[…] As campaigning for Afghanistan’s August 20 presidential and provincial elections moves forward, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues urges a credible, inclusive and secure campaign for all candidates and a vigorous debate on issues of concern to their female constituents. “Clearly, there has to be a will at the top and there’s got to be heat at the bottom,” Ambassador Melanne Verveer said in Washington June 30.

[…] Good afternoon, actually. Good afternoon, all. We’re very fortunate to have with us this afternoon the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer. And she’s going to talk to you about her recent trip to Afghanistan and talk about how the U.S. is supporting Afghan women. So without further ado, I’ll turn it over to the ambassador.

[…] "We are very pleased to be able to help Afghanistan and Pakistan improve the sustainable development of their agricultural sectors, which will help provide the foundation on which the economies of the two countries can prosper and thrive and create political and social stability," said Vilsack. "We look forward to working together in a variety of ways to increase agricultural productivity.

[…] “We have several countries, but we have one theater. And this is the way we're looking at it,” retired General James Jones said May 6 after President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other U.S. officials held meetings with Afghan and Pakistani delegations led by Presidents Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, respectively. “The fact that people recognize that this is a regional problem — that's relatively new I think, within the last six months,” Jones said.

[…] Speaking May 6 at the White House after hosting both trilateral and bilateral meetings with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts, Obama said there is “much to be done” to confront common security threats from insurgents such as the Taliban and al-Qaida, as well as to encourage greater economic opportunity and hope among their people. “Along the border where insurgents often move freely, we must work together with a renewed sense of partnership to share intelligence, and to coordinate our efforts to isolate, target and take out our common enemy.

[…] The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan are arriving for meetings with President Obama and other senior U.S. officials to try to develop closer trilateral coordination against terrorism and to address the impact of the global economic crisis in their countries. State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood said May 4 that he expects the May 6 discussions in Washington between Obama, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan will be “very productive.”

[…] U.S. Department of State Delivers $5 Million in New Mine Action Aid for Afghanistan The U.S. Department of State is responding to an international funding shortfall for mine action in Afghanistan by providing an additional $5,000,000 to six humanitarian demining groups, including five Afghan non-governmental organizations. This emergency U.S. funding will enable 34 more mine action teams to remove the threat of land mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) across Afghanistan.

[…] “My hope is that there will be an increasing recognition on the part of the Pakistani government that the Taliban in Pakistan are in fact an existential threat to the democratic government of that country,” Gates said at an April 23 press conference while he was visiting U.S. Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The Marines are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan within days.

[…] Testifying at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing April 23, Clinton said the Obama administration is “deeply concerned by the increasing insurgency that is destabilizing Pakistan.” There have been a series of meetings with the Pakistani government, civilian and military leaders, and Afghan leaders about the threat posed by the extremist Taliban insurgency that is gaining strong footholds in both countries.

[…] With that reality as my focus, today I send to the Congress a supplemental appropriations request totaling $83.4 billion that will fund our ongoing military, diplomatic, and intelligence operations. Nearly 95 percent of these funds will be used to support our men and women in uniform as they help the people of Iraq to take responsibility for their own future -- and work to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

[…] The 28-nation NATO alliance celebrated its 60th anniversary by pledging renewed resolve in its mission to help Afghanistan root out terrorist safe havens and to balance collective defense with emerging security challenges. “For years, our efforts in Afghanistan have lacked the resources needed to achieve our goals,” President Obama told reporters.