Agence France-Presse
Kabul, October 16
Three years after the US-led invasion, Afghanistan is flooding the world with heroin, warlords reign in the provinces, women are scared and the new security forces are underarmed and undersized, analysts say.
But as he bids for re-election, US President George W. Bush is trumpeting Afghanistan's own recent presidential polls as a symbol of success in nation-building.
His Democrat challenger John Kerry meanwhile makes the diversion of resources from Afghanistan to Iraq and the failure to nail Osama bin Laden three years ago key planks of his attack.
Bush's vision of success in Afghanistan since US forces helped overthrow the ultra-Islamic Taliban in late 2001 is rose-tinted, the analysts say. But Kerry's criticism may be over-simplistic, they add.
"Bush has painted a rosier picture than exists on the ground... and expressed success prematurely," said Vikram Parekh, Afghan affairs analyst for the International Crisis Group.
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