AFGHANISTAN

17 July 2008 Pakistan Must Do More to Police Tribal Zone, Defense Leaders Say   Pakistan must do more on its side of the border with Afghanistan to combat terrorist extremists, U.S. defense leaders said.

26 June 2008 Gates Welcomes Pakistan’s Pledge to Reassert Pressure at Afghan Border  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today praised a pledge by Pakistani officials to renew pressure along its northwestern border, where militants responsible for violence in eastern Afghanistan have taken refuge. "The challenges that we're facing in Afghanistan, … are in some measure a result of the relaxation of pressure on the Pakistani side of the border," Gates said during a Pentagon news conference.

20 June 2008 Afghan Justice, Agriculture Sectors Grow, Confront Opium Trade  The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and its Afghan partners shut down the powerful drug trafficking organization of Haji Baz Mohammad, a Taliban-linked narco-terrorist, in 2005, after a four-year battle that demonstrated a strengthening collaboration between the United States and the newly democratic Afghanistan.

12 June 2008 Afghan Determination Earns $20 Billion in New Aid  The Afghan people have shown their determination to rebuild their country, and the international community has responded by pledging more than $20 billion in new aid to help Afghanistan continue along the road to recovery. “We all know that success will not be easy, but Afghanistan has reached a decisive moment for its future,” first lady Laura Bush told delegates from more than 80 countries and institutions at the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan in Paris.
 • 12 June 2008 Fact Sheet: The Afghanistan Support Conference: Renewed U.S. and International Commitment

11 June 2008 Afghans Appeal for Aid at Paris Conference  Building a nation remains an all-too-literal description of the challenges facing Afghanistan’s 32 million citizens after decades of conflict. "This was one of the poorest countries in the world in the '50s and the '60s and the '70s, and then went downhill for 20 years," says Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher. "It shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody how much there still is to do."

10 June 2008 Total U.S. Security and Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan

09 June 2008 First Lady Urges Redoubled Effort in Afghanistan  Urging the world to "stand more strongly" with Afghanistan, first lady Laura Bush visited the South Asian nation to highlight signs of progress as well as continuing challenges ahead of an aid donors conference in Paris.
 • Afghan Government Charts Challenges Ahead at Paris Conference

04 June 2008 Fact Sheet: U.S. Commitment to Afghan Women: The U.S.-Afghan Women's Council

23 May 2008 NATO Commander Says Afghan Illegal Drug Trade Aids Taliban  The illegal narcotics business so prevalent in southern Afghanistan poses a greater threat to security in some parts of the country than do Taliban insurgents, the commander of the NATO security force says.  In addition, profits from the sale of the illegal drugs are being used to fund the Taliban insurgency elsewhere in the country.

13 May 2008 Remarks by Secretary Rice with Afghanistan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta at the Signing Ceremony After Their Meeting.

14 April 2008 Remarks by Secretary Rice At Air University, Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base  Secretary Rice Honored; Speaks About Afghanistan.

07 April 2008 Afghan Government Improves Consistently, General Says  Afghanistan's government and national security forces have improved consistently over the past year, the outgoing commander of Regional Command East, part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said today.

03 April 2008 NATO Pledges Long-Term Security Commitment to Afghanistan  The 26-nation NATO security alliance has pledged to provide a shared, long-term commitment to the security and economic prosperity of Afghanistan. "In helping the Afghan people build security today, we are defending our basic values we all share," an alliance communiqué says.

01 April 2008 Fact Sheet : U.S. Assists in Development Programs in Afghanistan Since 2002.

14 March 2008 Fighting the Opium Trade in Afghanistan: Myths, Facts, and Sound Policy  Statement by the U.S. Department of State and the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. "We, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, in conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, ISAF and international partners, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, are now engaged in a comprehensive initiative to fight the production and trafficking of opium in Afghanistan. There is significant skepticism among the public and the media regarding the counternarcotics effort. We therefore provide the following paper to correct some of the myths about the illegal drug trade in Afghanistan, and to clarify how our programs address the situation on the ground."
see also: NATO: Progress in Afghanistan   (20-page PDF).

