraq war is a distraction from efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, insisted on Friday allied forces were making headway against a resurgent Taliban. In a speech to a friendly military audience, Bush said an increase in militant attacks in eastern Afghanistan was a result of the pressure Islamic extremists are under from Afghan, U.S. and NATO forces.
The Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan has spawned the worst violence since U.S.-led forces toppled the Islamist hardliners from power after the September 11 attacks five years ago. The U.S. military in the region said this week that militant attacks in eastern Afghanistan have tripled in some areas. Bush said a major offensive in five eastern Afghan provinces was putting the Taliban on the defensive.
"See, the enemy understands what we're doing and they don't like it. That's why they're reacting the way they're reacting. They understand that the arrival of Afghan and coalition forces in the region means that the government is beginning to win the hearts of the people," Bush said...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092900651.html-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We are a nation at war. I wish I could report differently, but you need to have a President who sees the world the way it is, not the way somebody would hope it would be." - George W. Bush, 9/28/06
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