Wait for it!

"But this is only small areas."

Or how about:

"This is only for the rich and it'll have lots of security and such."

Or even:

"So? It's all staged for those who want to 'feel good.' "

*Chuckles*

No seriously I know someone will come up with some negatives on this. I await the negativity.

This photogallery linked on from this page is great. Gives a different view of Iraq. Not what I thought it was at all. Makes you want to go there to see first hand, and visit that beautiful part of the world.

when a lefty says they "support" the troops but not the Iraq invasion, simply ask if they "supported" the invasion of Afghanistan.

the parsing, hand-wringing, & chattering reveals the lefty's TRUE contempt for the military...

...unless they wear blue helmets....

...& lock themselves in garrison while ONE MILLION RUWANDIANS ARE SLAUGHTERED.

Are you serious?

Have you been to Afghanistan?

I have. In fact, I was there on April 11, 2005. If you want to reserve a room, go for it. See how well that works out for you.

Afghanistan is doing better. It's far from fine.

Are you kidding me? They have a hotel opening with high speed internet and pictures to look at and that means afghanistan is doing fine?

It is far from fine .... Keep digging Mark and you'll find some not so fine reports but thats just the lefty media slamming Bush right? Kind of weak, expected better from this site.

JS,

Just there for one day? Just passing through were you? I do not doubt you were there just wondering how one day makes you any more of an expert than Mark.

Also, I would submit that free elections, infrastructure being rebuilt, female participation in government, school, work and other things we here take for granted, elimination of terrorist training camps indicates the improvements in Afghanistan are more than simply "doing better".

I mean things here, as you lefties love to point out ad nauseum, are hardly perfect either right? Just as long as you all have something to complain about...

JS,

My apologies, after rearding the original post I now understand why you brought up a single day as your point of reference - it was the dateline of the quoted article.

That being said, I still stand by my assertion that Afghanistan is infinitely better off now than before under the Taliban.

GOP

No doubt, Afghanistan is better off now than under the Taliban. However, Bush's dream of a true democracy there is yet to be fulfilled.

GOP 4 Me, et al -

I don't want to belabor this point, but I was in Afghanistan for a year - July 2004 to July 2005. I do claim a small degree of expertise.

I agree that life is probably better for many Afghans since the fall of the Taliban, but for just as many, life hasn't changed at all because the rule of the Taliban didn't change their lives in any meaningful way to begin with. The improvements you mentioned have occurred, though I would caution against thinking that these changes are widespread. The situation in Kabul has improved greatly, but Kabul is not a particularly accurate representation of the whole of Afghanistan.

The countryside is still very isolated, poor, and traditional - women don't vote, they wear burqas, girls don't go to school if there even is one, roads into villages are goat paths, the terrorist training camps are still in operation but have just relocated to Pakistan, and there is a culture of corruption in both the political apparatus and the police. But there is a popularly elected government, and that's an improvement.

I'm not being defeatist, of leftist, or anything else, but the administration's plan to draw down the American presence in Afghanistan is huge mistake. If we pull out, in a matter of months or years, it's like the U.S. was never even there. The storm clouds are still sitting on the horizon.

Better. Not nearly fine.

Afghanistan is doing fine? Because a hotel with internet access is opening? Seriously? Wow... your bar for "fine" is set rather low isn't it?

You righties are so deluded. Absolutely deluded.

JS,

You look for signposts - in this case, what was impossible in 2001....a hotel in Afghanistan soliticiting business in The Great Satan...Afghanistan is doing fine. The hotel wouldn't exist if it wasn't...

Are things perfect? No. Am I planning my summer vacation in Kabul? Not exactly. But things are quite a lot better than they were.

JLear,

Actually, in my digging I found all kinds of reports showing things going quite well...the hotel, however, is symbolic of it all.

When making your reservation, ask for the Cheney service, and the hotel will make sure that your room is well stocked with sprite, and all the TVs are tuned to FOX news. Sorry guys, I had to.

We will not create a Democratic Utopia in Afghanistan overnight. Come to think of it, Detroit, Philadelphia, New Orleans, L.A., and D.C. are hardly utopias. And Democxrats have ruleed there for decades.

Afghanistan is a backward and ignorant place. The terrain is rough. The mountain tribes are fierce and, well tribal. One way we will NEVER make a difference is for the left to continue to attack everything we do while offering no ideas of their own and without offerering to join in the struggle.

Barney, good one.
Clean clear shot at Cheney watch out, he does shoot back... Even republican supporters are careful around him now.

I just couldn't resist a shot at ya.

Help me guys,
We invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban and replace it w/ a western style, friendly, and democratic government. How can Abdul Rahman happen??

When the Afghanistan Constitution was first introduced, there was an uproar over the fact it established an Islamic republic based on Islamic law. President Bush assured Americans that the cost of establishing this democracy (both in terms of lives and money) was worth it because the Constitution protected freedom of religion. Now that a Christian is set to be executed in Afghanistan for, well, being a Christian converting to Christianity, the true impact of that Constitution is being revealed.

Abdul Rahman, as you know, converted to Christianity over 14 years ago, yet is now facing death in Afghanistan because he will not accept the Muslim faith. Both President Bush and President Karzai are now under fire. Has President Bush's attempt to establish democracy at the end of a gun failed? What do American soldiers have to say now that the democracy they bled for is acting just like the Taliban? As for President Karzai, will he step in and affirm human rights (and look like a puppet of the West to some Aghanis) or will he stand by his nation's court? When the story first broke, Karzai appeared to take the latter course, declaring that the judiciary in Afghanistan was "independent." The judiciary itself has said it won't bow to international pressure.

Is Afghanistan slipping back into a dark ages style theocracy? Is our military stretched to thin to stop this? Or was the real reason for getting into Afghanistan just to have bases to contain China and democracy and human rights be damned??

Just between us, I'll feel a lot more comfortable at any place in Detroit than at a five-star hotel in Kabul. Incredibly American to judge progress by how a country treats its richest poppy buyers.

"A lefty poster asserted that Afghan President Karzai is just Mayor of Kabul - repeating a years-old denigation of our effort in Afghanistan.

I decided to look around for some rock solid info, stats and all that, to dispute such a notion..."

Mark, you realize this hotel is in Kabul, right?

Wouldn't you want to cite progress OUTSIDE of Kabul to dispell the notion that Karzai is merely the mayor of Kabul?