13 March 2008 Helping Afghanistan Achieve Sustainable Progress  Today, President Bush received an update by video teleconference from American civilian and military leaders serving with Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) and at a Brigade Combat Team (BCT) in Afghanistan. Teams located around the country provide critical support to the Government of Afghanistan's efforts to improve security and democratic governance, to provide essential services, and to expand economic opportunity.
 • President Bush Remarks After Meeting Reconstruction Leaders on Afghanistan

13 March 2008 Amb. Khalilzad’s Remarks to U.N. Security Council on Afghanistan

12 March 2008 Bush Reaffirms U.S. Support for Afghanistan, Iraq  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.

12 February 2008 Senator Richard Lugar on Vital Role of NATO in Afghanistan  Remarks by Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

11 February 2008 U.S. Urges Increased Aid for Afghanistan  Increased development and security assistance are essential as Afghanistan works to recover from conflict and poverty, U.S. officials say. "If you look at the Afghanistan of 2001 and the Afghanistan of now, there is a remarkable difference for the better. It is our intention as partners for you and your government and for the people of Afghanistan to continue that progress and to indeed intensify that progress," said Secretary Rice.

07 February 2008 Secretary Rice Remarks With UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai

07 February 2008 Secretary Rice Remarks With UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband at Kandahar Air Base

04 February 2008 Afghanistan and NATO: Why They Both Matter  Remarks by Kurt Volker, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs to the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Washington, DC

01 February 2008 Ambassador Nuland on NATO Emerging in Afghanistan ... Amb. Nuland writes “It's sometimes easy to take our allies for granted or to wonder if they are up to the challenge in a place such as Afghanistan. Today, 25 NATO allies and 14 other nations contribute to the mission there alongside American and Afghan troops ... The war is tough, but without allied help it would be much tougher.”

31 January 2008 Strengthening Afghan Governance a U.S. Priority  A top U.S. priority in Afghanistan in 2008 will be to help its leaders deliver essential services, security and economic opportunity to its citizens, says a senior State Department official. "People want the government to provide them with safety, with justice, with economic opportunity, with health care and education," Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "When the government provides that, the situation stabilizes. The poppy [growing] goes down. The Taliban get kicked out."

25 January 2008 NATO's Stake in Afghanistan Is High, Shortfalls Must Be Met  If it takes a village to raise a child, so too will it take a significant contribution by the international community -- particularly a concerted, sustained push by NATO -- to ease Afghanistan along a path where it can meet expectations.

23 January 2008 General Rodriguez Briefs on Afghanistan at Foreign Press Center  Says Afghanistan making progress in security and economic development.

17 January 2008 U.S.-Afghan Women's Council Investing in Afghanistan’s Future  The U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council shows the power of public-private partnerships to transform lives and invest in the future of developing democracies. "The Council shows what individual Americans can do to aid our country's humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan," first lady Laura Bush says.

26 December 2007 Sustained NATO Effort Needed for Long-term Success in Afghanistan   A moderate, stable Afghanistan is crucial to the United States, its NATO allies and the southwest region of Asia. To that end, NATO is leading some 40,000 troops from 37 nations under the umbrella of the United Nations-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

17 December 2007 Partnership To Support Afghan Justice System Launched  To enhance the evolution of democracy in Afghanistan, the United States has launched a public-private partnership to help improve the fledgling Afghan justice system by funding low-cost, high-impact projects that promote women's rights, access to justice, legal aid, professional legal development and other justice-related programs.

13 December 2007 Secretary Rice on Justice Reform in Afghanistan

11 December 2007 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Peacekeeping Operations in Afghanistan  Offering his assessment of the current situation, Gates told U.S. legislators "There is reason for optimism, but tempered by caution."

15 October 2007 Statement on the Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation in Afghanistan

02 October 2007 Afghanistan Carpet Industry Prepares for Global Market  Afghanistan’s drive to resurrect its fabled carpet industry with U.S. assistance is a key element in the economic reconstruction of the land-locked Central Asian country, according to U.S. officials.

27 September 2007 Stable Afghanistan Vital to Central Asia, Europe, United States  The security and well-being of the trans-Atlantic community depend on successfully stabilizing Afghanistan so that it will not be a source of narcotics or a haven for terrorists, U.S. and European officials say.

