18 April 2005

U.S. Military Chief in Afghanistan Meets with Tajik President, April 15, 2005

(General Barno, President Rahmonov discuss Afghan elections, narcotics)

Terrorist organizations might try to interfere with the upcoming parliamentary elections in Afghanistan “but they will be unsuccessful” and the Afghan people will go to the polls in September just as they did for the 2004 presidential election, says the United States’ senior military officer in Afghanistan, Army Lieutenant General David Barno.

“The Afghan people will come out and vote once again for their future,” said Barno in an interview in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, following his meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov April 15.  “They have rejected terrorism and they voted for democracy, and that makes the whole region a safer place.”

The general said he and Rahmonov discussed the current military situation in Afghanistan and the state of U.S.-Tajik military cooperation and U.S. assistance to Tajikistan for border security and counternarcotics.

“I have been in Afghanistan in my posting for about a year and half now, and I have seen a continual improvement of the security situation,” Barno said. In 2004, terrorists suffered “four major strategic defeats” when:

• The Afghans passed their constitution;

• 10 million Afghans registered to vote;

• 8.5 million Afghans came out and voted for democratic government; and

• President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated and appointed his cabinet.

In addition to President Rahmonov, Barno met with Minister of Defense Colonel General Sherali Khairulloev, Chairman of State Border Control Committee Colonel General Saidamir Zuhurov, and Director of Drug Control Agency Lieutenant General Rustam Nazarov.

 “We had very extensive discussions on the threats posed by the narcotics trade and how collectively Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the U.S. and Coalition military can help to stem and interrupt that trade,” Barno said.

Following is a transcript of Lieutenant General Barno’s press briefing provided by the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe:
(begin transcript)

U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe
Dushanbe, Tajikistan
April 15, 2005

Transcript of the press conference at the Tajik Presidential Dacha following the meeting of President Rahmonov with Lieutenant General David W. Barno, Commander Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan Anti-terrorist Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan, Richard E. Hoagland.

Question: (Avesto Information Agency): General Barno, what were the main issues you discussed with President Rahmonov?

General Barno (GB): We had a very good meeting and looked at many security issues that affect both Afghanistan where I am stationed and Tajikistan.  We had very extensive discussions on the threats posed by the narcotics trade and how collectively Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the U.S. and Coalition military can help to stem and interrupt that trade.  We agreed that a very important part of that was working collectively to help secure the borders between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.  We recognize that the Tajik border security forces had a lot of success in stopping narcotics trade and making arrests, and I talked to the President about our U.S. military role here in conjunction with the State Department, the United Kingdom, and the international community to help build the same kind of capabilities with the Afghan border forces.

We also talked about the continuing threat that terrorism poses to the nations in the region and looked at ways that we can work collectively on the military-to-military side to help interrupt that threat and to prevent it from having impact on the countries of this region who seek peaceful outcomes and a peaceful future.

It was a very good meeting and helped to reinforce the already good relationship between the U.S. and coalition military, the Afghan military, and the Tajik military and border forces.

Question (IRNA, Iranian Information Agency):  How do you evaluate the security situation in Afghanistan on the eve of parliamentary elections?

GB: I have been in Afghanistan in my posting for about a year and half now, and I have seen a continual improvement of the security situation.  Last year, in my view, the terrorists there - Al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, Hekmatyar's group - suffered four major strategic defeats.  They were defeated when the Afghans passed their constitution; they were defeated when the Afghan people came out in over 10 million in numbers to register; they were defeated during the election when 8.5 million Afghans came out and voted for democratic government; and they were defeated a fourth time when President Karzai was inaugurated and appointed his cabinet.  Those were four major losses for terrorists last year.

This year we have five more months before the parliamentary elections in September, and I am sure that the terrorist organizations are going to try to interrupt that - but they will be unsuccessful.  The Afghan people will come out and vote once again for their future.  They have rejected terrorism and they voted for democracy, and that makes the whole region a safer place.

Question (ITAR-TASS, Russian News Agency):  General, did you discuss with President Rahmonov the support that Tajikistan can make to your anti-terrorist actions in Afghanistan?

GB:  We had more broadly focused discussions looking at counter-narcotics issues and border-security issues - more with regard to how we can continue to build close relations with Tajik military forces and border forces here.  We continue to look at opportunities for the U.S. military and the Tajik military to work together to help build better capabilities for counterterrorism here in this region.

Question (Reuters):  Will the number of U.S. troops change in Afghanistan in the next year?

GB:  We continue to look at the requirements for security forces and troop presence in Afghanistan.  For the first time recently, there is a larger force in the Afghan National Army - the new national army - than there are with coalition military forces that under my command.  The Afghan National Army now has over 22,000 troops.

We continually evaluate the number of forces required in Afghanistan based on the threat and the success of Afghan National Army and now the new expansion of NATO as they continue to grow their forces in Afghanistan and take a larger and larger security role.  But I can tell you the United States has a long-term commitment to the success of the Afghan people as they embark on their democratic processes.

(end transcript)