Afghan president visits Marjah, talks to local officials

(7 Mar 2010)
1. Various of helicopter landing
2. Mid of Marjah villagers waiting to receive Afghan president Hamid Karzai
3. Various of Karzai walking
4. Mid of Karzai greeting Marjah elders
5. Mid of people watching
6. Mid of Karzai on podium
7. Mid of an elder complaining to Karzai
8. Mid of Karzai''s photo and Afghanistan flag
9. Mid of Karzai walking towards journalists
10. Mid of cameramen
11. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Hamid Karzai, Afghan president:
"It is really my pleasure that I visited Marjah and spoke to the people at the same time I am sad that the people have suffered a lot and they have not received any assistance from the government as well as from the foreigners."
12. Cutaway cameramen
13. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Hamid Karzai, Afghan president:
"Inshallah (God willing), we will try to solve your problems. The promises that we have made of security and reconstruction, we will fulfil them."
14. Mid of Karzai leaving
15. Mid of Karzai sitting with people
16. Wide of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces
STORYLINE:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai heard a litany of complaints on Sunday from residents of Marjah, the town in the south that thousands of US, NATO and Afghan troops just seized from the Taliban.
"I am sad that the people have suffered a lot and they have not received any assistance from the government as well as from the foreigners," Karzai told about 300 elders in a mosque in the central part of the town.
The elders complained about corruption among former Afghan government officials.
They lamented how schools in Marjah were turned into military posts by international forces and said shops were looted during the military offensive, and alleged that innocent civilians were detained by international forces.
The elders expressed outrage over house searches conducted by the military, and civilian casualties that occurred during the offensive.
They told Karzai they want Afghan troops - not international forces or local policemen - searching houses.
The elders, some gesturing to express their frustration, also said they wanted clinics and schools, and were losing patience with the central government''s inability to provide services.
Karzai''s visit with NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal was part of NATO''s new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, which aims to rout insurgents from population centres, set up a credible and effective civilian government and rush in aid.
The government''s task in Marjah is to convince residents of the town in Helmand province that the civilian government can provide them with a better life than the Taliban, which were routed during a three-week offensive.
Marjah is the first major test of the NATO counterinsurgency strategy since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 new American troops to try to reverse the Taliban''s momentum.
Karzai, who has been dubbed "the mayor of Kabul" by critics who claim his authority doesn''t extend beyond the capital, said the central government intends to be more responsive to the people''s needs.
Karzai promised to provide them security, open schools and start building roads and clinics. Marjah residents have heard promises from the central government before. International and Afghan forces have taken over Marjah at least three times before.
In the past, local governments that were set up failed to deliver on commitments to build clinics and schools.
Karzai told reporters he was not surprised that the people in Marjah were angry and vowed to keep promises to restore security and undertake reconstruction.

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