WASHINGTON - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who was accord the rare honour of addressing a joint session of the US Congress, warned US lawmakers on Wednesday of the ‘terrible threat’ the Islamic State poses in Asia, and said the militant group is already dispatching fighters to his country.
Ghani peppered his speech with anecdotes about the time he’s spent in America and touched on themes he hoped would convince lawmakers that he will be a reliable U.
S.
partner.
He offered examples of how Afghanistan has made gains in health and education and voiced support for the youth and rights of women, including those who want to be president of the country.
He admitted that decades of war have resulted in high levels of fraud and graft in Afghanistan.
‘We will eliminate corruption,’ Ghani said, boldly predicting that within this decade his nation will no longer be reliant on U.
S.
and international aid.
The Afghan leader said Afghanistan owes a ‘profound debt’ to the 2,315 U.
S.
troops killed and the more than 20,000 wounded in the war that began after the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks.
Ghani, who became president last year, has been feted in Washington during a five-day trip to the United States seeking to repair ties frayed under his predecessor, Hamid Karzai.
His address came as Congress has been debating defence spending and other areas of the next U.
S.
budget.
Lawmakers also are considering President Barack Obama’s request for authorization of his military campaign against Islamic State, which has met stiff resistance on Capitol Hill.
‘Daesh (Islamic State) is already sending advance guards to southern and western Afghanistan to test for vulnerabilities,’ Ghani said.
He said Afghanistan, whose Taliban government sheltered al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, would never again host terrorists.
He urged Muslims around the world to speak out against extremism.
‘Silence is not acceptable,’ he said.
Ghani called national reconciliation a ‘pillar’ of his government.
He said Taliban members could find their way back into Afghan society, if they break from the militant group.
‘The Taliban need to choose not to be al Qaeda, and be Afghan,’ he said.
Lawmakers received Ghani’s passionate speech warmly, giving him repeated standing ovations particularly as he pledged to improve conditions for Afghan women.
On Monday, Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah met at the presidential retreat at Camp David with top US officials, who said Washington would fund Afghan security forces at least into 2017.
On Tuesday, Obama said he would maintain a force of 9,800 in Afghanistan this year while sticking to a 2017 exit plan.
As he thanked the lawmakers for continued support, Ghani promised Afghanistan will become self-reliant soon.
’In this decade we will,’ he said, in one of the biggest applause lines of his speech.
His address came as Congress has been debating defense spending and other areas of the next U.
S.
budget.
Lawmakers also are considering President Barack Obama’s request for authorization of his military campaign against Islamic State, which has met stiff resistance on Capitol Hill.
“Daesh (Islamic State) is already sending advance guards to southern and western Afghanistan to test for vulnerabilities,” Ghani said.
He said Afghanistan, whose Taliban government sheltered al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, would never again host terrorists.
He urged Muslims around the world to speak out against extremism.
“Silence is not acceptable,” he said.
As Ghani visited Washington, six people were killed and more than 30 wounded near his palace in Kabul, which is on high alert ahead of the expected Taliban spring offensive.
Ghani called national reconciliation a “pillar” of his government.
He said Taliban members could find their way back into Afghan society, if they break from the militant group.
“The Taliban need to choose not to be al Qaeda, and be Afghan,” he said.
Lawmakers received Ghani’s passionate speech warmly, giving him repeated standing ovations particularly as he pledged to improve conditions for Afghan women.
On Monday, Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah met at the presidential retreat at Camp David with top U.
S.
officials, who said Washington would fund Afghan security forces at least into 2017.
On Tuesday, Obama said he would maintain a force of 9,800 in Afghanistan this year while sticking to a 2017 exit plan.
As he thanked the lawmakers for continued support, Ghani promised Afghanistan will become self-reliant soon.
“In this decade we will,” he said, in one of the biggest applause lines of his speech.
Moreover, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani addresses the US Congress Wednesday and is expected to thank his American allies and turn the page from predecessor Hamid Karzai, ushering revitalized cooperation between his war-torn nation and Washington.
