August 17, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Saani 7, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

WASHINGTON, Aug 16: The commander of US forces in Afghanistan said on Thursday that the American troops could stay for years in Afghanistan to ensure that the Kabul government was able to run its own affairs.

Army Gen Tommy Franks told a news briefing at the Pentagon that US forces in Afghanistan have to complete their work, which includes “a maturation of the government inside Afghanistan ... training of the Afghan national army ... and police force.”

The general, who also heads the US Central Command, was commenting on an earlier statement by an unnamed US official who had said that the US military would stay in Afghanistan for years.

“Yes, I would agree with that. In my own region, I can use the example of Korea,” said Gen Franks, adding that the United States was involved in military-to-military relationship with many countries.

“So, it does not surprise me that someone would say, ‘Oh, gosh ... the military’s going to be in Afghanistan for a long, long time.’ Sure we will be.”

He said the number of troops may reduce as the situation improves but “it would not be wise to put a timeline on when we see that happening.”

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who also addressed the same briefing, said the US forces had already achieved their first target of deposing the Taliban and scattering Al Qaeda fighters around Afghanistan.

The second phase, he said, was that of establishing a government in Kabul and improving the peace and security situation in Afghanistan. “Now we are in phase three where the task is to chase out (the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters), to prevent the concentrations from forming again, to prevent them from flowing back into the country from the neighbouring countries, to prevent the Taliban from taking the country back over and to begin the process of ... civil action and humanitarian support,” Rumsfeld said.

The US forces launched their operation in Afghanistan on Oct 7 and removed the Taliban in two months. In December, the US helped install a UN-mandated government in Kabul, which completed its first transitory term of six months in June.

In July this year, Washington also helped gather hundreds of tribal representatives in the Afghan capital who renewed President Hamid Karzai’s tenure for two more years.

But restoring security to this war-ravaged country is proving more taxing. Unidentified gunmen have murdered a vice president and a minister in Kabul and in some places local warlords have grown stronger.

President Karzai himself is protected by American soldiers who, ironically also provided security to the Iranian president when he visited Kabul earlier this week, although America does not have diplomatic relations with Iran.

But both Rumsfeld and Gen Franks dismissed this criticism as coming from those who had “good intentions” but are not aware of the latest situation.

“Is the situation perfectly tidy? No ... but it would be accurate to say that the security situation in Afghanistan is the best it’s been probably in close to a quarter of a century.”