PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
12 March 2008
Bush Reaffirms U.S. Support for Afghanistan, Iraq
America urges allies to continue confronting extremism, building democracy
Washington -- The United States remains committed to helping the people of Afghanistan and Iraq confront the forces of extremism and build effective democracies.
“The effect of a free Iraq and a free Afghanistan will reach beyond the borders of those two countries,” President Bush said March 11. “I believe the success of these two countries will show others the way, will show others what's possible.”
Speaking in Nashville, Tennessee, Bush said America’s commitment to Afghanistan and Iraq stems from a belief that freedom is universal and that democracy has the power to transform lives, promote economic opportunity and provide the foundation for peace and prosperity.
“People of all faiths and all backgrounds deserve the chance at a future of their own choosing -- that’s what America believes,” Bush said. “Those were the ideals that helped create our nation.”
Seven years ago, under the Taliban, 25 million Afghans lived in poverty and the country had less than 50 kilometers of paved roads. Today, Afghanistan has nearly 2,500 kilometers of paved roads, allowing goods to travel to market and virtually all people to have access to essential services such as health care, previously available only to a small minority of Afghans.
But the Taliban remain a vicious and determined enemy, said Bush. Taliban activities are fueled by the narcotics trade, and the Taliban compensate for their lack of military success against NATO peacekeepers by targeting newly built schools, kidnapping Afghan teachers and using children as suicide bombers in a campaign to demoralize the Afghan people.
“For the sake of humanity and for the sake of the safety of our people, for the sake of human life and human dignity and for the sake of the security of the United States of America, we will stop this murderous movement now before it finds a new path to power,” Bush said.
The United States will build on progress it has made with its NATO allies by sending 3,200 additional Marines to Afghanistan, tasked mainly with training a new generation of Afghan army and police forces to serve and protect their fellow citizens.
Bush said that much remained to be done in Afghanistan, and that he would ask America’s allies to step up their commitment to the Afghan people during the upcoming NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.
“Now is the time for nations to make the hard decisions necessary so our children can grow up in a more peaceful world,” Bush said. “We know what's at stake, and we know what we have to do, and so we're going to help the people of Afghanistan realize the blessings of liberty.”
As in Afghanistan, Bush said, freeing 27 million Iraqis from a repressive dictatorship has been followed with an array of challenges, as extremists remain committed to targeting civilians and rolling back progress.
The United States showed its commitment to Iraq with a surge of 20,000 troops during 2007, which, combined with reconstruction programs, greater diplomatic engagement from the United Nations and the G8 industrialized nations, and growing support from Iraqi tribal leaders, has resulted in decreased violence and a gradual drawdown of coalition forces.
But, as in Afghanistan, much remains to be done in Iraq. “The gains in Iraq are tenuous. They're reversible and they're fragile,” Bush said.
