Laura Bush Carries Pet Causes to Afghans

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 30 - Laura Bush made her first visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday to offer support for Afghan women in their struggle for greater rights, and to promise long-term commitment from the United States to education for women and children.

Aiding Afghanistan

Passing the supplemental spending bill "would signal a long-term commitment to Afghanistan," Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told the American Enterprise Institute yesterday.
Mr. Khalilzad urged lawmakers to understand Afghans' fear that the United States will abandon the nation, as it did after the end of Soviet occupation in 1989.

Afghanistan's progress is notable but perilously fragile, UN report warns

Without addressing basic human needs by providing jobs, health services and education, Afghanistan could once again become a failed State, posing a threat to its own people and the international community, the report warns.

A Bitter Winter for Afghans

As Afghanistan struggles to cope with its harshest winter in years, more than 300 people have been reported dead from cold-related causes,while hundreds of thousands of people in villages across the mountainous central region remain cut off from help after weeks of freezing temperatures and steady snowfall. Once the villagers are reached, Afghan and relief officials said, the death toll could rise substantially.