Good Afghan news just a click away

KABUL — After moving to the United States, Abdullah Qazi got so sick of seeing his country in the headlines for all the wrong reasons he set up a website to spread good news about Afghanistan.Stories about war, fallen soldiers, suicide bombs, drug traffickers, kidnappings, acid attacks on schoolgirls -- bad news had dominated since the 2001 US-led invasion overthrew the Taliban regime.So he set up Good Afghan News -- www.goodafghannews.com -- to fill the gap."Sure, you find sprinkles of good news here and there," Qazi told AFP by email from his home in northern California."But they don't get the attention (they) need because they are usually in the same newspaper that's carrying three or four other articles telling people how bad things are in Afghanistan," he said.And he's right -- there are some good news stories in Afghanistan.Billions of aid dollars pumped into Afghanistan since 2001 have helped build roads, power stations, irrigation systems and hospitals across the country.Millions of children, including girls, are now going to school.Preventable diseases such as polio are being dealt with, thousands of clinics have been set up to provide much-needed health care in rural areas and despite enduring problems of corruption, millions of people vote in elections.But alongside the aid efforts, 121,000 US and NATO troops are stationed in the country -- soon to rise to 150,000 -- to fight a Taliban insurgency.Many of these troops are helping train the Afghan army and police to ensure Western nations can start pulling out their own troops in about 18 months, as their presence in Afghanistan is increasingly unpopular both among Afghans and in their home countries.A massive offensive against Taliban insurgents and their drug-trafficking cohorts in the southern province of Helmand has compounded the constant drumbeat of bad news.Operation Mushtarak has displaced thousands of families, and commanders say it could be weeks before the militants are pushed out and the booby-trap bombs they have left behind are clea

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