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Bush's Afghanistan Outlook Ignored Increasing Violence

By JASON STRAZIUSO, The Associated Press

Published: January 30, 2008

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 past year - almost as many as the 680 the United States has built.

Bush's rosy outlook 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. Some 5.8 million students, including 2 million girls, are now in class, compared with less than a million under the Taliban.

But some 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 this year.

"The security is going from bad to worse, especially in the south and the east," said Abdul Kaiyoom, 47, who works for Afghanistan's Education Ministry. "International forces have very modern equipment, but the Taliban have a heavy influence in the outlying areas, and they are taking territory from the government."

Bush said the sending of an additional 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan would help continue the country's successes.

USAID, the government's aid arm, has built or refurbished 680 schools in Afghanistan since 2001. Still, Education Minister Mohammad Hanif told The Associated Press last week there is a shortage of qualified teachers - and schools.

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.

There's an even more worrying trend: The number of students and teachers killed in Taliban attacks tripled in the past year, to 147, 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. The number of schools closed has risen from 350 to 590.

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