UNITED STATES: U.S. MILITARY SAYS WHILE ITS MOVING CLOSER TO ITS OBJECTIVES IN AFGHANISTAN THE WAR IS FAR FROM OVER

Record ID: 338358

  • Title: UNITED STATES: U.S. MILITARY SAYS WHILE ITS MOVING CLOSER TO ITS OBJECTIVES IN AFGHANISTAN THE WAR IS FAR FROM OVER
  • Date: 15th November 2001
  • Summary: (W7) ARLINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS AL) 1. WIDESHOT U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD AND ARMY GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS, THE HEAD OF U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND, ENTERING PENTAGON BRIEFING ROOM 0.08 2. SV: SOUNDBITE (English) GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS SAYING: "All the while, we have been setting conditions to be able to get closer and closer to the core values of this campaign, which are the ones to which you made reference, as well as what the Secretary just said. And so we continue to set conditions. It has been said that we are tightening the noose, and in fact that is the case. We are tightening the noose. It is a matter of time." 0.32 3. SV: REPORTERS LISTENING 0.35 4. SV: SOUNDBITE (English) GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS SAYING: "The Taliban is not destroyed as an effective fighting force from the level of one individual man carrying a weapon until that individual man puts down his weapon. And so, there still is a capable fighting force on the side of the Taliban. We'll continue to do our best to eliminate that force of the Taliban." 1.00 5. WIDESHOT RUMSFELD AND FRANKS 1.05 6. SV: SOUNDBITE (English) RUMSFELD RESPONDING TO A REPORTER'S QUESTION ON THE POSSIBILITY OF U.S. TROOPS PARTICIPATING IN A PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN AFGHANISTAN: "...I want to be clear that the United States may very well decide that, at some point, they want to put some additional forces on the ground, for example, for the purpose of repairing an airstrip or making an airport habitable and functional and have the force protection that it might require to service various military activities that we're engaged in, such as going after Al Qaeda or Taliban leadership or even possibly to assist in preparing the ground for larger But in terms of taking U.S. forces and having them become a part of a semi-permanent peacekeeping activity in the country, I think that's highly unlikely." 2.16 7. WIDESHOT RUMSFELD AND FRANKS AT PRESS BRIEFING 2.20 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th November 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA50PFUUNFSJKQVZNA6JSQG8O8W
  • Story Text: The U.S. military on Thursday said that while it was
    moving closer toward reaching its military objectives in
    Afghanistan the war is far from over, however no follow-on
    role was envisioned for U.S. troops as part of a peacekeeping
    force.


    The U.S. military is "tightening the noose" on Osama
    bin Laden's al Qaeda network and the Taliban in Afghanistan,
    the commander of the U.S. military campaign there said on
    Thursday (November 15).

    United States forces have increased pressure in Afghanistan,
    prompting the collapse of the ruling Taliban, as they search
    for bin Laden and his supporters, blamed for the September
    11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the
    Pentagon.

    "We are tightening the noose, it's a matter of time," Army
    General Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command, told a
    Pentagon news conference.

    Franks said 50 to 60 percent of Afghanistan was under some
    form of opposition control but that despite the collapse of
    the Taliban in Kabul and other cities, they are still an
    opponent to be reckoned with.

    Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that when the
    Taliban is defeated, as presumed, the U.S. military was
    "highly unlikely" to participate in any peacekeeping force
    in Afghanistan.

    Asked if the United States would take part in a peacekeeping
    force in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said the United States may at
    some point want to put additional forces on the ground for
    activities such as repairing an airstrip or making
    improvements to an airport.

    And U.S. forces could participate in going after al Qaeda
    or Taliban leadership or assisting in preparing the ground for
    a larger humanitarian effort, he told a Pentagon briefing.

    But, Rumsfeld added, "in terms of taking U.S. forces and
    having them become a part of a semi-permanent peacekeeping
    activity in the country, I think that's highly unlikely."

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