Rumsfeld Hails Afghan Achievements as Historic
20 September 2005
Defense Department Report, September 20: Afghanistan, Iraq, Katrina
Washington -- What has been achieved in Afghanistan during the past four years is historic, and will be recorded by history as an amazing accomplishment, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says.
In his first Pentagon briefing for journalists since the September 18 provincial and parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said September 20 that the people who have been involved in Afghanistan's transformation "can be enormously proud." (See related article.)
"Think of it," Rumsfeld said. "The country that hosted Osama bin Laden, that supported training camps for al-Qaida, endured decades of civil war, Soviet occupation, drought, Taliban brutality, is now a democracy that fights terrorists instead of harboring them." He added that "those … who foresaw an Afghan quagmire … were not just wrong, they were harmful by making the cause seem hopeless."
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers, who briefed with Rumsfeld, said Afghan security forces now number more than 76,000 and their capability continues to improve. There are also about 17,000 U.S. troops, more than 3,000 coalition forces, and more than 11,000 International Security and Assistance Forces (ISAF).
On Iraq, Rumsfeld said that the Iraqis have been able to form a government that:
· Realistically incorporates the views of the various responsible factions;
· Successfully has held representative elections;
· Now has succeeded in drafting a constitution that accords respect for individual rights;
· Has gained the support of its people, while the insurgents have lost it; and
· Has security forces growing in size (now numbering more than 190,000) and capability that allow the government to secure areas with coalition support.
Myers said there are 126 battalions of Iraqi security forces. A year ago at this time, he said, there only were five. Additionally, more than 20 operational bases have been turned over to Iraqi control, and Iraqis now keep order in all of Najaf and in most of Baghdad.
Myers touched on the recent combat operations in the city of Tall Afar, an Iraqi city of about 150,000 people located not far from Iraq's Syrian border. He said that Tall Afar was a major transit zone for infiltrating foreign fighters. He said about 11,000 U.S., coalition, Iraqi army and police forces are involved in the operation. More than 600 insurgents have been captured or killed since this operation began (September 10), and large weapons and ammunitions caches seized, he said.
Asked whether the United States is seeing increased Iranian activity in southern Iraq now, Rumsfeld answered, "Iran has been busy in southern Iraq for years, and years, and years." He said Iran is interested, involved and active in Iraq, and "it's not helpful."
Domestically, Myers said, military forces operating in the southeastern United States are working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies -- both in response to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and in preparing for Hurricane Rita. There are about 55,000 personnel on the ground or on ships -- 13,000 active duty troops and 42,000 National Guard. They have 170 helicopters and 45 fixed-wing aircraft available for use.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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