BAGRAM AIR BASE, Oct 19: The year-old coalition campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan still has a long way to go despite the recent peace in the war-ravaged country, top US military commander General Tommy Franks said on Saturday.
He told troops at Bagram airbase that Afghanistan remained dangerous and would require US military help for the foreseeable future.
“This is a dangerous place, we are all reminded daily of that fact. There is a lot of work to be done before we quit,” Franks said.
Addressing around 500 soldiers at the base 50 kilometres north of Kabul, Franks delivered his assessment of the 12-month bombing and military campaign and thanked troops for their efforts.
“About a year and 12 days ago, we started combat operations in here. We had a delivery of air power against our enemies in this country.
“At that time, Afghanistan was a state that was sponsored by terrorism. But the Taliban did not last long. On Dec 22 last year, (the Afghans) installed the first government they had had in a long long time.
“About this time last year, there were millions of people worrying about starving to death when winter comes. What a difference a year makes.”
Franks later told reporters that US military involvement in Afghanistan would continue until an Afghan national army was ready to safeguard peace, regardless of the prospect of war in Iraq.
“Our president has not decided that there is going to be any war in Iraq and so it seems to me we would be premature if we were thinking about which troops will be involved in which place,” he said.
“We have made a commitment to train the Afghan national army, we have made a commitment to work in Afghanistan for so long as is necessary so we don’t see the re-introduction of large terrorist cells in Afghanistan.”
Earlier on Saturday, Franks met briefly with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the head of the transitional government which took office in June following nearly a quarter century of war.
Franks, the former commander of the US forces here, is on a swing through the Middle East and South Asia.—AFP