The White House has ruled out nation building in Afghanistan after its military campaign against the ruling Taliban, but experts said today the US must play a role in reconstruction.
"The administration may not call what it will be doing in Afghanistan after the war nation building, but it will be doing it, largely because politics are going to require it," said Mr James Lindsay, a National Security Council official under President Bill Clinton.
The White House has spoken only vaguely about a US role in Afghanistan after the US-led attacks launched on Sunday, which were aimed at crippling the Taliban's military and destroying training camps of Islamic militant Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
President Bush has accused bin Laden of masterminding the September 11th attacks on the US and accused the Taliban of sheltering him.
With the Taliban now in US sights - Defense Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday the military was supporting forces seeking to overthrow the Taliban - the White House says the United States will work for a peaceful rule in Afghanistan but not establish a government.
"We do not want to choose who rules Afghanistan, though we will assist those who seek a peaceful, economically developing Afghanistan, free of terrorism," White House spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer said.