29 August 2007 Afghanistan-Tajikistan Bridge Links Central, South Asia  They had not waited for the orchestra to play or for officials to cut the ribbon. They did not need much encouragement from their governments either. Business people in Afghanistan and Tajikistan had sensed new opportunity when they saw the 670-meter bridge rising over the Pyanj River between the two countries.

14 August 2007 Opium’s Threat to Afghanistan Second Only to Terrorism  Opium production is second only to terrorism as a threat to the economic development of Afghanistan, say U.S. officials. Opium, like terror, is a dead end for the Afghan people, according to John Walters, director of the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. At an August 9 special briefing at the State Department, Walters said that although more than 90 percent of the world’s opium is grown in Afghanistan, most Afghans never see any of the profits generated by this illicit crop.

09 August 2007 On-the-Record Briefing On the Release of a Comprehensive New U.S. Government Implementation Plan to Control Narcotics in Afghanistan  Briefing transcript of the Director of National Drug Control Policy John P. Walters and Coordinator for Counternarcotics and Justice Reform in Afghanistan and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Ambassador Thomas Schweich.

07 Aug 2007 Why Not Legalize Opium in Afghanistan?    Andrew Meyer and Vanessa Anderson from the US Embassy London, discuss the pros and cons of legalizing opium in Afghanistan.

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06 August 2007 Presidents Bush, Karzai Committed To Rebuilding Afghanistan  President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai remain committed to defeating remaining Taliban insurgents, bringing al-Qaida terrorists to justice and helping Afghanistan emerge from decades of poverty and violence.

03 August 2007 Afghanistan’s Health Outreach Grows  Life expectancy is short in Afghanistan, on average about 47 years. Maternal mortality rates are one in 50 births and one of every five children dies before the age of 5, according to the World Health Organization. However, with the help of USAID-funded Afghan health programs, progress is being made in Afghanistan’s health sector.

02 August 2007 Afghanistan in Increasingly Better Position Says U.S. Official  Ahead of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s meetings with President Bush, a senior State Department official says Afghans and their government have "a lot … to be proud of" in terms of their accomplishments since the 2002 overthrow of the Taliban regime.

12 July 2007 Afghan-Pakistani Border Stability Operations Focus of U.S. Aid  The U.S. is working with the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to build stability along the rugged border between those two nations. The presidents of both countries recognize the importance of stabilizing the border region and the need to improve mutual relations, according to an assessment offered to members of Congress by Ambassador Richard Boucher.

28 June 2007 Remote Areas of Afghanistan Receive Coalition Assistance  People living in northeastern Afghanistan are benefiting from coalition efforts to mentor local police, provide extended health care and promote good governance and economic development, officials say.

26 June 2007 Afghan Drug Trade Closely Linked to Taliban Insurgency  The drug trade in southern Afghanistan is related closely to the Taliban insurgency, and the Afghan government needs increasing support from NATO and international troops to help fight opium and heroin trafficking, U.S. and British counternarcotics officials say.

25 June 2007 Afghan Women’s Struggles, Triumphs Highlighted in Documentaries  Although Sahar Adish and Malalai Joya never have met, these young Afghan women both have dramatic personal histories -- and they share another distinction: each is the subject of an award-winning documentary film that examines the plight of people who live in a repressive society.

13 June 2007 Apparent Shift in Iran’s Afghanistan Policy "Troubling"  The Bush administration expressed concern that Iran’s policy toward Afghanistan has changed in favor of promoting instability in the country, citing the transfer of weapons and explosives of Iranian origin to the Taliban rebels

07 June 2007 U.S. Iraq-Afghanistan Nominee Supports Local Solutions  Problems in the Middle East and South Asia cannot be solved by military might alone, and an American-only solution will not succeed, says President Bush’s nominee to oversee daily coordination of government action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

05 June 2007 NATO Troops Have Upper Hand in Afghanistan, Commander Says  Continued fighting in Afghanistan is due in part to the increased numbers of international troops aggressively trying to pin down Taliban insurgents while setting the conditions for development and reconstruction, senior U.S. and Afghan officials say.

16 May 2007 Bush Names Army General as Senior Advisor for Iraq, Afghanistan  The White House announced May 15 that Bush had chosen Lieutenant General Douglas Lute to serve as assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan.

