TASHKENT, Uzbekistan – As the first U.S. ground troops in
Central Asia reach this former Soviet republic, leaders of the war
on terrorism are depicting a resolute march toward justice.

That march, underscored by further warnings from President
Bush, on Friday took Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld up the
curving, brass-railed marble stairs in Uzbekistan’s White Palace.

There, bolstering new alliances the United States is trying
to forge, the secretary of defense shook hands with President
Islam Karimov, a burly former Communist Party boss.

They sat at a long table facing each other, palavered for an
hour and then strolled across a gleaming wood floor.

Karimov said yes, the United States could use one military
base for search and rescue and humanitarian operations – which
would provide key access to an area just north of Afghanistan
where suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

But the Uzbek leader also said no, the U.S. cannot yet launch
strikes directly from his country. And no, U.S. special operations
soldiers, key to efforts in Afghanistan, won’t be allowed in the
country.

“We are not quite ready for this,” Karimov said.

Now some 1,000 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division –
created in Colorado during World War II, and now based in New York
– are charged with setting up operations at the Uzbek air base.

Rumsfeld’s five-country mission to build support paired with
a swing by British Prime Minister Tony Blair through Russia,
Pakistan and India. As they returned home, England and the U.S.
talked tough, but vaguely, to Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders.

“Time is running out,” Bush warned.

“Things are coming into place,” vowed Blair.

But what? When?

“The timing of any action is a matter to be discussed with
our close allies,” Blair allowed. “What has been happening is that
there is a political and diplomatic coalition there that’s very
strong.”

But not as strong as the U.S. had hoped. None of the five
countries Rumsfeld sidled up to granted the unrestricted access
officials seek to conduct commando raids and bombing runs on
Afghanistan.

Pakistan, on Blair’s itinerary, is nervous about civil unrest
if it abets war against fellow Muslims in the Taliban – a regime
Pakistan has aided and, alone in the world, still officially
recognizes.

In Pakistan, some embassies are shedding nonessential staff
and closing offices in smaller cities. A metal detector suddenly
is the mark of a better hotel in Islamabad, the capital.

Only hours before Blair’s visit Friday, Maulana Fazlur
Rahman, leader of the extremist Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam party,
visited Rawalpindi and sent a crowd of about 5,000 storming
through the streets screaming anti-American and pro-Taliban slogans.

“The religious parties are united in their stand,” said
Muhammed Sharif Chowdry, 75. “If the government provides support
to America in an attack on Afghanistan, the government will fail.

“It will not be able to face the people. Not only the people of
Pakistan, but the Muslims of the whole world are behind
Afghanistan.”

There is also unease in Uzbekistan.

“If Americans attack Afghanistan, it’s OK,” said Natasha
Ignatkina, 40, inside a smoky tea and kabob den in rural Angren.
“But only if Uzbekistan will be safe.”

In his palace, the president said much the same thing.

“We do need guarantees that tomorrow we will not be left alone
to confront a terrorist menace,” Karimov told several reporters
after Rumsfeld left. “We need this guarantee. We don’t want to be
used or manipulated in any way.”

Did the meeting with Rumsfeld allay these concerns?

“No guarantees so far. No reassurances.”

Karimov agreed with Rumsfeld that there must be a concerted
effort to counter terrorism.

“We’ve got to unite,” Karimov said. “We’ve got to respect
each other. We have to stand up and defend the world, defend the
clear skies over our heads.”

But the details can be pesky. Many key members of the
coalition Bush is trying to form were holding something back this
weekend.

Significantly, Saudi Arabian officials refused to allow air
attacks launched from U.S. military bases in their country.

Charges of betrayal in coalition ranks also surfaced this
weekend. Afghan Northern Alliance backers in Tashkent accused
Pakistan of continuing its support for the Taliban regime.

Pakistani intelligence agents and the government “are
supporting the Taliban – sending military equipment to
Afghanistan, still,” Consul Ali Ahmad said at the former
government’s Embassy of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. “They
should seal that border completely.”

India and Pakistan continue a bloody dispute over Kashmir,
making them uneasy allies.

And while Bush on Saturday spoke of the post-Taliban era and
the aid Afghanistan would receive, questions loom about whether
the fractious tribal alliance – or anyone – can govern a country
that’s been at war for a generation and could see more conflict
soon.

“Maybe another Taliban will form,” said Tamara Prokopjeva,
whose Orbita TV station, housed in a converted eight-room
apartment, is one of the few nongovernment stations in a country
where more than 7,000 perceived opponents of the government are
jailed.

“So many people think the way they do, other groups could get
together.”

The events of the last few days in Uzbekistan and Pakistan
show that it’s a tricky new world for the U.S.

“No question,” Rumsfeld said after meeting with Karimov.
“Circumstances in the world have shifted.”

The United States seeks to enlist Muslim allies against
accused Muslim terrorists. At the same time, Bush states that he
will retain ties to familiar allies such as Israel, whose leader,
Ariel Sharon, voiced strong warnings to the U.S. not to appease
Arab countries.

“In a year, or two, or three, we’ll see considerably
different arrangements in the world than existed prior to Sept.
11,” according to Rumsfeld. “It’s not certain yet how that will
play out.”

Uzbekistan exemplifies that uncertainty.

A predominantly Muslim country of 25 million, Uzbekistan has
fended off its own Islamic fundamentalist assaults in recent
years.

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, tied to bin Laden and
Afghanistan, wants to overthrow Karimov and establish a more
rigorous Islamic life. The movement is suspected of setting off
five simultaneous bomb blasts around Tashkent in February 1999
that killed 13 and injured 120 – leading to a crackdown that
limits worship to government-approved mosques.

People here live in blocks of uniform ap