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Skriven 2007-02-15 23:32:26 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070215) for Thu, 2007 Feb 15
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Fact Sheet: Increasing Support to Help the People of Afghanistan Succeed
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 15, 2007

Fact Sheet: Increasing Support to Help the People of Afghanistan Succeed


ÿÿÿÿÿ President Bush Discusses Progress in Afghanistan, Global War on
Terror ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Afghanistan

Today, President Bush Discussed Our Progress In Afghanistan, The Challenges
We Still Face There, And The Strategy We Are Pursuing To Defeat Our Enemies
And Achieve Our Objectives. The Administration recently completed a
top-to-bottom review of its Afghanistan strategy.
  þ America Has A Clear Goal In Afghanistan. We will help the people of
    Afghanistan defeat the terrorists, and establish a stable, moderate,
    and democratic state that respects the rights of its citizens, governs
    its territory effectively, and is a reliable ally in the War on Terror.
  þ The President Is Asking Congress For $11.8 Billion Over The Next Two
    Years To Help President Karzai Defeat Our Common Enemies And Help The
    Afghan People Build A Free And Successful Nation. The President has
    also ordered an increase in U.S. forces in Afghanistan  by extending
    the stay of 3,200 troops now in the country by four months and by
    deploying a replacement force that will sustain that increase for the
    foreseeable future.

Afghanistan Is Making Significant Progress

Today, The Taliban Have Been Driven From Power, Al Qaeda Has Been Driven
From Its Camps, And Afghanistan Is A Free Nation.
  þ Afghanistan has a democratically-elected President and National
    Assembly.
  þ Afghanistan's parliament includes 91 women, and President Karzai has
    appointed the first woman to serve as a provincial governor.
  þ The Afghan economy has doubled in size since liberation, and since
    2001, Afghanistan has attracted $800 million in foreign investment.
  þ More than 5 million Afghan children are in school  and about 1.8
    million of them are girls.
  þ The United States has built or renovated 681 health clinics across the
    country.
  þ More than 4.6 million Afghan refugees have come home in one of the
    largest return movements in history.

This Spring, There Will Be A New NATO Offensive In Afghanistan

We Face A Thinking Enemy, Who Watches Our Actions And Adjusts His Tactics 
And In 2006, This Enemy Struck Back With A Vengeance. Escalating attacks
were part of a Taliban offensive that made 2006 the most violent year in
Afghanistan since the liberation of the country. This Taliban offensive was
turned back by the courage of Afghan soldiers, fighting alongside NATO
forces.
  þ The Intensity Of The Fighting Decreases During Afghanistan's Winter 
    But This Winter, NATO Has Stayed On The Offensive Against The Taliban
    And Al Qaeda. This spring, there will be a new offensive in Afghanistan
     and it will be a NATO offensive.

Additional Forces And Funds Will Help Us Implement Our Strategy In
Afghanistan

Our Strategy Is Focused On Several Key Goals:
 1. The United States And Our Allies Will Help President Karzai Increase
    The Size And Capabilities Of The Afghan Security Forces. We will help
    the Afghan government increase the size of its National Police from
    61,000 people today to 82,000 by the end of 2008. We will help them
    strengthen the police by adding new civil order, counter-narcotics, and
    border surveillance capabilities. We will also help the Afghan
    government increase the size of the National Army from 32,000 people
    today to 70,000 by the end of 2008. We will provide them with more
    lethal and reliable weapons and help them add new commando battalions,
    a helicopter unit, and combat support units that will allow Afghans to
    sustain their own forces in battle.
      þ Together With The Afghan Government And NATO, We Have Created A New
        Joint Intelligence Operations Center In Kabul  So All Forces
        Fighting The Terrorists In Afghanistan Have A Common Picture Of The
        Enemy. The United States and our allies will also work with
        Afghanistan's leaders to improve human intelligence networks in
        areas threatened by the Taliban.
 2. America Will Work With Our Allies To Strengthen The NATO Force In
    Afghanistan. Today, Afghanistan is NATO's most important military
    operation  and defeating the enemy will require the full commitment of
    the Alliance. Many allies have made commitments of additional forces
    and support. The people of Afghanistan are grateful for these
    commitments  and NATO members need to provide the troops and support
    that NATO requires to achieve its mission in Afghanistan.
 3. The United States And Our Allies Will Help President Karzai Improve
    Provincial Governance And Develop Afghanistan's Rural Economy. NATO is
    operating 25 joint civilian-military provincial reconstruction teams
    across the country to help the Afghan government extend its reach into
    distant regions, improve security, and deliver reconstruction
    assistance. In the coming year, these teams will help build irrigation
    systems, improve power production, and provide access to micro-credit.
    They will also undertake new efforts to train provincial and local
    leaders so they can be more effective in delivering real improvements
    in the lives of their citizens.
      þ To Help Defeat The Taliban, The International Community Has Stepped
        Up Its Road-Building Campaign Across Afghanistan. So far, the
        United States and other nations have completed construction of more
        than 4,000 miles of roads  including much of the ring road that
        links key provincial capitals to Kabul, as well as rural and
        district roads. In 2007, we will build 1,000 more miles of roads.
 4. The United States And Our Allies Will Help President Karzai Reverse The
    Increase In Poppy Cultivation That Is Aiding The Taliban. The United
    States is working to support President Karzai's efforts by improving
    the eradication capacity of the Afghan government and helping President
    Karzai expand alternative livelihood programs in provinces where poppy
    production has increased  providing farmers who give up the poppy
    trade with credit, seeds, fertilizer, and assistance to bring their
    products to market.
 5. The United States And Our Allies Will Help President Karzai Fight
    Corruption  Particularly In Afghanistan's Judicial System. President
    Karzai has established a Criminal Justice Task Force that is pursuing
    public corruption cases. To support the work of this task force, the
    United States, Britain, and Norway are providing full time prosecutors,
    judges, police, and defense attorneys to act as mentors to their Afghan
    counterparts. The United States has built or renovated 40 judicial
    facilities, distributed more than 11,000 copies of the Afghan
    constitution, and trained more than 750 Afghan judges, lawyers, and
    prosecutors.
 6. The United States Will Help President Musharraf Defeat The Terrorists
    And Extremists Operating Inside Pakistan And Work With Afghanistan And
    Pakistan To Increase Cooperation In The Fight Against Terror. The
    United States is helping President Musharraf equip Pakistani security
    forces that are patrolling the border regions with Afghanistan, funding
    the construction of more than 100 border outposts, and providing
    high-tech equipment to help Pakistani forces locate terrorists
    attempting to cross the border. We are also funding an air wing, with
    helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, to give Pakistan better security
    and surveillance capabilities.
      þ The United States Is Encouraging Afghanistan And Pakistan To
        Increase Their Cooperation In The Fight Against The Extremists. In
        the coming year, Presidents Karzai and Musharraf will work to
        improve intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism cooperation
        between Afghanistan and Pakistan and expand trade links between
        these two nations. The United States will support them in these
        efforts, and one way we can do so is by establishing Reconstruction
        Opportunity Zones on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border
        to give residents the chance to export locally-made products to the
        United States duty-free.

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