Author:
Publication: Mid-Day
Date: October 1, 2001
Introduction: Attacks to be limited
to targets found by special forces
Ed Vulliamy in Washington, Jason
Burke in Peshawar, Peter Beaumont and Paid Beaver
DEVASTATING attacks on bases controlled
by Osama bin Laden are set to be launched in the next 48 hours as part
of a tightly focused military operation approved by US President George
Bush and backed by Britain.
The strategy, which is a victory
for pragmatists in both Britain and America, is designed to kill bin Laden
and his forces, and will be launched in tandem with strikes against air
and ground forces of the Taliban regime supporting him.
The operation, which British and
US sources say could be launched as early as today, would begin with air
and missile strikes to destroy the Taliban's 20-aircraft air force, remove
anti-aircraft missile batteries, and destroy Taliban tanks and other armour.
In a clear sign that strikes were
imminent, Bush declared on Saturday night, after a meeting with military
advisers at Camp David: "America will act deliberately and decisively,
and the cause of freedom will prevail."
In a live radio address, he added:
"We did not seek this conflict, but we will end it. This war will be fought
wherever terrorists hide, or run, or plan. Other victories will be clear
to all."
Obliterate the threat
The aim of the first phase, likely
to be launched from aircraft with US and British ships in the Arabian Sea,
would be to remove any threat from the Taliban for the substantial incursion
that would follow.
Sources say this would be in the
form of a so-called desant operation - an airborne assault deep into Taliban-held
territory led by helicopter-carried troops of the US 82nd Airborne Division.
Sources said that the 101st Air Assault Division has also been ordered
to be ready for action.
Also fully mobilised was the 10th
Mountain Division, which would be the main ground force in what Bush called
an upcoming "guerrilla war" fought by US and British forces. Although soldiers
of the 82nd Airborne Division are trained for low-level parachute jumps,
any assault is likely be made by first abseiling down fixed lines from
helicopters.
American forces would he supported
by US Special Forces - including US Army Rangers and Green Berets, and
by British Special Forces. British units understood to have been earmarked
include mountain warfare cadres of G-troop, 22 SAS Regiment; the Special
Boat Service's Mountain Troop - which is trained for cliff assault and
Arctic warfare - and the Mountain Leaders' section of 4/5 Royal Marine
Commando. AB are trained and equipped to operate in mountainous terrain
for periods of up to a fortnight without being resupplied.
The US troops are equipped with
a specialised version of the Black Hawk attack helicopter and long range
MH-47 Chinooks armed with rotary cannon. They would also be able to call
on support from AC-130 aircraft nicknamed Puff the Magic Dragon - which
can give ground support with an artillery cannon in its belly.
Initial targets earmarked for the
air assault and desant operation include bases controlled by the al-Qaeda
around Kabul, in particular those with usable air strips. Evidence linking
bin Laden
Crucial evidence that links bin
Laden to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington nearly three
weeks ago has been obtained by The Observer. A secret intelligence dossier
compiled by an Arab state with a longstanding interest in bin Laden last
night revealed that at least one of the 19 hijackers was trained in a camp
in Afghanistan run by al-Qaeda and that another is "close to bin Laden".
American security sources told The
Observer they believe four of the hijackers had spent time in Afghanistan
with the Taliban and possibly with al-Qaeda. One, Wali Mohamed al-Sherhi,
is believed to have been taught urban warfare and terrorism in al-Farooq
training camp in eastern Afghanistan, close to the Pakistan border.
He is thought to have left Afghanistan
18 months ago. The dossier, for the first time, definitely links al-Farooq
to bin Laden, naming four men who are bin Laden aides who it says administer
and train those at the camp.
Powell doctrine
Back in Washington, the tight focus
of the planned military operation is a victory for the pragmatists in Bush's
cabinet, notably Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell has been involved
in a battle of wills with hawks gathered around the figure of Deputy Defence
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who would like to see US strikes, against a wide
range of targets, including Iraq.
It also follows words of caution
from America's key ally, Britain. Tony Blair has advised that the only
target of military action should be bin Laden's network and, if necessary,
the Taliban.
The location of the bases was revealed
yesterday by Russian intelligence, which has provided the Pentagon with
the most detailed intelligence so far on the network of bin Laden camps.
The news came as British sources
claimed that the Taliban was set to flood the west with heroin in an attempt
to destabilise its enemies.
US Special Forces were last night
already active in Afghanistan, almost certainly involved in scouting and
preparing a secure forward airbase in territory held by the opposition
Northern Alliance.
There were claims from Afghanistan
yesterday that a team of five US commandos has been captured by al-Qaeda.
The Qatar-based al-Jezeera television station said al-Qaeda claimed to
have captured a unit "armed with modern weapons and maps of al-Qaeda's
bases" in the south-western Helmand province. The Taliban and the Pentagon
denied the report.
Special Forces deployed
US officials, however, confirmed
on Friday that special forces units - possibly from the US Green Berets
or the elite Rangers regiment - had been deployed in Afghanistan on reconnaissance
missions.
They hinted that soldiers from the
British SAS were also involved. The special forces had been deployed "in
the last few days", the sources told US reporters, and were there to gather
information on Taliban positions and strengths, not to search for bin Laden.
Sources in Washington said that
with British and American reconnaissance and Special Operations teams already
working on the ground to locate targets with laser-guidance and sensor
systems, US forces were ready to "go into the first breach" in territory
controlled by al-Qaeda.
Planning groups at the Pentagon
will now increase pressure on the White House to expand the action to attack
locations in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, with the elimination of Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein as 'a precondition' to defeating terrorism.
(Courtesy: The Observer, September
30, 2001)