I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Although Afghan lawmakers recently said that Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened to join the Taliban, Senator Tom Udall said Friday that Karzai denied making the remarks. Udall spoke by conference call with reporters from Afghanistan, where he met with Karzai as part of a fact-finding mission.
“I take him at his word, I don’t know what occurred at the meeting,” Udall said, referring to a meeting of the Afghan parliament where Karzai reportedly made the remarks.
Udall said he and other members of Congress spoke to Karzai for an hour. Udall also said he suggested that Karzai give an in-depth interview with an American journalist to help with his image in the United States.
Tthe delegation also met with General Stanley McChrystal, the Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, and Ambassador to Afghanistan Ken Eikenberg.
First-hand knowledge of Afghanistan is “invaluable,” Udall said Friday, adding that a “key part of being a legislator” is oversight, and first-hand knowledge of the area will help him in that accountability process.
Udall said he is still skeptical about the increase in troops to Afghanistan, but that for security reasons he would not speak about specific policy points on the call.
He also said that he sometimes was debriefed by President George W. Bush after such trips, but that he did not know if Obama would do that as well.
Udall said one of his impressions of Afghanistan was that it was a “terribly, terribly poor country” that was a largely agriculture-based economy.
“You get the sense that they have a lot of water but they could use a lot more infrastructure to use the water better,” Udall said.
Udall also said that the people in the country were “very friendly in areas” but that there were many other areas the group could not access because of security. He described heavy security for the group every time they left the base.
Udall said that they did not get a chance to talk to many average Afghan citizens, but those that they did were in the agricultural regions of country.
“In that community, they were pretty happy with the situation because the American and coalition forces have brought peace to the area,” Udall said. That allowed the farmers in the area to grow their crops.
While the most notorious, and lucrative, crop in Afghanistan is poppy, Udall would only say that he was briefed on the problem, but could not speak on it further. Poppy is made into heroin and it is estimated that 90 percent of the world’s heroin comes from Afghanistan.
Udall also said he brought the troops some decidedly less-controversial gifts; piñon-flavored coffee and red and green chile jerky.
The other Congressional members of the delegation were Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., Scott Brown, R-Mass., and Tom Carper, D-Del. as well as Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va.
Udall is expected to return to New Mexico on Sunday.
