05 November 2001
Transcript: Rumsfeld, Uzbek Defense Minister Brief in Tashkent Nov. 4
(Discuss U.S.-Uzbek cooperation against terrorism) (2220)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Uzbek Minister of
Defense Qodir Gholomov spoke to the press November 4 in Tashkent
following meetings with Uzbek President Islam Karimov on a wide range
of bilateral issues, including the U.S.-led anti-terrorist operations
in Afghanistan.
Rumsfeld thanked the government of Uzbekistan for its cooperation and
said the anti-terrorist effort is "proceeding at a pace that is
showing measurable progress."
Gholomov noted that Uzbekistan "is providing the United States with
its air space and an airfield in Khanabad, with the latter's entire
infrastructure, for humanitarian and rescue-search operations. That's
all." He added, "I don't think there have been any negotiations at
present about changing this agreement."
Rumsfeld said: "We are aggressively attempting to find and root out
terrorist networks. To do that, we need the assistance of dozens and
dozens and dozens of countries all across this globe. ... We need
their help in lots of ways and on a basis that they feel comfortable
with."
Following is a DOD transcript of the media availability:
(begin transcript)
United States Department of Defense
NEWS TRANSCRIPT
Presenter: Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
Sunday, November 4, 2001
MEDIA AVAILABILITY WITH UZBEK MINISTER OF DEFENSE QODIR GHOLOMOV
(Media Availability with Uzbek Minister of Defense Qodir Gholomov,
Intercontinental Hotel, Tashkent, Uzbekistan)
GHULOMOV : Good afternoon. U.S. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has just
finished the official part of his visit to Uzbekistan. Mr. Rumsfeld
had a meeting at the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan and a meeting
with the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. During these meetings
a wide range of issues was discussed concerning the development of
bilateral relations between the military agencies of the Republic of
Uzbekistan and of the United States. There was an exchange of opinions
on the ongoing operation being conducted by the Anti-Terrorist
Coalition in Afghanistan. Thank you.
RUMSFELD: Good afternoon. We've completed a series of meetings here in
Uzbekistan and as always it's been a pleasure and we've been received
very hospitably. We've exchanged views on a number of subjects and
discussed the difficult situation in Afghanistan with terrorists
occupying the country, the harboring of terrorists, and the threat
this poses to its neighbors as well as other countries all across the
globe including the United States. The effort to deal with the problem
of terrorist networks is proceeding. It is, we believe, proceeding at
a pace that is showing measurable progress. We certainly appreciate
the cooperation the government of Uzbekistan has provided with respect
to the effort against terrorism. We'd be happy to respond to
questions.
Q: Mr. Secretary, it's hard not to get the impression, given the
assessment deal in Tajikistan last night and your second visit to
Uzbekistan in a month, that this visit to Central Asia is a precursor
to a significant ramping up of the war. Would that be accurate?
RUMSFELD: I think trying to interpret visits of government officials
to other countries in terms of what that might or might not mean for
operations would be a mistake, and I would caution people against it.
The US has adopted what I think is a couple of very useful and proper
policies. One is we want cooperation from countries all across the
globe and we solicit it, we appreciate it, and we value it. We allow
those countries to characterize the kind of assistance they're
providing rather than our trying to characterize it. And second, the
United States does not talk about intelligence matters and we don't
talk about future operations. It would be harmful for anyone involved
in a future operation if the government were to have a practice of
characterizing it and describing it before the fact. So I think it's a
mistake to think that one can read what we might or might not do from
these kinds of trips.
Q: There was a decision on sending Turkish troops to Afghanistan. What
operations will the Turkish troops participate in?
RUMSFELD: (pauses for translation difficulties) I'm advised the
question has to do with Turkish soldiers in Afghanistan and as I just
indicated, I do not characterize what other countries are doing with
respect to these activities. I read the same news reports that the
government of Turkey indicated that they might provide some Turkish
troops for the purpose of training Northern Alliance individuals in
Afghanistan, but I'll leave it to Turkey to characterize what it is
they might be doing.
Q: This is for both of the gentlemen, please. If you could answer one
after the other, I'd appreciate it. Obviously the Uzbek government and
people face a very difficult security situation here right now. Has
there been an agreement that the US will provide some form of lethal
aid to this nation or are discussions going on on that score?
GHULOMOV: I can say that during the past several years a quite
fruitful bilateral cooperation between the Ministries of Defense of
Uzbekistan and the United States has been developed and this
cooperation envisions various types of assistance, different types of
exercises in which members of the two Armed Forces participate.
Assistance is also being provided in the training of personnel. At the
same time, a certain type of help is coming within the framework of
the Foreign Military Assistance Act of the {U.S.} Congress. We have
not held with Secretary Rumsfeld any talks on significant changes of
this situation, but I am confident that the kind of cooperation which
is being developed now is characterized by a higher level, and
consequently I am positive that the forms of our cooperation will
change accordingly.
RUMSFELD: I agree with everything the Minster said.
Q: Just to follow up, can you say in which way your cooperation will
change? Does that include humanitarian aid? Has humanitarian aid been
offered by the United States as a result of these discussions?
GHULOMOV: Do you mean some kind of humanitarian assistance that the
United States is providing to Uzbekistan?
Q: I'm distinguishing humanitarian aid from lethal aid. You answered
the question about lethal aid. Now I'm asking whether the US is
offering humanitarian aid to Uzbekistan.
