Well Australia's been in Afghanistan from the get go way back in 2001 but we have been resolute throughout and with support from both sides of Australian politics.

The experts who managed the original Marshall Plan say Afghanistan needs a commitment of at least $5 to $10 billion over 5 to 10 years coupled with occupation forces of 250 000 Allied soldiers to keep the peace throughout the country.

We as the Afghan people and government are willing to help Pakistan work for peace in Afghanistan and work for peace in Pakistan together.

People in Afghanistan want peace including the Taliban. They're also people like we all are. They have families they have relatives they have children they are suffering a tough time.

Afghanistan is very satisfied with Croatia's participation in the NATO-led peace mission and expects Croatia to expand its contribution to peace restoration in Afghanistan to other areas as well.

Military hardliners called me a 'security threat' for promoting peace in South Asia and for supporting a broad-based government in Afghanistan.

I mean honestly we have to be clear that the life for many Afghan women is not that much different than it was a hundred years ago 200 years ago. The country has lived with so much violence and conflict that many people men and women just want it to be over.

Kids coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan deserve to come back to 21st century medical care.

The legal system in Afghanistan is very immature and porous.

The main thing that gives me hope is the media. We have radio TV magazines and books so we have the possibility of learning from societies that are remote from us like Somalia. We turn on the TV and see what blew up in Iraq or we see conditions in Afghanistan.