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| October 24, 2001 | Wednesday | Shaba'an 6, 1422 |
US not sure action will halt during Ramazan
WASHINGTON, Oct 23: The United States is not prepared to make any commitment at this stage that it might lessen or initiate a pause in its military operations in Afghanistan during Ramazan.
An indication to this effect was given by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at his Pentagon briefing on Monday afternoon when he was asked to comment on Gen Pervez Musharraf’s remark that he hoped the campaign in Afghanistan would end before the month of Ramazan and for restraint during that period.
Mr Rumsfeld said: “I would say two things. First, that we have great respect for the views and concerns of the many countries that are cooperating in this effort. And as I have said on a number of occasions, the sensitivities and the perspectives vary from country to country. We also have to recognize two other things. One is that there continue to be terrorist threats in this world, and the sooner we deal with this problem, the less likely it is that you’re going to have more such attacks. And third, history is replete with instances where Muslim nations have fought with — among themselves or with other countries — during various important holy days for their religion and it has not inhibited them historically.”
It is unclear whether the defence secretary’s remarks were directly linked to Gen Musharraf’s comment during an interview on Larry King Live. The interview was shown on Monday night, but an advance Reuters report based on the interview had been circulating since the morning. Gen Musharraf has been expressing his hopes for a short campaign for several days.
Mr Rumsfeld was also questioned on Monday’s bombing of frontline Taliban troops in the north, a step that is seen as encouraging the Northern Alliance troops to advance towards Kabul. However, it emerged clearly that US policy on this particular point has yet to properly crystallize and that the military and political segments of the Afghan operation have not yet been fully matched.
Asked whether the US was now ready to have the Northern Alliance advance toward Kabul, the defence secretary said the US was prepared and ready to allow alliance troops to move both south and north. But he also pointed out that the alliance was “a group of separate elements that have somewhat consistent interests, but, on the other hand, they also have competing and conflicting interests. And they do not always agree with each other as to what should be done”.
Second, he said, the US and coalition forces had, for a period of days, been seeking out concentrations of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. “We have had uneven success. To the extent we have excellent ground-to-air coordination, the success improves. To