Rumsfeld: Al Qaeda to strike again

 

 

In a speech to an Asia-Pacific security conference in Singapore on Saturday, Rumsfeld pressed Asia to become more involved in the global war on terror.

 

Rumsfeld pledged closer military support and security ties with Washington, but denied the Bush administration was pressuring Asian nations to support the coalition in Iraq.

"Let there be no doubt, there is more to come," he cautioned despite some success in capturing al Qaeda figures in Asia and foiling some plots.

 

Of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, Rumsfeld said: "Despite considerable progress, the reality is that today we remain closer to the beginning of this struggle than to its end."

 

Rumsfled told defense ministers, military officials, lawmakers and private security experts at the conference there was still a lot that remained unknown about the war on terrer. He also hinted at some frustration in measuring the success of the fight against terrorism.

 

"What we don't know is what's coming in the intake, how many more of those folks are being trained, developed, organized and deployed and sent out to work the scenes, the shadows and the caves," he said.

 

Rumsfeld said the battle was also against ideological extremism and advised that any nation hoping to make a separate peace with terrorists would be mistaken, just as were some European nations who had aimed to appease Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

 

"Pretty soon he's got most of Europe, and the people who thought otherwise were wrong," Rumsfeld said.

 

"There were people who thought he could be appeased; there were people who thought they could accommodate; there were people who thought they could make a separate deal. And it turned out they couldn't."

 

"Countries that think they can make a separate peace with terrorists or appease terrorists or accommodate to them or make arrangements, I think, probably will find they are making a mistake," he said.

 

Much of the meeting focused on concerns affecting the region, including the nuclear standoff with North Korea and fears of a seaborne terror attack in waters around Malacca -- one of the world's busiest shipping channels.

 

Rumsfeld labeled the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as examples of progress in the war on terrorism, but on the issue of Iraq he stopped short of demanding more support form Asian allies.

 

"We do not go around putting pressure, and I hope other countries don't either, on countries to do something that is against their interests," he said.

 

Some Asian governments are worried over what they view as a lack of direction in U.S. policy on Iraq. Many people in their nations oppose support for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

 

Rumsfeld is set to push for a commitment of troops from Bangladesh during talks with Bangladeshi leaders in Dhaka on Saturday.

 

Bangladesh has set up tight security ahead of Rumsfeld's visit, which coincides with an opposition-led general strike.

 

Rumsfeld is set to hold talks with Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan.

 

There were noisy protests in the Bangladeshi capital on Friday as thousands of Islamic activists and supporters of left-wing political parties demonstrated against Rumsfeld's visit and to voice their anger to Bangladeshi troops going to Iraq.

 

"Killer Rumsfeld go back," they chanted.

 

More protests were planned Saturday.

 

Bangladesh has a history of sending "blue helmet" troops to world trouble spots under U.N. control.

Over 6,000 police and troops have been deployed in the city on Saturday after an overnight arson attack on a bus left at least nine people dead.

 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has warned Asian nations that al Qaeda will strike the region again.