22 August 2002
Franks Calls Kazakhstan's Contribution to War on Terrorism "Powerful"
(CENTCOM commander press conference in Astana August 21) (975)
Kazakhstan has made "a very powerful contribution" to the global war
on terrorism and having Kazakhstani liaison officers at U.S. Central
Command (CENTCOM) headquarters in Tampa, Florida, has been "a very
helpful thing," CENTCOM Commander General Tommy R. Franks told
reporters in Astana August 21.
He thanked Kazakhstan for its participation in the coalition and said
that during this visit he had discussed military-to-military
exchanges, military education, and "the possibilities of a variety of
military equipment."
Asked to assess the current situation in Afghanistan and the need for
coalition forces to remain there, Franks replied:
"If you were to ask me 'How long will you be in Afghanistan hunting
down and killing terrorists?' I would say, not nearly as long as we
will be working with the Afghans to try to build their capability to
manage their own country, which may be a long time."
Following is a transcript of the press conference provided by the U.S.
Embassy in Astana:
(begin transcript)
PRESS CONFERENCE WITH GENERAL TOMMY R. FRANKS, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF,
U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND
Ministry of Defense
Astana, Kazakhstan
August 21, 2002
GEN. FRANKS: Mr. Minister, first of all let me thank you for your
hospitality. I appreciate the many kindnesses you have shown me. I've
had a delightful morning here. First we had a meeting with the
President, then a meeting with the Minister and the members of the
armed forces staff. We have had an opportunity this morning to talk
about everything from our military to military exchanges, to my having
thanked the Minister for all of the support that the coalition forces
and my own country have received in connection with our efforts in
Afghanistan. We talked this morning about military education, about
individual students, we talked about military to military exchanges,
we talked about the possibilities of a variety of military equipment,
and it has been a very good morning, a good session. Mister Minister,
for all of that, I thank you.
Q. Did the discussions touch on the possibility of Kazakhstani
military units participating in the war in Afghanistan?
GEN. FRANKS: The value of having Kazakhstani liaison officers in my
headquarters in Tampa is very great. This has been a very helpful
thing. And I would also mention that Kazakhstan has been a part of our
efforts in the war against terrorism since shortly after September of
last year, when we had the World Trade Center attacks in the United
States. Part of my visit here during the last couple of days is simply
to say "thank you" for the participation in the coalition that we have
already seen from Kazakhstan. It's very important to us, and a very
powerful contribution.
Q. I have two questions. How long will it be before you can call the
situation in Afghanistan stable; and what can you do to prevent
al-Qaeda or the Taliban from coming back?
GEN. FRANKS: Actually, the two questions are related. You know, for
the last ten months the coalition forces have done a very good job of
destroying the Taliban, taking the Taliban out of power in
Afghanistan. That's been good for our coalition, good for the region,
and good for the people of Afghanistan. And I think most people
recognize that there is now a government in Afghanistan, in the period
we call "post-Loya Jirga." The people of Afghanistan have spoken, and
they now have a government for the first time in a long time - the
government of President Karzai.
Both of your questions have to do with what is the future, when will
Afghanistan be able to normalize and when will Afghanistan be a secure
country. In order to prevent the reintroduction into Afghanistan of
organizations like al-Qaeda, or the IMU (Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan), it is necessary for Afghanistan to be able to provide for
its own security. What we want to do is to continue to work with the
nations of the world - you know, this coalition that I've mentioned
right now stands at 70 nations - in order to assist Afghans in being
able to provide for their own security, so that the Afghans can
prevent the reintroduction of these terrorist elements into
Afghanistan.
Your question is, how long will that take? If you were to ask me "How
long will you be in Afghanistan hunting down and killing terrorists?"
I would say, not nearly as long as we will be working with the Afghans
to try to build their capability to manage their own country, which
may be a long time. I think we feel good about what has been done up
to this point. But I think all of us realize that we're going to have
to remain engaged with the Afghans and in Afghanistan for a long
period of time.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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