Mark Souder: “last Friday I led a bipartisan delegation to Europe that met with the exiled King of Afghanistan in Rome, and I want to…”

“last Friday I led a bipartisan delegation to Europe that met with the exiled King of Afghanistan in Rome, and I want to say up front one of the most common questions we had was, is United States policy tilted towards the King, or is it tilted towards the Northern Alliance? And one thing we continually made clear and we need to continually make clear is that many of us here in Congress supported the Northern Alliance and wanted additional funding to go to them, and many of us in Congress support the exiled King. We support both, and we believe there should be a coalition government. In fact, today's papers, in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, all are running stories suggesting that the Northern Alliance is suddenly wanting to go it alone, now that after months of not moving or actually retreating, were able to advance with American bombs, all of a sudden they want to go exclusive. Our policy needs to be balanced. I would like to share a few comments of our exchange with the King and then some thoughts on the direction of where we may head. Clearly, the King is 87. He is of strong mind and will, but he has been in exile for years. His role would be more of a coordinator and peacemaker, not necessarily a dominant leader. After all, he is 87, not 57. His heart hurts for his people and country. He expressed sorrow because of the terrorism that brought the bombing. He stated that that bombing was a necessary evil.”