Posted on 09/05/2003 5:03:54 PM PDT by Brian S
WASHINGTON: Afghanistan’s plight will not be alleviated “overnight” Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday but pledged to speed up US aid to build a new state from the “ashes of war and chaos.”
Powell touted what he said were major US successes in the war-torn country, despite a recent upsurge in violence and fighting between US troops and militia fighters.
“In Afghanistan, both the political reach and the governing capacity of President Karzai’s administration are expanding,” Powell said in a major speech at George Washington University in the US capital.
“Roads and schools are being built, dangerous landmines are being cleared away, a national army and police force are coming into being, a state is being rebuilt before our eyes from the ashes of war and chaos.
“We know that Afghanistan’s challenges are too great to be overcome overnight, but the United States is determined to help as long as it takes to overcome them.”
Powell said the United States would “accelerate” its assistance to Afghanistan “in the next several weeks.”—AFP
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