Vice President Dick Cheney was dispatched to Pakistan and Afghanistan this week to deliver a stern message about countering the resurgence of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. But the terrorists delivered a message of their own when they blew up a bomb outside the main gate of the highly secure Bagram Air Force Base where Cheney was staying.
The vice president was not in danger. Still, it was as though the terrorists wanted to proclaim their accelerating revival.
The militant religious group known as the Taliban took credit for the suicide bomb that killed as many as 23 people and wounded many others. A spokesman said the group “wanted to target … Cheney,” although a U.S. official called the claim “far-fetched” since, except for bad weather he was to have left the day before.
In any event the attack serves as an all too vivid demonstration that the Afghan democracy is in a precarious state. For security reasons, Cheney’s visit to the region was unannounced until after he met with President Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan. Because of a snowstorm, Cheney was unable to go directly to Kabul to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and spent the night at the fortified U.S. military base in the mountains of Afghanistan.
Cheney’s view is that the attackers were trying “to find ways to question the authority of the central government.” Perhaps they were looking to question the authority of the United States and Vice President Cheney. Or perhaps it was a message from Pakistan where U.S. enemies abound. (Cheney reportedly threatened to cut off U.S. aid if Pakistan didn’t do more to crack down on al-Qaeda and the Taliban, which are regrouping near the border in northern Pakistan’s tribal areas.)
Cheney’s trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan reflects the growing threat to Kabul and growing concern about the reported reappearance of al-Qaeda training camps along the remote Afghan-Pakistan border.
The Bush administration never should have shifted its primary focus from Afghanistan to Iraq. After all, key leaders of the Sept. 11 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States are directly tied to the region – and still very much at large.
Cheney urged the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan to take tougher action in the border areas. The 47,000 coalition troops in Afghanistan, including 27,000 from the U.S., are preparing for a bloody spring offensive by the militants aimed at the Karzai government. Britain is deploying 1,400 more troops there, even as it reduces its force in Iraq. The situation in Afghanistan is growing more dangerous.
