BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The United States would like NATO
eventually to take over the military mission in Afghanistan, where
an American-dominated force is still hunting down remnants of the
Taliban rule that collapsed two years ago, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said yesterday.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The United States would like NATO
eventually to take over the military mission in Afghanistan, where
an American-dominated force is still hunting down remnants of the
Taliban rule that collapsed two years ago, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said yesterday.

In an interview on the eve of a NATO defense ministers
conference, Rumsfeld said he had not proposed such a transition
from U.S. control but that it was a goal “we certainly have
favored.”

Rumsfeld arrived in Brussels yesterday for NATO talks on a range
of defense and security issues, including the situation in Iraq and
the outlook for a realignment of U.S. forces in Europe. The latter
topic is focused mainly on ways of reducing or shifting U.S. troops
in Europe to make the overall American military more suited to
fighting terrorism and other nontraditional threats.

Defense ministers were meeting today and tomorrow, followed by
talks among foreign ministers on Thursday and Friday.

Asked about deadly attacks in recent days against Spaniards,
Japanese and South Koreans in Iraq, Rumsfeld said he did not expect
the violence to lead any U.S. allies to abandon the mission.

“The countries who have forces there recognize that
it’s a dangerous place and there are terrorists who are
killing people and wounding people — not just coalition
forces but Iraqis, in increasing numbers,” he said.

Commenting on an expanded NATO role in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld
praised the alliance for taking a first, limited step: assuming
control over the International Security Assistance Force that keeps
the peace in Kabul, the Afghan capital, and trying to put together
even more troops so the peacekeeping mission can be expanded beyond
Kabul to as many as six provincial cities.

That security force has not been involved in the American-led
combat missions against Taliban holdouts.

In advance of this week’s NATO talks, alliance officials
expressed confidence that plans will proceed for a German-led NATO
security force to move into the northern Afghan city of Kunduz
within weeks.

That operation is supposed to be a pilot project for a broader
NATO plan to provide protection for “provincial
reconstruction teams” in other cities — if it can
muster the troops.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Rumsfeld said.
“And my guess is it will happen.”

He added that NATO involvement eventually might expand even
further.

“At some point the task may mature to the point where NATO
would want to take on a still larger responsibility,” he
said. While the Pentagon chief did not foresee alliance troops
replacing U.S. troops entirely, he would not rule out NATO
eventually taking primary control of the military mission.

“I’m not predicting anything, but we certainly have
favored that, over time,” Rumsfeld said.

The United States has about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, making
it one of the most demanding missions the military is executing,
along with the effort to stabilize Iraq with 130,000 troops.

Looking ahead to the NATO talks, the alliance’s top
civilian official said the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan was
a test of NATO’s credibility.

“If we do not go to Afghanistan and deal with its
problems, Afghanistan and those problems will come again to
us,” NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson said last
week.

“Failure would not only be a disaster for Afghanistan. It
would be a disaster for Europe and for North America as
well,” he said, warning that the country could again become a
base for international terrorism.

During the meetings in Brussels, European allies will be eager
to hear Rumsfeld’s views on an agreement reached over the
weekend by the European Union to boost its own defense
capability.

Washington has been wary that EU defense plans promoted by
France and Germany could undermine NATO unity. Under pressure from
Britain, EU members modified those plans. British Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw insisted Saturday the new arrangements will not diminish
NATO as Europe’s primary security provider.

Rumsfeld told reporters yesterday he doubts the Europeans will
do anything to undermine NATO.