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WASHINGTON - The Pakistani military was pounding a mud-walled fortress last night where a "very senior" Al Qaeda leader - possibly Osama Bin Laden's No. 2 - was holding out against a Pakistani siege. American intelligence officials were cautious about who might be inside the mountain stronghold, but Pakistani sources said they believe it was Bin Laden's top general, Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and he may be wounded. Al-Zawahiri, nearly always at Bin Laden's side during his taunting videotapes, helped create Al Qaeda and was considered the brains behind its operations. His capture or death would be a major blow to...

The top secret international commando group which tracked down Saddam Hussein is being transferred from Iraq to Afghanistan to spearhead the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Task Force 121, a 1400-strong unit drawn from the U.S. army's Delta Force, Rangers and Green Berets, U.S. navy Seals, and attached elements of British and Australian SAS and Canadian special forces, will be used as the cutting edge of an offensive aimed at netting or killing top al Qaeda fugitives. The unit, which may be renamed before deploying on the Afghan side of the frontier with Pakistan's lawless tribal lands, is moving in...

Many readers complain that I never find one good thing to say about President George W. Bush. Well, this is your lucky day. I agree with President Bush in his double denunciation of remarks made by Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin. “He doesn’t reflect my point of view or the point of view of this administration,” the president told reporters in the Rose Garden, having earlier dumped on Boykin during his visit to Malaysia. Boykin’s supporters immediately accused the president of turning his back on an American hero and a true Christian warrior. But they are wrong. A 30-year veteran, Boykin...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Berlin, Aug 7, IRNA -- Twelve CIA-agents are currently said to be on an "unclear mission" in Germany according to local intelligence circles, the "Bild" newspaper said Thursday in an unconfirmed report. The agents are said to belong to an "elite unit" such as the "Delta Force" which has been "lent" to the CIA for the current mission in Germany. "German security experts assume that the special agents might have received the order to track down the homes of possible islamic terrorists and their supporters in Germany," the paper reported. The 12-man team is also said to be in posession...

A covert Army Special Forces unit, operating in Iraq since before the war began in March, has played a dominant but ultimately unsuccessful role in the Bush administration's stymied hunt for weapons of mass destruction, according to military and intelligence sources in Baghdad and Washington. Task Force 20, whose existence and mission are classified, is drawn from the elite Army special mission units known popularly as Delta Force. It sent a stream of initially promising reports to a limited circle of planners and policymakers in Washington pointing to the possibility of weapons finds. The reports helped feed the optimism expressed...

Rumsfeld Selects Retired General as Army Chief of Staff By Robert Burns The Associated Press Tuesday, June 10, 2003; 4:40 PM Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld reached into the ranks of retired officers to pick a successor to departing Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, officials said Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rumsfeld chose Peter J. Schoomaker, who retired from the Army after commanding the U.S. Special Operations Command from 1997-2000.

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     US Special Forces (Click on the graphics for links to sources and additional information) Part IV - A: DELTA FORCE Part IV - B: 160th SOAR"These are guys that are putting their lives on the line, taking on some very serious bad guys. The less anyone knows about the unit, the better." — Former Delta Force soldier quoted in Stars and Stripes. WHO ARE THEY: The super-secret...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

<p>April 23, 2003 -- BAGHDAD - They're tough, seasoned and lethal when they need to be - and they're working secretly in Baghdad, masking their identity by wearing U.S. Army uniforms and traveling in U.S. military vehicles.</p> <p>Fortunately, they're on our side. They're members of Britain's elite, highly secretive SAS, the special operations group that inspired the Army's counter-terrorist Delta Force.</p>

<p>KUWAIT CITY - As U.S. air and ground forces blast into Baghdad, dozens of CIA paramilitaries and thousands of U.S. Special Operations forces are waging a hidden war in Iraq's shadows.</p> <p>Under the cover of darkness, they're hunting and assassinating Baath Party members and Republican Guard leaders, rigging selected bridges with explosives and detonating them when suspected Iraqi leaders drive by, and using viruses to disable computers at military command centers, power plants and telephone networks.</p>

As U.S. air and ground forces blast into Baghdad, dozens of CIA paramilitaries and thousands of U.S. special operations troops are waging a hidden war in Iraq's shadows. Under the cover of darkness, they're hunting and assassinating Baath Party members and Republican Guard leaders, rigging selected bridges to explode when suspected Iraqi leaders drive by in armored vehicles, and using viruses to disable computers at military command centers, power plants and telephone networks. Their efforts, largely off-camera, burst into view with the dramatic rescue last week of Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah where she was being held...

Top Stories - AFP British, US special forces enter Baghdad during blackout: British press Thu Apr 3,11:23 PM ET LONDON (AFP) - US and British special forces slipped into Baghdad during a blackout and have begun covert operations including an assessment of the threat posed by Iraq (news - web sites)'s elite Republican Guard, the British press said. The electricity cut at around 9:00 pm local time on Thursday coincided with a major incursion by SAS and American special forces personnel into the Iraqi capital, newspapers in London said. The Guardian, quoting military sources in Qatar, said that dozens of...

Three Iraqis who aided the CIA in the March 20 attempt by the United States to kill Iraqi President Saddam Hussein were executed this week by Iraqi counterintelligence, former and serving U.S. officials told United Press International. A super-secret U.S. intelligence operation, working in Baghdad for weeks before the war, provided the crucial targeting data for the attack on Saddam and his sons, launched in an effort to pre-empt a full-scale war, these sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The war had been scheduled to start Friday, March 21, U.S. officials told UPI. But -- after getting intelligence that...

THE people of Iraq awoke to a newly named international airport yesterday after an audacious night assault by coalition forces wrested control of the civilian and military complex from Republican Guard units. After British SAS and US Delta Force special operations teams spent Thursday morning making covert reconnaissance patrols of the airport’s outer perimeter they pulled back in preparation for a fearsome dusk assault that could be clearly heard ten miles away in central Baghdad. The attack on Saddam International Airport began when tanks of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division punched through its outer wall, rumbling past a towering portrait...

It is dark and Mike Smith's clothing is wet. Mike Smith is an athlete, an elite athlete in fact. He is a triathlete, has done Ironman several times, a couple adventure races and even run the Marathon Des Sables in Morocco- a 152 mile running race through the Sahara done in stages. Mike has some college, is gifted in foreign languages, reads a lot and has an amazing memory for details. He enjoys travel. He is a quiet guy but a very good athlete. Mike's friends say he has a natural toughness. He can't spend as much time training for...

<p>March 31, 2003 -- HAVE faith in the American soldier. Have particular faith in our special operations forces, the shadow warriors who are the most effective fighting men in history.</p> <p>Over the weekend, special ops troops leading Kurdish freedom fighters overran a vast terrorist base near Iraq's border with Iran.</p>

WASHINGTON -- In the largest operation in their storied history, elite special operations forces are waging a shadow war in Iraq whose success could determine whether coalition forces can topple the regime of Saddam Hussein quickly or whether the conflict will drag on for months, say military officials and specialists. The military's ''silent warriors,'' as President Bush called them yesterday, were involved in the first operations of the war and are likely to conduct some of the last, including helping spearhead the birth of new civil institutions in a post-Hussein Iraq. Details of their activities in recent weeks -- from...

TWO hundred SAS, Delta Force and CIA paramilitaries were last night behind enemy lines in Baghdad — and about to slit the throat of Saddam’s regime. Battle commanders have ruled out a full advance into the capital to avoid bloody street-fighting and heavy civilian casualties. Instead the Special Forces teams — also including SAS squads from Australia — will become the enemy within. More: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003140559,00.html

New York - A senior Iraqi official tipped off the CIA, telling Washington where Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would be sleeping on the eve of the war, Newsweek magazine reports. After months of US intelligence groundwork, the magazine quoted an unnamed "knowledgeable intelligence source" as saying Delta Force, the secret commando group, "managed to tap Saddam's underground phone lines in Baghdad. "The real break came when the CIA managed to recruit an asset, a senior Iraqi official in a position to know Saddam's greatest vulnerability: where he sleeps each night," the news weekly added in its report due on news...