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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (69737)	1/29/2003 2:12:12 AM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

from Bush speech: "We seek peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes peace must be defended. A future lived at the mercy of terrible threats is no peace at all. If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means, sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military and we will prevail. And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food and medicines and supplies and freedom." Well, here's what is going on in Afghanistan now, it's a big mess and getting worse...www.miamiherald.com U.S. troops in Afghanistan face heavy fire By MALCOLM GARCIA Knight Ridder Newspapers BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan - U.S. and coalition forces engaged in heavy combat Tuesday with 80 fighters believed to be aligned with a rebel Afghan leader, in the heaviest action since Operation Anaconda last spring. No coalition casualties were reported, but at least 18 fighters reportedly aligned with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar were killed. The battle was another reminder of how much work remains for the American military and the government of President Hamid Karzai to bring peace and security to outlying regions of Afghanistan. A small shootout between U.S. special forces and armed attackers triggered the fighting near the southern city of Spinboldak, near the Pakistan border. The American forces, along with soldiers from the Afghan government, were working to clear a compound in the area, said Roger King, a U.S. military spokesman. Almost 100 armed men were reported in the mountains nearby after the initial attack, King said. The military sent in troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, backed by Air Force planes, which bombed the area with 500-pound and 2,000-pound bombs into the night. King said the fighters were believed to be aligned with the Hezb-e-Islami movement, which is Hekmatyar's military arm. During the 1980s war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Hekmatyar was the main recipient of U.S. covert aid to the anticommunist guerrillas. He lived in exile in Iran while the hard-line Taliban Islamic regime was in power, and returned to Afghanistan after a U.S.-led international coalition ousted the Taliban last year. He is known for his anti-Western sentiments, and is believed to be receiving money from Iran. The renewed fighting comes as Karzai increasingly is seen here as overly dependent on the West and with little power outside Kabul. Many Afghans in this predominantly Pashtun region think that Karzai, a fellow Pashtun, betrayed them at last summer's grand council, at which he was elected president. Karzai appointed a Cabinet that they said didn't adequately represent the majority Pashtuns, who wanted a share of power equal to their numbers. Hekmatyar has a strong following among Pashtuns. The largest contingent of coalition forces is stationed in Spinboldak, and was described by King as a likely target for Hekmatyar's forces. Al-Qaida and Taliban sympathizers remain in areas bordering Pakistan in the southeast. Fighters loyal to Hekmatyar are also thought to be sympathetic to the ousted Taliban and al-Qaida, who are believed to have fled into Pakistan. Rockets and other military hardware regularly are fired at U.S. military bases in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. An attack in December killed U.S. Army Sgt. Steven Checo. Security also continues to be a problem in Kabul and other northern areas. Some humanitarian agencies have refused to work there because of increased violence.