The New York Times is reporting that the Bush administration will soon announce plans to double the amount of aid to Afghanistan and to greatly increase the level of staffing in the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

Officials at aid groups say Bush is focusing again on Afghanistan in an attempt to make the reconstruction effort there look like a success story while he runs for president in 2004.

A recent study by the Rand Corporation found the U.S. has significantly. shortchanged the Afghanistan reconstruction compared to other nation building efforts. In Bosnia there were an average of 19 peacekeepers per 1,000 Bosnians. In Afghanistan there is less than one peacekeeping for every thousand Afghans. In Bosnia, the international community spent about $1400 per person during the first two years of reconstruction. In Afghanistan the total has been just over $50.