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Karzai asks Bush to 'do more' for AfghanistanMore money for reconstruction sought
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged President Bush on Thursday to "do more" to help rebuild Afghanistan even as the United States gears up for a possible war with Iraq. Karzai said he is confident any military action against Iraq would not distract U.S. attention or resources from the mammoth task of rebuilding his country. "We have received reassurances that the United States will continue to support Afghanistan, that the attention there will be focused and continuous and that Iraq will not reduce attention from Afghanistan or the amount of help given to Afghanistan," Karzai said in a news conference at the Pentagon, after meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He met earlier in the day with Bush at the White House. Karzai also said that while remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban continue to represent a possible terrorist threat inside Afghanistan, he believes they could no longer muster a large force to threaten the fledgling Afghan government. He also pledged that "the Afghan people will continue to hunt for the bad guys." Earlier, Karzai thanked Bush and the United States for help in rebuilding roads, training an Afghan army and sending millions of children to Afghan schools. "I'm also here to ask you to do more for us in making the life of the Afghan people better, more stable, more peaceful," Karzai said. Bush called Karzai a "courageous leader" and said he looked forward to working with him. But he did not outline any specific additional steps the United States would take to help Afghanistan. 'Friend of the U.S.'Karzai said he asked for U.S. help in rebuilding dams, canals and irrigation systems, as well as bolstering a trust fund for Afghan reconstruction administered by the World Bank. He said he also asked for continued support for building the new national army, which now has 3,000 troops. In his talks with U.S. officials, Karzai provided two figures showing how much progress has been made since the Taliban were ousted: More than 3 million Afghan children are now in school, and 2 million Afghan refugees have returned home. "A vote of 2 million feet coming back into Afghanistan is a significant trust in a system that is emerging," Karzai told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview. Karzai also said that while Afghans hope war can be avoided in Iraq, his country would be firmly on the side of the United States if war comes. "We are a friend of the U.S. They helped us in the invasion by the Soviet Union. They helped us now. We are not going to leave our friends unsupported," he said. The United States led a military operation in Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to oust the Taliban, which had allowed al Qaeda to operate in the country. The Bush administration and its allies have fingered al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, as being behind the attacks against the United States.
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