Reply #9: Bush Flying Fast and Low

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TERENCE HUNT - The Associated Press
Thursday, March 02, 2006
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/168313/

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Flying fast and low, U.S. helicopters skimmed just above dusty fields dotted with bombed-out remnants of war. Door-gunners gripped machine guns, watching for any threat from the ground or the air. The mission: Safely ferry President Bush on his surprise visit to boost Afghanistan's fragile democracy.

Bush seemed unfazed by the security risks as he moved quickly around Kabul for four hours, meeting with President Hamid Karzai, U.S. Embassy workers and American and foreign forces at Bagram Air Base.

Bush ordered Air Force One, on a flight to India, to make a secret detour to this war-scarred country to show U.S. support for the fledgling democracy led by Karzai, whose authority has been weakened by suicide bombings and rising violence by insurgents.

As Bush arrived in South Asia, Pakistani security forces struck a militant training camp near the Afghan border, killing three dozen fighters, including a Chechen commander linked to al-Qaida, an army official said. Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the war against terror that has deployed thousands of troops to fight militants, has denied in the past that arrests of militants are timed to coincide with events.

Bush said he also would remind Musharraf about the need to capture bin Laden and Omar. "It's important that we bring these people to justice," Bush said. "He (Musharraf) understands that. After all, they've tried to kill him four times."