Rumsfeld Promises Money for Afghans

28/04/2002| IslamWeb

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld promised Afghans on Saturday the United States will soon come up with money to help them train a national army. The offer does not commit American troops to an international security force the Afghan government wanted.

Interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai made the best of the plan, saying it might be better in the long run for Afghans to look after their own security. He acknowledged he wanted the British-led international security force in Kabul to be expanded to other parts of the country instead, and joined by U.S. troops, but "we didn't get that."

Rumsfeld, in a visit to the capital, said the French are offering to help the Americans train an Afghan force and the Bush administration is working to get money from Congress for that task, so that U.S. assistance can begin next month.
Rumsfeld moved about the region in extraordinary security, including an armed MH-47 helicopter for a ground-hugging flight to Kabul from the U.S. base at Bagram and the MC-130 Special Operations troop-carrier that flew him into Herat. He finished his day in Turkmenistan for meetings Sunday.

As recently as Thursday, an Afghan envoy warned the United Nations that the country risks falling back into lawlessness. U.S., British and other forces are coming under fire more frequently with the spring thaw, and the search still is on for al-Qaida and Taliban holdouts.