U.S.-led war on Afghanistan caused a human disaster.
By IOL Correspondent Aamir Latif
ISLAMABAD, Jan.8 (IslamOnline) - British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said that "enormous challenges" remain in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban and Al Qaeda movements in the ware-hacked country.
Blair reiterated that the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism would continue its military campaign in Afghanistan "until all our objectives" were achieved.
Blair made the remarks at a press conference arranged by the coalition information center soon after he arrived Islamabad on the third leg of his South Asian tour Monday night.
Blair said the international community must not abandon Afghanistan during its rebuilding process, and that it "has got to remain committed to helping Afghanistan."
Blair stated that such a commitment was necessary to ensure the country, having been a "failed state for many years", becomes "a reliable partner in this region."
"Let us reflect on what happened when we failed to make that commitment 12 years ago,” he continued.
The British premier said the ousting of the Taliban regime was only the first step in Afghanistan's rehabilitation.
"The second step is to put in place the stability for the long term and that is why the international community has got to remain committed to helping Afghanistan to becoming a stable partner in the region and a proper member of the international community."
He said the military campaign in Afghanistan had been "immensely successful" despite the failure to capture Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar.
After the September 11 attacks on the United States, "people then were very skeptical as to whether the action in Afghanistan would be successful," said Blair.
"Some people warned it would lead to humanitarian disaster, a military disaster, a political disaster (but) we have managed to achieve more than people possibly could have dreamt of a few months ago,” Blair added.
Asked whether the campaign could be considered a success without the capture of Mullah Omar, Blair said that tracking him down remained a major goal. "The campaign remains in place to make sure all our objectives are secured and that includes tracking down those responsible for terrorism in Afghanistan."
