KABUL, Afghanistan — In his State of the Union address, President Bush called Afghanistan a young democracy where children go to school and Afghans are hopeful. But he didn’t mention the violence that has killed 147 students and teachers, and closed 590 schools in the last year — almost as many as the 680 the U.S. has built.
Bush’s rosy outlook for a country that once played host to al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden didn’t contain any falsehoods. New roads and hospitals are being built, just as he told the nation Monday night.
Boys and girls are going to school in record numbers. About 5.8 million students, including 2 million girls, are now in class, compared with less than a million under the Taliban.
But some here might say Bush glossed over the bad news. Last year saw a record level of violence, and military leaders and analysts expect the suicide bombings, clashes and kidnappings to increase in 2008.
Bush said the sending of an additional 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan — a decision made this month — would help continue the country’s successes. But in reality, it came only after U.S. officials couldn’t persuade other NATO countries to send more soldiers to bolster the 28,000 U.S. forces already there.
“A nation that was once a safe haven for al-Qaida is now a young democracy where boys and girls are going to school, new roads and hospitals are being built, and people are looking to the future with new hope,” Bush said.
USAID, the government’s aid arm, has built or refurbished 680 schools in Afghanistan since 2001. Yet out of the country’s 9,400 schools, only 40 percent are actual buildings. Sixty percent of classes are held in tents or the open air.
But there’s an even more worrying trend: The number of students and teachers killed in Taliban attacks tripled in the past year, to 147, Education Minister Mohammad Hanif said, while the number of students out of class because of security has hit 300,000 since March 2007, compared with 200,000 in the previous 12 months.
That bad news might only grow worse. The Kabul-based security company that surveys conditions for international aid organizations in Afghanistan said in a report this month that 2007 will be seen as the year the Taliban seriously rejoined the fight.
Some Afghans see the pending arrival of more Marines as a good thing, among them Mohammad Nieem, a 50-year-old Kabul shopkeeper.
“All the students going to school is a result of the efforts of the international community. We had elections. That was the first time in my life I saw an election,” he said.
“Yes, we have security problems in some parts of the country … (but) I appreciate that America is sending extra troops. This is something Afghanistan needs right now.”
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