Pubdate: Tue, 11 Jul 2006
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: A14
Copyright: 2006 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer
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RUMSFELD ARRIVES IN KABUL AFTER TALKS IN TAJIKISTAN

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 11 -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld 
arrived in Afghanistan early Tuesday on a visit to evaluate the 
ongoing transition to NATO forces in the restive south and to get a 
sense of recent Taliban aggressions against coalition forces there.

En route from Tajikistan, Rumsfeld met with Lt. Gen. Karl W. 
Eikenberry, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Eikenberry told 
reporters in Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, that the causes of the 
rise in violence in southern Afghanistan are "complex," citing a more 
organized and well-manned Taliban, increased narcotics trafficking, 
warring tribal factions and general "criminality."

Eikenberry said such forces are strongest in areas with the least 
amount of infrastructure and where the Afghan government has not 
fully established its presence. He said NATO forces moving in should 
help significantly. "We very much have the momentum," he said.

Rumsfeld plans to meet with President Hamid Karzai here Tuesday.

In Dushanbe on Monday, Rumsfeld opened talks with leaders about 
increasing cooperation in the war against terrorism and how to 
counter the growing stream of drugs from Afghanistan.

It was Rumsfeld's third visit to Tajikistan, which shares a lengthy 
border with Afghanistan and China. The former Soviet republic has 
been helping the United States with the war in Afghanistan since 2002 
by allowing flights to cross its borders and by providing refueling 
stations, such as at Dushanbe International Airport, where Rumsfeld 
landed Monday.

Defense officials said there were no plans to establish a U.S. base 
in Tajikistan but said they have talked to President Imamali 
Rakhmonov and his senior advisers about basing possibilities for 
support of the Afghan effort. The United States is looking to expand 
its basing options in the region because it lost the use of a 
strategic base in neighboring Uzbekistan, which decided it no longer 
wanted to host U.S. troops. The military since has relied on a base 
in Kyrgystan.

"We obviously always need to be positioned so that we have more than 
one option," Rumsfeld told reporters en route to Tajikistan late 
Sunday night. "Our goal for our country is to have as many countries 
cooperating in the global war on terror and providing as many types 
of cooperation as they feel comfortable providing."

After discussions Monday night, Rumsfeld and Tajikistan's foreign 
minister, Talbak Nazarov, told reporters that there were no plans to 
add U.S. bases in the country or in Central Asia. Rumsfeld, however, 
acknowledged a need for support for the war in Afghanistan and said 
Tajikistan's arrangement with the United States has been and will 
continue to be "mutually beneficial."

Nearly one-third of Tajikistan's border is shared with Afghanistan, 
and Tajikistan has become a preferred route for a large portion of 
the opium coming from Afghanistan. According to the Drug Enforcement 
Administration and the CIA, most of the illicit drugs that emerge 
from Central Asia travel through Tajikistan to Russian and Western 
European markets.

Rumsfeld said he was concerned about the role narcotics play in the 
resurgent Taliban fighting in southern Afghanistan. He called the 
demand for opium and heroin "enormous," saying it would take a 
societal plan and more involvement by Western European nations to 
quell the trade out of Afghanistan. Rumsfeld said the Taliban 
appeared to be profiting from the drug trade, as well as offering protection.

"I do worry that the funds that come from the sale of those products 
could conceivably end up adversely affecting the democratic process 
in the country," he said of Afghanistan. "I also think anytime there 
is that much money floating around and you have people like the 
Taliban, that it gives them an opportunity to fund their efforts in 
various ways."

Tajikistan has been working to improve border security with the help 
of U.S. equipment and training, and there are several thousand 
Russian troops in the country, remnants of a division stationed there 
during Tajikistan's 1992-97 civil war. French troops also use 
Dushanbe's airport.

Nazarov, the foreign minister, said that in the meetings, President 
Rakhmonov expressed worries about the growth of Afghan drugs moving 
over the border and their ability to disrupt efforts against 
terrorism. The president also "emphasized that despite the measures 
being taken, still the destabilizing factors in Afghanistan have not 
been uprooted," Nazarov said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake