The future stability of Afghanistan is dependent on reasonable security, says U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and U.S. military forces will remain in the country for an indefinite period in order to train an Afghan national army and battle al-Qaida and Taliban troops.

Rumsfeld said he hopes an Afghan national army will become strong enough to stabilize the country, while overcoming regional rivalries, adding, "it is not knowable how long that will take." He urged nations due to attend a fundraising meeting in Geneva next week [April 1-5] to fund an Afghan national army.

"There is no question but that very little is possible in a country if there is not reasonable security," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing March 28. At a previous donors conference in Tokyo, Rumsfeld said, money was raised for other things to help Afghanistan recover and rebuild, but none was provided for security.

He said that while funding is being sought for enhancing security, the United States is working with the interim Afghan government "to train at least the beginning of an Afghan national army and border patrol."

Addressing questions about the future of al-Qaida and Taliban detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Rumsfeld said that, pending a decision by the president, a U.S. military commission might try some detainees on one or more charges, depending on the nature of the serious violations they may have committed. But whether those detainees are convicted or acquitted, "the United States would be irresponsible not to continue to detain them until the conflict is over."

He stressed that detaining enemy combatants for the duration of a conflict is universally consistent with the Geneva Conventions and other internationally recognized wartime measures. "I can assure you the United States does not want to keep any of them any longer than we have to," he said.

He added that in some cases detainees may be transferred to other countries or their own country, and possibly released outright if they pose no threat or risk to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who joined Rumsfeld at the briefing, said U.S. military forces in Afghanistan are working closely with earthquake relief efforts. He said the United States sent medical supplies to the heavily damaged mountainous region around Nahrin, which is approximately 100 miles north of the Afghan capital Kabul.

U.S. military helicopters have also transported California dates, wheat, blankets, tents and military rations to the region devastated by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake, he said.

All the while, Myers said, U.S. forces will continue hunting for al-Qaida and Taliban stragglers. He said U.S. forces are conducting surveillance and reconnaissance of likely areas where they might be.