Ghani arrived last weekend for his first US visit since taking power last year.
He is accompanied by chief executive Abdullah Abdullah on a visit that has been billed as a new chapter in ties between the two countries.
On Tuesday, Ghani met with President Barack Obama at the White House, where the two leaders announced the Pentagon will slow its drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan and keep the current level of 9,800 troops there until the end of 2015.
The reversal of US plans to withdraw some 5,000 troops this year was a concession to the country’s new reform-minded leader.
The Afghan president addresses a joint meeting of Congress at 11:00 am (1500 GMT), a rare and prestigious honor for a foreign leader and one usually reserved for close allies.
Karzai addressed Congress in 2004, during the early years of the war in Afghanistan.
But ties with Karzai quickly soured.
He refused to sign a bilateral security agreement, which was finally signed last September after the inauguration of his successor.
Ghani is expected to pay further tribute to the sacrifice endured by Americans during the Afghan war, the longest in US history, in which more than 2,300 US personnel were killed and tens of thousands injured.
Congress controls the purse strings regarding US military operations in Afghanistan, and Ghani’s visit comes just as US lawmakers are hammering out an American budget for fiscal year 2016 which includes tens of billions of dollars in overseas contingency operations.
Karzai’s presidency was marked by deep mutual distrust between Kabul and Washington, and by the end of his term the Afghan leader was seen as increasingly paranoid, unreliable and tolerant of corruption.
Since taking office, Ghani has embraced calls to tackle corruption and for Afghan forces to lead the fight against Taliban militants.
And in a strikingly different tone from his predecessor, he thanked US troops for their sacrifice in the long conflict that followed the toppling of the Taliban government in 2001.
“You stood shoulder to shoulder with us and I’d like to say thank you,” Ghani said Tuesday, hours after undertaking a deeply symbolic visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
US lawmakers will be watching Ghani’s speech closely for signs of improved cooperation and commitment to reforms in his impoverished country.
The trip “comes at a pivotal time for his country and its relationship with the United States,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker said in a statement.
“We have a vested interest in the ability of Afghans to secure and stabilize their country after the investments of the American people and the extraordinary sacrifices of our service members.
Ghani peppered his speech with anecdotes about the time he’s spent in America and touched on themes he hoped would convince lawmakers that he will be a reliable U.
S.
partner.
He offered examples of how Afghanistan has made gains in health and education and voiced support for the youth and rights of women, including those who want to be president of the country.
He admitted that decades of war have resulted in high levels of fraud and graft in Afghanistan.
‘We will eliminate corruption,’ Ghani said, boldly predicting that within this decade his nation will no longer be reliant on U.
S.
and international aid.
The Afghan leader said Afghanistan owes a ‘profound debt’ to the 2,315 U.
S.
troops killed and the more than 20,000 wounded in the war that began after the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks.
Ghani, who became president last year, has been feted in Washington during a five-day trip to the United States seeking to repair ties frayed under his predecessor, Hamid Karzai.
His address came as Congress has been debating defence spending and other areas of the next U.
S.
budget.
Lawmakers also are considering President Barack Obama’s request for authorization of his military campaign against Islamic State, which has met stiff resistance on Capitol Hill.
‘Daesh (Islamic State) is already sending advance guards to southern and western Afghanistan to test for vulnerabilities,’ Ghani said.
He said Afghanistan, whose Taliban government sheltered al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, would never again host terrorists.
He urged Muslims around the world to speak out against extremism.
‘Silence is not acceptable,’ he said.
Ghani called national reconciliation a ‘pillar’ of his government.
He said Taliban members could find their way back into Afghan society, if they break from the militant group.
‘The Taliban need to choose not to be al Qaeda, and be Afghan,’ he said.
Lawmakers received Ghani’s passionate speech warmly, giving him repeated standing ovations particularly as he pledged to improve conditions for Afghan women.
On Monday, Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah met at the presidential retreat at Camp David with top US officials, who said Washington would fund Afghan security forces at least into 2017.
On Tuesday, Obama said he would maintain a force of 9,800 in Afghanistan this year while sticking to a 2017 exit plan.
