14.11.2001 23:32

Bush says US will help set up Afghan military

By Arshad Mohammed


WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Monday the United States will help train a new Afghan military but made clear to Afghan leader Hamid Karzai he would not commit U.S. troops to peacekeeping in the remote Central Asian country. Speaking after an Oval Office meeting designed to show support for Karzai's fledgling interim government, Bush said U.S. troops could "bail out" international peacekeepers if need be and would help them with intelligence and logistics. Bush promised the United States would remain committed to Afghanistan, where many people felt abandoned by Washington after the Soviet occupation ended in 1989, and said it would help train a new Afghan national army and police force to help restore stability to the country after 23 years of war. "Chairman Karzai, I reaffirm to you today that the United States will continue to be a friend to the Afghan people in all the challenges that lie ahead," Bush told the Afghan leader, who wore his trademark lambskin cap and a flowing green robe for a joint appearance in the White House Rose Garden. The Pashtun tribal leader was catapulted to power amid the U.S. military campaign to topple the Taliban regime and end its support for Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, whose al Qaeda network is accused of carrying out the Sept. 11 attacks on America. Bush described the decision to train the Afghan military -- seen as a crucial element in keeping order in a country long plagued by warlords -- as a "significant change" of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan. "We will help establish and train an Afghanistan national military," Bush said. "Both of us have made a decision that Afghanistan must, as quickly as possible, develop her own military. And we will help.

'NO' TO PEACEKEEPING

"Better yet than peacekeepers -- which will be there for a while with our help -- let's have Afghanistan have her own military," Bush told reporters. The White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, reflecting a position that Bush took during the 2000 presidential campaign, rejected the idea of U.S. peacekeepers in Afghanistan, saying "the purpose of America's military is to fight and win wars." Under current plans, the British-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for Afghanistan would be deployed in and around Kabul for six months, although there have been some calls for it to stay longer and cover more of the country. "We are committing help to the ISAF in the form of logistical help, in the form of a kind of a bailout. If the troops get into trouble, we stand ready to help," Bush said. Karzai, a fluent English speaker and aristocrat known for his charm, has said many Afghans want the force to spread throughout his country to restore stability but diplomatically avoided the topic in his public remarks with Bush. The Afghan leader told Bush that he wanted to "thank you and the American people for the great help that we were given to liberate our country once again -- this time from the terrorism from the Taliban. "This joint struggle against terrorism should go to the absolute end," Karzai said. "We must finish them. We must bring them out of their caves and their hide-outs. And we promise we'll do that." Asked later what he would do if he caught Osama bin laden, accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Karzai said, "We'll be glad." Karzai was sworn in on Dec. 22 as head of an interim Afghan government that will rule for six months. His administration will be followed by an 18-month transitional government chosen by a Loya Jirga, or grand council, and then by elections. The White House rolled out the red carpet for Karzai, the first Afghan leader to visit Washington since former king Zahir Shah in 1963, scheduling Oval Office talks with Bush, the appearance in the Rose Garden and talks with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Bush on Monday promised a $50 million line of credit to support private investment in Afghanistan and said that the previously announced $296.75 million U.S. aid pledge included $122 million in food aid. Karzai arrived in Washington on Sunday and was expected to stay until Wednesday. In a sign of Bush's favor, Karzai was widely expected to be the president's guest at the annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, one of Washington's top political events of the year.