Bush triumphalism masks mission unaccomplished in Afghanistan: analysts
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Three years after the US-led invasion, Afghanistan is flooding the world with heroin, warlords reign in the provinces, women are scared and the new security forces are underarmed and undersized, analysts say.
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Watched over by American bodyguards and sharpshooters, Afghanistan&#39;s eternally optimistic interim president told a campaign rally of 10,000 people Tuesday that this weekend&#39;s election is a key step in their recovery from
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Afghanistan&#39;s election had problems ranging from delible ink to untrained poll workers, but those flaws did not tarnish the remarkable accomplishment of a nation, which only three years ago was under control of the oppressive Taliban, holding its first
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In an interview billed as his first since leaving the top Pentagon post, Donald Rumsfeld calls Afghanistan "a big success," but says U.S. efforts in Iraq are hampered by the failure of Iraq's government to establish a foundation for democracy.
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WASHINGTON -- President Bush vowed yesterday to make a sustained military and political effort to beat back resurgent Taliban forces as he turned his attention to Afghanistan and a conflict that has been overshadowed for the past couple of years by the larger war in Iraq.
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The Bush administration defended its achievements in Afghanistan on Thursday as both Democratic and Republican lawmakers contrasted official accounts of progress with new studies warning of looming failure.
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President Bush held up Israel as a model for defining success in Iraq, saying Thursday that the goal of the U.S. mission there is not eliminating attacks but enabling a democracy that can function despite continuing violence.
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President Bush paused on Veterans Day to honor the "hidden heroes" in America's military who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan during his presidency and in wars past. He also paid tribute to soldiers he said are waging a winning battle against insurgents west of Baghdad.
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Afghanistan's first democratic vote and the electoral success of Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch Iraq war ally, gave President George W. Bush a major boost three weeks from the US vote.
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Iraq's historic election was widely hailed as an unexpected success on Monday but diplomats and analysts warned that the failure of insurgents to wreck the poll did not mean they were on the run.
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Afghanistan&#39;s first-ever presidential election, held last Saturday, should have been a success story for Washington, demonstrating that democracy had taken root in the former Taliban stronghold.
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All 26 NATO nations have soldiers in Afghanistan and all agree the mission is their top priority. But the refusal of European allies to send more combat troops is forcing an already stretched U.S. military to fill the gap, and straining the Western alliance.
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President Bush's ambassador to Afghanistan said Tuesday he believes the United States would pursue reconstruction and a buildup of security forces there regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat were in charge.
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Thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan  may have failed to catch Osama bin Laden but they are credited  with encouraging millions of Afghans to register for the  country's historic election in October.
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TALLIN, Nov. 27--President Bush will seek fresh troops and equipment for the fight in Afghanistan and fewer restrictions on how they can be used when he sits down this week with NATO allies to review the state of the dangerous mission there, according to senior U.S. officials.
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The United States and Britain, the nations with the most troops fighting in Afghanistan, made a renewed push Thursday to portray the war as winnable and worthy of international support despite a so-far-unsuccessful struggle to get more allies to commit frontline forces.
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US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said after talks that Afghanistan's election success underscored the power of democracy and was a rebuke to Islamic extremism.