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U.S. Plans to Expand Role of Securing Afghanistan
Monday, February 25, 2002
The Washington Post

Increasing violence between warlords prompts the U.S. to consider a larger peacekeeping force or military advisers.

KABUL, Afghanistan
The Bush administration, concerned about the growing violence among regional Afghan commanders, is planning to step up the U.S. security role here, possibly by seeking an expansion of the international peacekeeping force or even sending U.S. military advisers to trouble spots.

Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's special envoy to Afghanistan, told journalists Sunday that because of threats from "multiple armies" in Afghan provinces, the administration was weighing measures to increase and speed up security assistance to the interim government led by Hamid Karzai.

Khalilzad said the options included the "possible expansion" of the 4,500-member multinational peacekeeping force that now patrols Kabul, the placing of U.S. military advisers in areas of "potential conflict," and expediting U.S. aid and training for an Afghan national army.

Until now, Washington has restricted its security role to about 3,000 U.S. troops based near the southern city of Kandahar and a limited deployment of Special Forces, who assist Afghan troops in hunting down suspected Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.

But Khalilzad's comments, made after two days of meetings with Karzai and officials working on Afghanistan's democratic transition, indicated that Washington now shared Karzai's concern about threats from regional commanders and was prepared to take substantial action.

In recent weeks, armed clashes have been reported among rival militia and tribal leaders in two provinces, and some warlords are believed to be spreading money and weapons to sabotage the loya jirga, a national conclave scheduled for June in which participants will choose a new transitional government.
(More: St. Petersburg Times News Source)
2002 © The Washington Post.

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