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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rice promises Afghans more U.S. aid

James Gerstenzang Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan – Returning to an Afghanistan troubled anew by insurgent attacks and civilian unrest, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday promised additional U.S. financial support and a new focus on small-scale projects designed to improve daily life more quickly than massive reconstruction efforts.

Rice said that the country continued to face “strong enemies, and they’re ruthless,” but that Islamist militants would “not succeed in rolling back … the democratic gains” achieved since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001.

Her five-hour visit offered a public demonstration of the Bush administration’s efforts to reassure a population that has moved restively beyond the initial optimism that followed the Taliban’s downfall to now expect tangible improvements from the U.S.-supported government of President Hamid Karzai.

Rice visited Afghanistan in October and again on March 1 along with President Bush in a surprise stop on his way to Pakistan and India. Since then, an insurgent rocket has landed near the U.S. Embassy, fighting has flared in southern Afghanistan and dissatisfaction with the Karzai government has erupted in riots that served as a reminder of the nation’s unmet needs.

The secretary of state offered multiple expressions of confidence in Karzai’s ability to gain an upper hand, and ready references to the country’s movement toward democracy over the past 4 1/2 years.

She said the government here was facing “ruthless people who raped and pillaged and tried to destroy the country.”

Increased insurgent attacks have coincided with the approaching deployment of NATO troops. The British, Canadian and Dutch forces are due to take over from U.S. units in southern Afghanistan. NATO defense ministers earlier this month reaffirmed their plan to send 7,000 troops to the region by fall.

Rice and Karzai met for more than an hour. She flew here from Islamabad, Pakistan, on her way to Moscow for a conference of foreign ministers of the Group of Eight, and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Emergency spending legislation that President Bush just signed would provide $43 million. The money Rice offered would be in addition to that.