30 April 2007 NATO Forces Make Headway Against Taliban in Southern Afghanistan  The commander of NATO multinational forces in southern Afghanistan said his 11,500-member team is making "a big difference" in challenging Taliban insurgents while helping pursue development projects that will change Afghan lives.

16 April 2007 Bush Urges Congressional Support for Iraq, Afghanistan Missions  President Bush says he looks forward to an upcoming meeting with congressional Democrats to find a way to pass a crucial $100 billion defense spending package for ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

16 April 2007 Afghan Official Cites Economic, Security Progress with U.S. Help  Despite a nagging Taliban-backed insurgency, Afghanistan is advancing steadily to meet daunting economic and security challenges thanks to substantial help from the United States, reports Afghan Finance Minister Anwar Ul-Haq Ahady.

20 March 2007 U.S. Urges Greater International Support for Afghanistan  Emphasizing that 2007 is a turning point for Afghanistan, the United States urged the international community to increase its efforts to help stabilize the country.

08 March 2007 U.S. Steps Up Economic Aid to Afghanistan  As NATO forces in Afghanistan gear up to confront another Taliban spring offensive, the United States is stepping up parallel economic development efforts to undercut terrorism and drug trafficking, a senior State Department official says.

28 February 2007 Cheney, Afghan President Review Progress in War Against Taliban  Afghan President Hamid Karzai, during Vice President Cheney’s recent visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, expressed increased optimism about progress in the war against the Taliban, according to a senior administration official. "Karzai was more positive and optimistic than I'd seen in my recent visits," the official told reporters February 28. "That doesn't mean that there's no threat. ... The point is a lot of work has been done."

26 February 2007 Pakistan Key Counterterrorism Ally, Says White House  The U.S. considers Pakistan a vital ally in the struggle against terrorism and will look to its government for continued support as al-Qaida and the Taliban gear up to target neighboring Afghanistan in a new spring offensive, says White House spokesman Tony Snow.

15 February 2007 Bush Announces New Plan for Afghanistan  President Bush announced a new six-point plan February 15 to help Afghanistan defeat Taliban forces and terrorists, and establish a stable, moderate, democratic state.

15 February 2007 White House Outlines U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan  The White House recapped progress in Afghanistan and U.S. plans to help that country defeat terrorism and establish a stable democracy.

11 February 2007 Afghanistan Strategic Challenge for NATO, Pentagon Chief Says  Afghanistan represents a continuing military and political test for NATO, according to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who has called up alliance members to meet their commitments to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operating there under a mandate from the United Nations.

01 February 2007 U.S. House Speaker Calls for More European Aid for Afghanistan  A delegation of U.S. lawmakers is calling for more international help to rebuild Afghanistan and also is criticizing the Bush administration’s new strategy for Iraq.

26 January 2007 U.S. Pledges Additional $10.6 Billion to Afghanistan Operation  The U.S. intends to devote an additional $10.6 billion to security and reconstruction operations in Afghanistan, announced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

26 January 2007 Stability Operations Draw on Efforts by 37 Nations in Afghanistan  The senior U.S. military commander in Afghanistan reports quiet progress against the Taliban insurgency and an improving infrastructure as a result of a partnership among 37 nations and President Hamid Karzai’s government.

27 January 2007 Rice Says Success in Afghanistan Requires Coordinated Efforts  Success in Afghanistan requires a coordinated international approach combining military, political, economic and reconstruction efforts, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says after meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium.

25 January 2007 Bush Administration Seeks $10.6 Billion in Afghan Aid  The Bush administration is proposing $10.6 billion in U.S. aid to Afghanistan in conjunction with the January 26 NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels, Belgium, which will focus on international support for the country.

18 January 2007 Secretary Gates Says Gains in Afghanistan Must Be Sustained Defense chief says U.S. is committed to long-term strategic partnership   On his first visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, since becoming defense secretary in December 2006, Robert Gates says it is important for the United States and its allies to do whatever is necessary to sustain the success already achieved in Afghanistan.

17 January 2007 Progress Seen in Securing Pakistan-Afghanistan Border  The U.S. wants to help Pakistan and Afghanistan make progress in securing their restive border region with a new plan to promote economic opportunities for area residents, says a top U.S. official.

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