06/21/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09958
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
Al-Qaida terrorists who once occupied Afghanistan now occupy cells at a U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And al-Qaida terrorist leaders who urged their followers to sacrifice their lives are now running for their own. As President George W. Bush said, "America and Afghanistan are now allies against terror."
Hamid Karzai has been elected president of a new Afghan Transitional Authority. The Loya Jirga, or grand council, elected Mr. Karzai by a large majority. He will serve for two years. A year ago, such an event would have been unthinkable. At that time, the oppressive Taleban regime was in control of more than eighty-percent of Afghanistan. Women had no rights. People were starving, and many Afghans had fled their country to live as refugees. The al-Qaida terrorist group had training camps, supply bases, and safe havens throughout Afghanistan. But all that was changed by military action of Afghans with the help of the U.S.-led coalition.
But the fighting isn’t over. U.S. and coalition troops and their Afghan allies are hunting down and killing or capturing the remaining Taleban and al-Qaida terrorists. In recent weeks, patrols involved with Operation Mountain Lion have collected what U.S. General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said are "hundreds of thousands of munitions." These include large numbers of rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, small arms and ammunition, mortars, and some thirty Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles. Intelligence gained by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan has helped to avert other terrorist attacks around the world.
As the hunt for the remaining Taleban and al-Qaida continues, a new Afghan army is being created. The first battalion is reaching the midpoint of its training cycle. A second battalion has recently started its training. Hamid Karzai, head of the Afghan Transitional Authority, has pledged to keep after the terrorists in his country. The U.S. is committed to helping him.
As President Bush said, "The terror that targeted New York and Washington [on September 11th] could next strike any center of civilization. Against such an enemy," said Mr. Bush, "there is no immunity, and there can be no neutrality." The terrorists must be beaten.