U.S., Britain renew push to show they can win war in Afghanistan

Europeans say the U.S. puts too much emphasis on war.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — 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.

On a visit here with her British counterpart, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice emphasized the improvements that Afghanistan has seen since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 toppled the radical Taliban regime. And Defense Secretary Robert Gates, at a meeting of NATO allies in Lithuania, said that despite fissures in the alliance over sharing burdens in Afghanistan, “I don’t think there is a crisis.”

The dual diplomatic efforts by two of President Bush’s top advisers demonstrated the importance of Afghanistan’s future in the struggle against Islamic extremism as well as the depth of the administration’s concern that the mission of stabilizing this country is in danger of stalling or even deteriorating.

A chief worry is the reluctance of some key NATO allies to provide more military resources, including combat troops, at a time when the Taliban has stiffened its resistance, particularly in southern Afghanistan. Some Europeans argue that the United States puts too much emphasis on the military aspects of helping Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, as in Iraq, the strongest U.S. partner has been Britain.

On an unannounced visit, Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband pointed to progress despite multiple setbacks more than six years after the Taliban regime was overrun and was thought to be all but defeated.

“If you look at the Afghanistan of 2001 and the Afghanistan of now there is a remarkable difference for the better,” Rice said. She also said that it would be unfair to say the efforts by NATO and the Afghan government aren’t working.

“Can we all expect the security situation will still be difficult? Yes, because Afghanistan has determined enemies who laid waste to this country over a period of a decade,” Rice said, adding, “The strategy is one that I believe is having a good effect.”

President Hamid Karzai, standing with her at a news conference, defended his leadership, saying the economy and education systems have improved under his watch.