GHULOMOV: I'm very sorry, but as you know, I'm not dealing with
humanitarian aid to this country. I'm Minister of Defense, so we're
discussing only problems related with military cooperation between our
two countries. I'm quite sure that, of course, corresponding talks are
going on between our authorities on this question.
Q: Since the Pentagon has dealt with humanitarian aid issues in other
countries, can Secretary Rumsfeld answer that?
RUMSFELD: The United States is engaged in providing humanitarian
assistance in Afghanistan, has been for some time, and is doing it
through a variety of different sources, including USAID, as well as
various UN agencies and some direct US military food drops which now
number over one million rations since, I think, October 7.
Q: My question is for Mr. Rumsfeld. Will you tell us please if you met
with [Uzbek] President Karimov and can you comment on your
conversation with him?
RUMSFELD: The question was my meeting with the President. This was my
second meeting with the President. It was as interesting and
informative as the first. We had a very broad-ranging discussion about
the situation in Afghanistan and the problem of terrorism generally.
We discussed in some detail the circumstances on the ground in
Afghanistan and the various elements that are opposing the Taliban and
Al-Qaeda. I found it helpful to me and informative.
Q: We journalists who are here have the impression that you came to
finish what General Tommy Franks [Commander in Chief, U.S. Central
Command] could not accomplish. Judging by your mood, shall we conclude
that a visit by President Bush to Uzbekistan is imminent?
RUMSFELD: The question is, "Does President Bush have plans to come to
Uzbekistan?" The answer is the President tends to announce his own
travel plans and Ministers of Defense don't do that. At least, they
don't do it prudently.
GHULOMOV: I can only add one thing on my part. General Franks was here
with quite definite tasks, in particular, to familiarize himself with
the circumstances of the U.S. military contingent located at the
Khanabad Airfield. I think that the visit of General Franks was quite
successful. We exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan and the
adjacent region. He told me of plans that the Central Command has. We
discussed bilateral relations and the plans for this cooperation for
2001. Afterwards, General Franks visited the contingent of the U.S.
troops in Khanabad. So I think his visit was quite successful.
Q: Mr. Defense Minister, are there still reservations here in
Uzbekistan about US combat troops at Khanabad Airbase launching
attacks on Afghanistan?
GHULOMOV: I must say that the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
very clearly outlined the situation. And the joint statement made
after the signing of the agreement also very clearly outlines the
picture. At present the Republic of Uzbekistan is providing the United
States with its air space and an airfield in Khanabad, with the
latter's entire infrastructure, for humanitarian and rescue-search
operations. That's all.
Q: If I could follow up, sir. Will that change as a result of this
visit?
GHULOMOV: I don't think there have been any negotiations at present
about changing this agreement. During the meetings these issues were
not touched upon.
Q: I have a question for U.S. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. Mr.
Secretary, the joint statement between the governments of Uzbekistan
and the United States said that the airspace and the airfield will be
in the first instance be used in humanitarian and rescue-search
operation. What will be in the second instance, third instance? What
have you achieved?
RUMSFELD: Well, I think the Minister of Defense has just responded to
that question by accurately characterizing the present arrangement and
indicating that there were no changes in that arrangement.
Q: The Turkish government has said first that they wouldn't send any
Turkish soldiers into Afghanistan and then they changed their mind and
now they've decided they're going to send some ninety soldiers into
Afghanistan. Was this a request from your side or was that a decision
by the Turkish government?
RUMSFELD: It was a decision by the Turkish government.
Q: I would like to ask Mr. Rumsfeld if after your visit to Tajikistan,
the Tajik government agreed to provide you the possibility to use
airspace and airfields in Tajikistan? If yes, for which processes and
which air bases? Are you planning to send more Special Forces to the
Northern Alliance? Will you do so from Uzbekistan or from Tajikistan?
RUMSFELD: We do not discuss from where we send Special Forces into
Afghanistan -- from which locations. It's an operational issue. It is
known that the United States does have small contingents of Special
Forces associated with various anti-Taliban, anti-Al-Qaeda forces in
Afghanistan. They are there for the purpose of serving as liaison and
for assisting with supply drops and food distribution, and in addition
provide assistance with respect to targeting information for the
aircraft that fly into the Afghanistan airspace. But we don't discuss
what their points of entry are. We don't discuss when they come in.
Q: The Tajik government agreed to provide you air bases in Tajikistan
like Khanabad here in Uzbekistan?
RUMSFELD: As I indicated, I tend not to discuss what other countries
offer or provide by way of assistance in the war against terrorism. It
seems to me it's for those countries to characterize the extent to
which they want to participate and are participating.
Let me explain why I feel that way. We had thousands of people killed
in the United States. There are terrorist networks out there that are
threatening to kill thousands more. It is our first choice that that
not happen. We are aggressively attempting to find and root out
terrorist networks. To do that, we need the assistance of dozens and
dozens and dozens of countries all across this globe. We need their
help by way of intelligence gathering, we need their help by way of
over-flight rights, we need their help in many, many ways. The way to
get that help is to take it where you find it, make sure that they
know that it's an important thing for this world of ours to get rid of
those terrorists and to stop them from killing people. We need their
help, and we need their help in lots of ways and on a basis that they
feel comfortable with.
So instead of me running around characterizing for them what we think
they ought to do, or what they are doing, and then having it be said
in a way or printed in the press in a way that is one degree different
from the way they characterize it and cause a problem, all that would
do would be to make more difficult our task. Our task is to get the
maximum amount of help we can. The way to do that is to let people
characterize what they're doing themselves. So there's a very good
operational reason for my taking the position I take.
Thank you.
(end transcript)
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