Governor Kaine's Mideast Journal, cont'd
As we flew back to Kuwait at the end of the long day, I was struck with two thoughts: First, my immense pride in the men and women of the Virginia National Guard, and, second, my belief that the United States will remain in Iraq for a long time.
The enormous challenge of forming an orderly, productive government and society
that includes the Shia, Sunni, and Kurds has been immensely difficult enough.
But the role of the United States in fostering this unique experiment in democratic
government has made Iraq a target for outside terrorist groups who see value
in violently undermining what we are attempting to build in Iraq.
In Baghdad, the Virginia troops were complimentary of the Iraqis with whom they had been working. They are working in tandem with Iraqis on most of their missions, and they reconfirmed my belief that a forced timetable for withdrawal from Iraq is a policy that would neither serve the United States nor Iraq well.
An eventual withdrawal is inevitable, but its timing must be predicated on the training of the Iraqi police and military, until they are prepared to assume the responsibility for the safety of their communities and country.
The next morning, we began our journey to Afghanistan. The route is complicated because you must fly around, rather than over, Iran. We landed in Islamabad, Pakistan, and switched planes for our flight into Kabul.
The one-hour hop from Pakistan to Kabul is over forbidding mountains that are strongholds of al-Qaeda. The mountains are huge, snow-capped and almost disorienting. Kabul feels very different from Iraq, much more primitive, and removed from the rest of the world.
The story of what the United States is accomplishing in Afghanistan is remarkable
in many ways, more noble and less morally and operationally complicated than
our efforts in Iraq.
The other governors and I met with U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann, and he discussed the progress being made in Afghanistan since the Taliban was defeated in late 2001.
The brutal years of Soviet occupation were followed by a horrible decade of civil war, ultimately leading to control by the Islamic Taliban from 1996 until 2001. Their policies, including their repressive treatment of women and support for terrorists, ostracized Afghanistan from the world community. The Taliban was ousted from power in December 2001 by the U.S. military and our international allies, along with Afghan opposition forces.
In just a few short years, the Afghans have written a constitution, elected a president and now seated a parliament. While the feelings about the U.S. occupation of Iraq are complicated for Iraqis, most Afghans appreciate what we are doing and want us to stay.