RUMSFELD ARRIVES IN KABUL AFTER TALKS IN TAJIKISTAN

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 11 -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
arrived in Afghanistan early Tuesday on a visit to evaluate the
ongoing transition to NATO forces in the restive south and to get a
sense of recent Taliban aggressions against coalition forces there.

En route from Tajikistan, Rumsfeld met with Lt. Gen. Karl W.
Eikenberry, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Eikenberry told
reporters in Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, that the causes of the
rise in violence in southern Afghanistan are "complex," citing a more
organized and well-manned Taliban, increased narcotics trafficking,
warring tribal factions and general "criminality."

Eikenberry said such forces are strongest in areas with the least
amount of infrastructure and where the Afghan government has not
fully established its presence. He said NATO forces moving in should
help significantly. "We very much have the momentum," he said.

Rumsfeld plans to meet with President Hamid Karzai here Tuesday.

In Dushanbe on Monday, Rumsfeld opened talks with leaders about
increasing cooperation in the war against terrorism and how to
counter the growing stream of drugs from Afghanistan.

It was Rumsfeld's third visit to Tajikistan, which shares a lengthy
border with Afghanistan and China. The former Soviet republic has
been helping the United States with the war in Afghanistan since 2002
by allowing flights to cross its borders and by providing refueling
stations, such as at Dushanbe International Airport, where Rumsfeld
landed Monday.

Defense officials said there were no plans to establish a U.S. base
in Tajikistan but said they have talked to President Imamali
Rakhmonov and his senior advisers about basing possibilities for
support of the Afghan effort. The United States is looking to expand
its basing options in the region because it lost the use of a
strategic base in neighboring Uzbekistan, which decided it no longer
wanted to host U.S. troops. The military since has relied on a base
in Kyrgystan.

"We obviously always need to be positioned so that we have more than
one option," Rumsfeld told reporters en route to Tajikistan late
Sunday night. "Our goal for our country is to have as many countries
cooperating in the global war on terror and providing as many types
of cooperation as they feel comfortable providing."

After discussions Monday night, Rumsfeld and Tajikistan's foreign
minister, Talbak Nazarov, told reporters that there were no plans to
add U.S. bases in the country or in Central Asia. Rumsfeld, however,
acknowledged a need for support for the war in Afghanistan and said
Tajikistan's arrangement with the United States has been and will
continue to be "mutually beneficial."

Nearly one-third of Tajikistan's border is shared with Afghanistan,
and Tajikistan has become a preferred route for a large portion of
the opium coming from Afghanistan. According to the Drug Enforcement
Administration and the CIA, most of the illicit drugs that emerge
from Central Asia travel through Tajikistan to Russian and Western
European markets.

Rumsfeld said he was concerned about the role narcotics play in the
resurgent Taliban fighting in southern Afghanistan. He called the
demand for opium and heroin "enormous," saying it would take a
societal plan and more involvement by Western European nations to
quell the trade out of Afghanistan. Rumsfeld said the Taliban
appeared to be profiting from the drug trade, as well as offering protection.

"I do worry that the funds that come from the sale of those products
could conceivably end up adversely affecting the democratic process
in the country," he said of Afghanistan. "I also think anytime there
is that much money floating around and you have people like the
Taliban, that it gives them an opportunity to fund their efforts in
various ways."

Tajikistan has been working to improve border security with the help
of U.S. equipment and training, and there are several thousand
Russian troops in the country, remnants of a division stationed there
during Tajikistan's 1992-97 civil war. French troops also use
Dushanbe's airport.

Nazarov, the foreign minister, said that in the meetings, President
Rakhmonov expressed worries about the growth of Afghan drugs moving
over the border and their ability to disrupt efforts against
terrorism. The president also "emphasized that despite the measures
being taken, still the destabilizing factors in Afghanistan have not
been uprooted," Nazarov said.