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The ghost of Robert McNamara must be haunting him. AFP Saturday April 27, 10:14 AM Rumsfeld visits central Asia troops, warns of long haul US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew to Kyrgyzstan at the start of a Central Asian tour and warned international troops based there that the military effort in nearby Afghanistan was far from over. "Your task, I'm afraid, is going to last for a while. It is not to end soon," he told US and other troops deployed at the Manas air base in the former Soviet republic, 1,000 kilometres (630 miles) north of Afghanistan. Rumsfeld, who heads to Afghanistan on Saturday for talks with interim government leader Hamid Karzai, said coalition forces would remain in Kyrgyzstan "as long as necessary." "Your role is important. You stand against evil, mass murderers," the defense secretary told a meeting with 400 mostly American troops stationed at Manas, now renamed the "Ganci Air Base" after Peter Ganci, New York's former fire chief who was killed on September 11. Describing the US-led war against terrorism as "a difficult task really," Rumsfeld told the troops in Kyrgyzstan: "We were successful -- to a certain extent." A total of 1,900 from the United States, Australia, France, South Korea, Denmark, Spain, Norway and Holland, are based at the Manas base, which Rumsfeld hailed as a "model" of the new international partnership. "We are working with coalition forces, literally all over the world," added the hawkish defense secretary, who was greeted with loud applause when he arrived at Manas in time to see six French Mirage jets and six F/A-18 Hornets take off for missions over Afghanistan. It is Rumsfeld's second visit to the region since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, and the start of the military campaign in Afghanistan on October 7 which quickly brought down the Taliban regime. In December Rumsfeld was the first member of President George W. Bush's cabinet to go to Afghanistan and meet the new authorities. "I hope to meet with elements and people working with that issue (security)," he told journalists, referring to his talks Saturday with representatives of the interim Afghan government headed by Hamid Karzai. The Pentagon is concerned about possible stepped-up guerrilla activities by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and the Taliban in coming months, when winter snows melt in the region. "My guess is as spring comes and the weather improves they will try to communicate with each other, they will try to attack the interim authority as well as US and coalition forces... they will try to create an environment which is inhospitable to anyone else (but themselves)," Rumsfeld told journalists earlier. The Americans and their Afghan and foreign allies would continue to carry out raids, arresting people and seeking concentrations of al Qaeda and Taliban members, the defense secretary said. Rumsfeld did not want to comment on press reports about US military operations in Pakistan in regions bordering on Afghanistan, saying he would not speak about activities in other countries. However he indirectly confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency had taken part in raids on terror suspects in Pakistan which resulted in the arrest last month of bin Laden adjutant Abu Zubeida. "Agencies of the US government are cooperating with agencies in Pakistan, coordinating..." he explained. The New York Times reported that US advisors had been given the go-ahead to accompany local troops in Pakistan's tribal regions to look for enemy fighters. Clandestine operations by US special forces had started weeks ago, the Washington Post said Thursday, talking of a new strategy. It said elite commandos were trying to get fundamentalist militants to attack and thus unmask themselves. Rumsfeld was due to hold talks early Saturday with President Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan, which has pledged to host up to 5,000 coalition troops if necessary. "The countries on the periphery with Afghanistan are very important to the US, and to the security of Afghanistan," the defense secretary said. Some are in the Partnership for Peace program with NATO and they authorize overflights. But "there are no plans for permanent bases," he added. After visiting Afghanistan and Central Asia, Rumsfeld will meet Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov in Moscow. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
