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Bush, Rice fret over Afghanistan fatigue

WASHINGTON — President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern Thursday that the commitment of NATO allies in Afghanistan may be flagging and warned against allowing the country to again become a cauldron for extremism.

In separate news conferences, Bush and Rice made clear that the U.S. cannot accept Afghanistan as a failed state where al-Qaida is able to regroup and possibly use as a stage to launch future terrorist strikes like the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“My biggest concern is that people say, ‘Well, we’re kind of tired of Afghanistan and, therefore, we think we’re going to leave,’ ” Bush said at the White House. “That would be my biggest concern.”

Later, Rice made the same point at a news conference with Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, whose government will begin debate early next year on whether to extend its military operations in Afghanistan beyond a February 2009 deadline.

“It is an absolutely essential mission to stabilize Afghanistan,” Rice said. “We learned the hard way what happens when we allow a failed state to emerge in Afghanistan.”

“It was the United States that was attacked on Sept. 11 but, of course, it could have been any of us, and it has been others, as well,” she said. “We just have to remember that in the war on terror, what we’re trying to do is to help states like Afghanistan become self-sustaining states that are not going to be safe havens for terrorists.”

Bush and Rice lavished praise on Canada and other NATO allies that have troops in Afghanistan.

“I would like to praise the Brits, the Canadians, the Dutch, the Danes and other countries for their contributions — the Aussies for their contribution of shooters, fighters, people that are willing to be on the front line of this battle,” Bush said. “These are brave souls.”

Speaking about Canada, which has troops in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar where insurgent activity is high, Rice called Ottawa’s contribution “invaluable and effective.”

“I want to thank the foreign minister, but I want to thank also the people of Canada for that extraordinary contribution.”