Bloomberg July 11, 2002
U.S. Says It Won't Oppose Expansion of Afghan Security Force
Washington, July 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. special envoy to
Afghanistan said the U.S. has dropped its opposition to expanding
the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
``We are not opposed to expanding the ISAF but we are not
going to push people to do it'' said Zalmay Khalilzad, said at a
conference at the School for Advanced International Studies at
Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. had previously opposed the expansion of the Turkish-
led international security force beyond Kabul, choosing instead to
train Afghanistan's newly formed army.
Other countries would need to contribute money and forces to
expand the ISAF and they had not done that so far, said Len
Scensny, a state department spokesman.
Last week's assassination of Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir
and concern about law and order may have led the U.S. government
to rethink its stance, said John Pike, director of
globalsecurity.org, a defense research organization.
``The Karzai government does not control much outside of
Kabul, so Karzai had been asking for an expansion of the ISAF''
Pike said. He said the U.S. government has been wary of getting
too involved in Afghanistan.
Since Qadir's killing, U.S. lawmakers have called for the
U.S. to play a more proactive role in maintaining Afghanistan's
security.
The killing of Haji Abdul Qadir may mean that the U.S. will
have to ``be more of a participant in some of the security
activities,'' Senator Bob Graham, a Democrat from Florida who
chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday.
Khalilzad said that while the U.S. would stay in Afghanistan
in the long term, it was supporting an Afghan effort toward
stability. ``There is an Afghan process and we are only helping
it.''
He said the U.S. would participate in the ISAF and that Qadir
had been killed in spite of ISAF presence but that the U.S. would
not oppose any effort toward expanding the force.
``This gives the green light to think in terms of concrete
moves,'' Pike said.
--Saumya Roy in the Washington newsroom (202)624-1904. Editor:
O'Connell.
Copyright 2002 Bloomberg
