The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
March 31, 2009

US Seeks International Support for Surge in Afghanistan
-------------------------------------------------------



Officials from more than seventy countries are meeting in the
Netherlands to discuss the future of Afghanistan. All of Afghanistan’s
neighbors, including Iran, are attending. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton is expected to ask conference delegates for their countries’
support for Washington’s escalation of the war. President Obama has said
he plans to send an extra 17,000 soldiers and 4,000 advisers to
Afghanistan. The Red Cross has warned that the planned US surge is
likely to mean more civilian casualties. The Red Cross urged the
conference to “consider the plight of civilians as a matter of urgency.”
On Monday, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke spoke about the importance
of Iran’s role in the summit.

Richard Holbrooke: “The presence of Iran here is obvious. How can you
talk about Afghanistan and exclude one of the countries that’s a
bordering, neighboring state? This is absolutely clear. The creation of
the current government in Afghanistan in the Bonn negotiations of 2002
involved Iran, and they played an important role. And when the Dutch
government decided to invite them, it seemed to us to be the most
logical thing in the world.”

Sayeed Jawed of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief called on
the international community to fight government corruption.

Sayeed Jawed: “Normally, you know, the security is coming if you have a
good governance. So we would ask the international community to work for
the good government, which provides situation for development and that
will guarantee the security.”



.