Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (18630)	5/1/2003 6:52:29 PM
From: tonka552000	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Wow...a few years... Rumsfeld Impressed With Progress in Afghanistan Capital By Kathleen T. Rhem American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 1, 2003 – The situation on the ground in Afghanistan has clearly moved from "major combat activity to a period of stability and stabilization," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a visit today to the Afghan capital. Rumsfeld said he is "impressed with the marked change" in Kabul since his last visit in April 2002. The differences might not be so readily apparent by someone who sees the city every day, he said, "but for me to come back after many months now and see the progress, to feel the energy in the street, to see the kiosks and people active and cars moving around and young children coming and going, … It's a measure of progress. "It's a measure of the success that's taking place here and, needless to say, it warms the hearts of those of us who have wished this country well and look forward to the continued progress of the Afghan people," he added. During a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Rumsfeld said a sure sign of progress in Afghanistan is that the people are "voting with their feet" and returning to the country. "They are saying that the circumstance here is something they want to be a part of," the secretary said. "And that's a good thing." Rumsfeld lauded the efforts of three provincial reconstruction teams that have been set up to coordinate regional humanitarian and reconstruction efforts. The teams contribute to security and "to the lives of the people in those provinces by way of hospitals or schools or medicines or roads." They've reportedly been well-received, and, Rumsfeld said, he hopes to see more established in other areas. There are, however, still pockets of resistance throughout the country. The American and Afghan governments continue to work together, the secretary noted, to "see that any areas where there is resistance to this government and to the coalition forces will be dealt with promptly and efficiently." Karzai disputed a reporter's suggestion that he should be in firmer control in areas of Afghanistan far removed from Kabul. "Afghanistan has gone through 30 years of anarchy, war and instability," he said. "The consequence of that is a considerable weakening of the institutions that govern any state." He noted that the civil administrators who helped govern Afghanistan 30 years earlier were elderly now, and no younger government officials had gotten any experience or training in the interim. "Have we achieved something from last December till today? Yes," he said. "Is it enough? No."