Bush's visit to Afghanistan

Written in a way I would never write it. The New Zealand Herald has this story from Reuters.
My notes in italics. It's subtle, but there.

Bush visits Afghanistan

01.03.06 10.30pm

BAGRAM AIR BASE - US President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday to see for the first time the emerging democracy that replaced the Taleban he ousted in 2001 after September 11.

Bush was set to hold talks with President Hamid Karzai and other officials of the US-backed government after the Taleban regime was ousted for refusing to hand over leaders of the al Qaeda network responsible for September 11.
I think there was more to it than that.

Security was tight for what was expected to be a five-hour visit to Kabul and Bagram, the main base for US troops in Afghanistan.

Bush was due to fly to India later as part of a tour that will also take him to Pakistan, another important ally in Bush's declared war on terrorism.
Isn’t this more than just Bush’s war?

The US president is visiting Afghanistan at a time when the country is still troubled by a stubborn Taleban insurgency that has claimed 1500 lives since the start of last year, including dozens of US soldiers.

US officials have portrayed Afghanistan as a relative success story compared to the US front in Iraq.
I don’t believe I’ve ever heard the administration do this comparison. Maybe the press.

Millions of war refugees have returned to the country and presidential elections installed Karzai in October 2004 and the country's first democratically elected parliament in September.
Installed?? Democratically?

But more than four years after US troops toppled the Taleban, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taleban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar remain at large.
The tallest man…..

There is an 18,000-strong US-led force stationed in Afghanistan, along with around 9000 Nato-led peacekeepers.
And they still can’t find the tallest man.

- REUTERS

Not a big deal fisking, but it's the subtle things in news reports that get me. The ones that others deny exist.