Posted on 10/19/2001 12:02:07 PM PDT by jimt
By MICHAEL HEDGES
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON -- Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida fighters are being forced out of hiding by the pressure of America's bombing campaign and then attacked in the open, officials said Thursday.
And some of the Taliban troops allied with bin Laden are responding to broadcast warnings to surrender or die, top Pentagon officials said.
"We have seen movement of what we believe to be the al-Qaida forces, and they have been specifically targeted while they were moving," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Asked about a report from an Islamic news source that a top bin Laden aide, an Egyptian known as Abu Baseer al-Masri, had been killed, Rumsfeld said, "Do I know it of certain knowledge? No ... But it would be a good thing for the world."
Reuters news service reported today that al-Masri was killed when a grenade exploded in his hands.
According to residents in Kabul, the Afghan capital, a strike that hit homes killed at least five civilians -- including a 16-year-old girl and four in one family who lived near a Taliban tank unit, the Associated Press reported.
In southern Afghanistan, the Taliban headquarters of Kandahar came under attack dozens of times, residents said. And planes struck a small town outside the city where the Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had preached two days before.
Rumsfeld refused to talk specifically about growing signs that U.S. special forces troops are either already in Afghanistan or soon will be. But Rusmfeld said that the use of U.S. ground troops in the war as almost inevitable.
The Washington Post, quoting defense officials, reported today that U.S. special forces have begun the ground phase of the war in southern Afghanistan in support of the CIA's existing efforts in the Taliban heartland.
While the air attacks have severely damaged the Taliban, Rumsfeld added, "They (warplanes) can't crawl around on the ground and find people."
Radio broadcasts to the Taliban from specially configured C-130s were having the desired effect of eroding morale, officials said.
A typical message warns the Taliban, "Surrender now and we will give you a second chance, we will let you live."
Another message sneers at bin Laden. "Destruction is imminent if our will is not met," it said. "Bin Laden may tell you he can protect you from the mighty United States, but all he can protect you from are unarmed innocent men, women and children."
The effect of the military and psychological pressure on the Taliban has been witnessed, Rumsfeld said. "We're seeing some people -- part of Taliban -- starting to decide that they'd prefer not to be part of Taliban."
But some of bin Laden's top associates remained defiant Thursday.
function MM_openBrWindow(theURL,winName,features) { //v1.2 window.open(theURL,winName,features); } The Islamic Observation Center, a group representing Islamic fundamentalist groups, sent ane-mail message to Western news outlets from bin Laden deputy Mohammed Atef threatening U.S. troops.
"America will not realize its miscalculations until its soldiers are dragged in Afghanistan like they were in Somalia," Atef was quoted as saying.
The threat was a calculated one.
In October 1993, Somali guerrilla fighters shot down two U.S. Blackhawk helicopters over Mogadishu, and killed 18 U.S. soldiers. The bodies of some of the dead were dragged through the city's streets.
Atef has been identified by U.S. and British intelligence sources as the bin Laden associate responsible for training the gunmen of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed who directed that ambush. According to reports, Atef was involved in the attack.
That incident prompted the Clinton administration to pull out of Somalia, and was celebrated as a victory by al-Qaida.
Rumsfeld hinted Thursday that Somali-based cells of al-Qaida may be on a future list of targets.
"I think that there is considerable speculation that al-Qaida might have been involved (in the 1993 attacks.). There is no question but that al-Qaida is still involved in Somalia," he said.
While keeping specifics of future missions secret, the Pentagon Thursday alerted members of the armed forces around the world of a long, and vitally important struggle.
In an unusual release of a message to U.S. forces during a Pentagon media briefing Thursday, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the war on terrorism was America's greatest military crisis since World War II.
"I firmly believe that this is the most important task that the U.S. military has been handed since the Second World War," Myers said to the armed forces around the world. "What's at stake here is no less than our freedom to exist as an American people. So there's no option but success."
With the stakes high, the Pentagon has decided that Northern Alliance forces opposing the Taliban will be given weapons and food supplies to aid their efforts.
"There are forces on the ground that are anxious to rid the country of al Qaida and to rid the country of Taliban. And they've been trying to do that before September 11," Rumsfeld said. "What's different today is they're going to have some help in food. They're going to have some help in ammunition."
In Afghanistan, Taliban spokesmen continued to say that the United States is targeting civilians, saying as many as 400 had been killed in bombing campaigns.
Rumsfeld dismissed that number as wildly exaggerated. He did concede two incidents in which U.S. bombs may have hit civilians, one resulting in four deaths and the other injuring some Afghans and destroying Red Cross food stocks.
U.S. commanders have been adding new weapons to the arsenal used against the Taliban and al-Qaida, Pentagon officials said.
Versions of the unmanned drone called the RQ-1 Predator are being armed with Hellfire anti-tank missiles and sent into Afghan valleys to hunt armored vehicles and other targets at a lower altitude than manned warplanes, officials said.
Controlled remotely, the Predator sends back images through two color video cameras. If operators see targets spotted by those cameras, they can order in manned attack aircraft, or activate the Predator's missiles.
And aiding heavy bombers and Navy carrier-based fighter bombers, Air Force F-15E fighter bombers have joined the attack on Taliban targets.
For fair use and discussion purposes only.
That seems silly, unless you mean that we are forcing them to keep moving to keep from being hit. If they are successfully hiding, only ground troops - like the Northern Alliance or our Special Forces - would get them out. ...Unless they are stupid enough to think that running under the bombs will keep them safe - and I doubt that.
Abu: Achmed, how do you work these grenades again?
Achmed: First you pull the pin thingy.
Abu: Like this? sproing
Achmed: Yes.
Abu: Then what?
Achmed: Then you throw it.
Abu: Underarm or overarm?
Achmed: Are you throwing for control or distance?
Abu: Well, that would depend on the situation, right?
Achmed: Yes, and if you are above them on a hill you could roll or drop it too.
Abu: That is a good point, Achmen, but what about ... BLAM!
If my corpse is ever dragged through the street, please drop a fuel/air bomb right on top of me, then mop up with troops.
I think the article is probably correct. This many days of relentless bombing would indeed promote "rabbit fever".
Ah. I hadn't considered that. More physiological than tactical. I'd still expect that to be ones and twos rather than enough to bother to target with an air-strike.
OTOH, maybe it's enough people complaining that "We have to do SOMETHING" and their leadership responding. It certainly isn't a very effective way of dealing with the circumstance.
Rumsfeld hinted Thursday that Somali-based cells of al-Qaida may be on a future list of targets.
"I think that there is considerable speculation that al-Qaida might have been involved (in the 1993 attacks.). There is no question but that al-Qaida is still involved in Somalia," he said.
While keeping specifics of future missions secret, the Pentagon Thursday alerted members of the armed forces around the world of a long, and vitally important struggle."
"I loath the military"-Bill Clinton.
George W. Bush loaths the Al Qaida terrorists.
Kewl. And Mom said all that time on Nintendo was wasted...
That was demoralizing because it was a harsh consequence to a just-messing-around mission. Do it now, and the calls to just begin to carpet-bomb will grow even stronger. ...Of course that has its negative consequences to us as well.
Twas for you. After all, is anyone paying you the big bucks to play the game? :)
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