Posted on 09/24/2001 8:51:11 PM PDT by SunStar
They are not being "reported". Instead, they are being "speculated". Note the writer --
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent, and Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
Note also that he is not reporting anything garnered from sources, aside from some denials. But, as the "Defence Correspondent", Smith is expected to give his readers an idea of what might happen -- what forces are appropriate and how they might be employed.
The units and their capabilities are all public knowledge. The opposition has folks who should be able to speculate, as well. There is no security breach here.
Check this out -- one of the maps isolates airfields, with links to aerial photos.
Your kingdom, please. Cashier's check or money order, for deposit in my numbered account in the Caymans. Correspond via FReepmail.
Sunday, August 1, 1999 Published at 15:23 GMT 16:23 UK
Afghan factions battle for key airbase
The warring factions in Afghanistan have been battling for control of the important Bagram airbase north of the capital, Kabul.
Taleban troops stormed the base in a pre-dawn attack and say that they're now in control of it.
However, forces loyal to Commander Ahmad Shah Massood say they counter-attacked and recaptured Bagram.
There's been no independent confirmation, and the situation remains unclear.
The fighting comes after the Taleban, who control most of Afghanistan, launched a big offensive last week that ended two years of stalemate on the front lines close to the capital.
They've advanced some twenty-five kilometres up a road that lies to the west of the Bagram base, and the BBC Kabul correspondent says that they're making steady progress.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
Bagram sits out on a big flat plain, some distance from the mountains to its south. The more Talibans who want to congregate there, the better for us, for it will be easy to kill them en masse in the open with cluster bombs etc.
Every Taliban killed in this manner will be one Taliban that we do not need to chase across the high peaks of the Hindu Kush.
I agree. I'm not sure I like the idea of our guys getting to solidly installed in this air base though. Reminds me of the Ben Hoa air base at Saigon, sapper, mortar and artillery targets.
OTOH, we now have methods of returning fire to the exact origin of an artillery shell so fast that the enemy gun cannot be moved.
Yes, I know. Can we expect a wave of 'divine wind' aircraft too, similar to Okinawa?
Let them MASS their forces ANYPLACE! I can think of nothing we'd like more than a bunch of them in one place. Can you say planes, artillery, and fuel-air explosions?
Slice and dice, indeed.
I was thinking of sympathetic Pakistani's. (and others)
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