April 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1429

WASHINGTON, April 29: US President George Bush said on Tuesday that he’s “under no illusion” that the war in Afghanistan is not tough but America needs to continue to fight this war.

At a news conference called apparently to blame the opposition-led Congress for America’s economic and political woes, Mr Bush strongly defended his Afghan policies, saying that despite unfavourable conditions US troops in Afghanistan had made major gains.

This caused a reporter to remind him that in a recent interview he admitted playing up US successes in Iraq to boost the moral of American troops engaged in a tough war. “How can we believe that you’re not doing the same thing in Afghanistan,” the reporter asked.

Annoyed by the reporter’s question, Mr Bush blamed her of not putting his comments, made during a previous interview to her, in the right context.

At one stage, he even had the reporter’s mike cut off but noted that she continued without the mike as well.

“Make sure you put the comments in place,” said Mr Bush when forced to answer her question.

“So what I’m going to tell you now is we’re making progress in Afghanistan, but there’s tough fighting. I’m under no illusions that this isn’t tough. I know full well we’re dealing with a determined enemy.”

Mr Bush, however, insisted that it was in America’s interest to defeat the enemy it is fighting in Afghanistan.

“We’re making progress. But it’s also a tough battle,” he added. “We’re facing people who are willing to strap bombs on themselves and walk into places where the innocent dwell or the innocent shop and kill them.

“Is there an interest to confront these people now, whether it be in Afghanistan or Iraq or Europe or anywhere else? And the answer is absolutely it’s in our interest.”

Mr Bush said the notion that these people would disappear if they were left alone was “naive or disingenuous” and the United States has to continue to play a leading role in this war.

Mr Bush said that while he believes the US has made progress in Afghanistan, it does not mean that the war is over. “No, it doesn’t mean its over. We’re in a long struggle, as I’ve told you many a time, against these jihadists,” he added.

Earlier, while responding to a question on the latest attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s life, Mr Bush acknowledged that the US was facing “a very resilient enemy” in Afghanistan “that obviously wants to kill people that stand in the way of their re-imposition of a state that is — which vision is incredibly dark.”