Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DUSHANBE31
2006-01-04 07:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Dushanbe
Cable title:  

EMERGENCY SUPPLIES FOR TAJIKISTAN BORDER GUARDS

Tags:  MARR 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000031

SIPDIS


001-06
EUR/CACEN
INL/AAE - DEBORAH HOOKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MARR
SUBJECT: EMERGENCY SUPPLIES FOR TAJIKISTAN BORDER GUARDS

REF: NONE

The following is a letter to Secretary of Defence Donald
Rumsfeld from Chargi d'Affaires Thomas H. Armbruster, American
Embassy, Dushanbe Tajikistan. Hard copy to follow.

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

There are few sights more heartening for Embassy officers than
seeing a U.S. Air Force C-130 landing. On January 2, the first
C-130 landed in the snow in Dushanbe, bringing emergency support
to Tajikistan's Border Guards.

I want to thank you for the airlift that Gen. Abizaid and his
command executed over the New Year's holidays. Helping the
Tajik Border Guards establish and operate a base of operations
on the Afghan border, in spite of severe winter conditions, is
an important contribution to regional security, and advances
U.S. national interests by limiting the flow of illicit weapons,
narcotics, and terrorists.

Tajikistan continues to be a world leader in narcotics
interdictions, but border forces are not adequately resourced.
Had the Tajik Border Guards curtailed their operations for lack
of supplies, some in Russia could have pressured Tajikistan to
accept the return of Russian border guards. In his New Year's
address, President Rahmonov noted, "The full takeover by Tajik
border guards of the protection of the state border between
Tajikistan and Afghanistan, as a symbol of our sovereign state,
was an important achievement." The airlift helps Tajikistan
maintain its sovereign right to protect its own borders, and it
shows American commitment to regional stability.

CENTCOM's efforts, in close cooperation with the Department of
State and Embassy Dushanbe's Country Team, are having a
tremendous impact on the morale of the border guards. General
Zukhurov, Head of the Border Guards, sends his heartfelt thanks
and appreciation to all in the name of his personnel who now

The use of your counternarcotics "train and equip" authority to
support national security objectives in the region shows great
foresight, and Gen. Abizaid and his command are to be commended.
We welcome your return to Tajikistan anytime and once again
thank everyone involved, from pilots to loadmasters, for making
a real difference on the Tajik-Afghan border.

ARMBRUSTER


NNNN