As he thanked the lawmakers for continued support, Ghani promised Afghanistan will become self-reliant soon.
’In this decade we will,’ he said, in one of the biggest applause lines of his speech.
His address came as Congress has been debating defense spending and other areas of the next U.
S.
budget.
Lawmakers also are considering President Barack Obama’s request for authorization of his military campaign against Islamic State, which has met stiff resistance on Capitol Hill.
“Daesh (Islamic State) is already sending advance guards to southern and western Afghanistan to test for vulnerabilities,” Ghani said.
He said Afghanistan, whose Taliban government sheltered al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, would never again host terrorists.
He urged Muslims around the world to speak out against extremism.
“Silence is not acceptable,” he said.
As Ghani visited Washington, six people were killed and more than 30 wounded near his palace in Kabul, which is on high alert ahead of the expected Taliban spring offensive.
Ghani called national reconciliation a “pillar” of his government.
He said Taliban members could find their way back into Afghan society, if they break from the militant group.
“The Taliban need to choose not to be al Qaeda, and be Afghan,” he said.
Lawmakers received Ghani’s passionate speech warmly, giving him repeated standing ovations particularly as he pledged to improve conditions for Afghan women.
On Monday, Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah met at the presidential retreat at Camp David with top U.
S.
officials, who said Washington would fund Afghan security forces at least into 2017.
On Tuesday, Obama said he would maintain a force of 9,800 in Afghanistan this year while sticking to a 2017 exit plan.
As he thanked the lawmakers for continued support, Ghani promised Afghanistan will become self-reliant soon.
“In this decade we will,” he said, in one of the biggest applause lines of his speech.
Moreover, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani addresses the US Congress Wednesday and is expected to thank his American allies and turn the page from predecessor Hamid Karzai, ushering revitalized cooperation between his war-torn nation and Washington.
Ghani arrived last weekend for his first US visit since taking power last year.
He is accompanied by chief executive Abdullah Abdullah on a visit that has been billed as a new chapter in ties between the two countries.
On Tuesday, Ghani met with President Barack Obama at the White House, where the two leaders announced the Pentagon will slow its drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan and keep the current level of 9,800 troops there until the end of 2015.
The reversal of US plans to withdraw some 5,000 troops this year was a concession to the country’s new reform-minded leader.
The Afghan president addresses a joint meeting of Congress at 11:00 am (1500 GMT), a rare and prestigious honor for a foreign leader and one usually reserved for close allies.
Karzai addressed Congress in 2004, during the early years of the war in Afghanistan.
But ties with Karzai quickly soured.
He refused to sign a bilateral security agreement, which was finally signed last September after the inauguration of his successor.
Ghani is expected to pay further tribute to the sacrifice endured by Americans during the Afghan war, the longest in US history, in which more than 2,300 US personnel were killed and tens of thousands injured.
Congress controls the purse strings regarding US military operations in Afghanistan, and Ghani’s visit comes just as US lawmakers are hammering out an American budget for fiscal year 2016 which includes tens of billions of dollars in overseas contingency operations.
Karzai’s presidency was marked by deep mutual distrust between Kabul and Washington, and by the end of his term the Afghan leader was seen as increasingly paranoid, unreliable and tolerant of corruption.
Since taking office, Ghani has embraced calls to tackle corruption and for Afghan forces to lead the fight against Taliban militants.
And in a strikingly different tone from his predecessor, he thanked US troops for their sacrifice in the long conflict that followed the toppling of the Taliban government in 2001.
“You stood shoulder to shoulder with us and I’d like to say thank you,” Ghani said Tuesday, hours after undertaking a deeply symbolic visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
US lawmakers will be watching Ghani’s speech closely for signs of improved cooperation and commitment to reforms in his impoverished country.
The trip “comes at a pivotal time for his country and its relationship with the United States,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker said in a statement.
“We have a vested interest in the ability of Afghans to secure and stabilize their country after the investments of the American people and the extraordinary sacrifices of our service members.
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