these carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations. america and its allies, including britain, went in soon after the attacks on the us on 9/11. the initial goal — to prevent afghanistan from being a safe haven for al-qaeda. but subsequent efforts over the past 20 years to create a more stable country now largely appear to have been futile. the prime minister admitting there is no military solution. what we certainly can do is work with all our partners in the region and around the world who share an interest with others in preventing afghanistan from once again becoming a breeding ground for terror. afghanistan's location is of strategic importance. to the north, there are the former soviet states, such as turkmenistan, uzbekistan and tajikistan, all of whom still have