U.S. Military Announces New Operation in Afghanistan

TBO.com ^ | 3/13/04 | Stephen Graham

[kattracks]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The U.S. military on Saturday announced a sweeping new operation across troubled southern and eastern Afghanistan, with the aim of destroying al-Qaida and the Taliban and ultimately reeling in Osama bin Laden.

The offensive comes as Americans step up their hunt for the al-Qaida leader and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, who are believed to be hiding out in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"We believe this will help bring the heads of the terrorist organizations to justice, by continuing placing pressure on them," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a U.S. military spokesman.

The operation, however, was "about more than one person," he said. Hilferty said American forces were confident they will eventually catch the al-Qaida leadership as well as Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, but not necessarily during the new operation.

Hilferty also said U.S. forces are involved in what he described as a "small scale air assault" in southern Afghanistan, but would not give details about the location or the target.

The overall operation, dubbed "Mountain Storm," officially began Sunday and was open-ended, Hilferty said. He said the entire 13,500-strong U.S.-led coalition was involved.

While bin Laden's whereabouts have been the subject of intense speculation, there has been no known hard evidence of his location - or even that he is alive - since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Hilferty said the operation was in effect a continuation of tactics already being used, such as intensive patrolling, village searches and impromptu checkpoints.

He declined to give specifics, but an Associated Press reporter at the military's main southern base at Kandahar noted what base personnel said was heavier than usual air traffic, with C-130 cargo planes and Chinook helicopters landing through the night.

The base also served a lobster and steak dinner on the eve of the new operation. The army traditionally serves special meals to kick off large offensives.

Lt. Gen. David Barno, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has said his soldiers are engaged in a "hammer-and-anvil" strategy along with Pakistani forces on the other side of the border.

Some 70,000 Pakistani troops have moved into semiautonomous tribal regions to take away maneuver room for al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives believed to have taken refuge there.

A Feb. 24 operation in Wana, the main town in Pakistan's South Waziristan region, netted 24 suspects, but none were believed to be important al-Qaida operatives.

Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S. war on terrorism, has arrested more than 500 al-Qaida suspects. But Afghans also say they have not done enough to seal the border, and complain that Taliban commanders have been organizing operations from large Pakistani border towns like Quetta and Peshawar.

On Saturday, tribal elders in South Waziristan imposed a 24-hour deadline on a tribe accused of sheltering terrorists to hand over the fugitives or expect an armed force of 600 men to search the area forcibly.

A Pakistani military spokesman, Gen. Shaukat Sultan, would not comment on the new U.S. operation or say whether Pakistani troops were involved in fresh deployments on their side of the border.

Hilferty played down suggestions by defense officials in Washington that the military was embarking on a "spring offensive."

"If it continues past March 21, I assume it will be a spring operation," Hilferty said. "But spring offensive is what they media have been calling for, not us."

The military offensive also is supposed to safeguard landmark Afghan elections slated for June, when U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai is expected to secure a new term.

More than 140 people have died in violence already this year, underlining security fears ahead of the vote.

Much of the south and east of the country remains off-limits to international aid groups, and local officials complain their forces are unable to deal with the Taliban threat without more help from the Americans and the central government.

Hilferty said the previous two-month U.S. operation, called Blizzard and including 143 raids and searches, had resulted in the death of 22 "enemy combatants." No U.S. soldiers were killed in combat during the period, he said, though a number died in accidents.

AP-ES-03-13-04 0447EST

[ConservativeMan55]

Announced?

We Announced?

Again I ask? ANNOUNCED?

[AmericanInTokyo]

Anybody wonder if this massive, once-and-for-all anti-al- Qaida Afghan/Pak border operation could not have been put into place nearly a year ago today, in March 2003, (with results such as Osama's head on a platter) if we had not mobilized for a massive preoccupied strike on and pacification occupation of Iraq....which is still proving to be one big cruddy headache for us?

[NeonKnight]

How is Iraq a big cruddy headache for us? We now have heavy armor strategically positioned in the Mid East, and I for one, feel safer because of it. I find it more of an aspirine than a headache.

[Aeronaut]

But... they already have him in custody somewhere, waiting for a politically opportune time to announce it. Terry McAli told me.

[hershey]

Yeah, that bothered me, too:'Announced'. But reporters probably watch every military move and rather than have rampant speculation on what's really going on, the brass puts out their version first. Obviously, they don't give away the store, but it's too bad even this gets out. Hopefully, those special ops guys are munching power bars outside Osama's cave. Whether they're on speed or not, I'll leave to those in the know.

[Physicist]

Perhaps if you outline what what critical resources are being used today in Afghanistan that were not available a year ago because of the conflict in Iraq, we could decide whether that would have been possible.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

KABUL, Afghanistan  - The U.S. military on Saturday announced a sweeping new operation across troubled southern and eastern Afghanistan, with the aim of destroying al-Qaida and the Taliban and ultimately reeling in Osama bin Laden.

The offensive comes as Americans step up their hunt for the al-Qaida leader and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, who are believed to be hiding out in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We believe this will help bring the heads of the terrorist organizations to justice, by continuing placing pressure on them," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a U.S. military spokesman.

The overall operation, dubbed "Mountain Storm," officially began Sunday and was open-ended, Hilferty said. He said the entire 13,500-strong U.S.-led coalition was involved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good hunting, troops!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Related:

8 Task force after Taliban target ~ Army News Service | 3/12/04 | Staff Sgt. Jeff Troth
8 Troops in Afghanistan preparing spring offensive in pursuit of insurgents ~ Stars &Stripes | 3/10/04 | Terry Boyd

[johnny7]

Steak and lobster-fest to kickoff offensive. An Army tradition no less. Wonder if we dropped leaflets to tell the bastards where we'll be waiting to accept their surrender?

In my observations, the Army acts more like a military extension of the Postal Service. This operation smacks of being compromised.

[cookcounty]

"Anybody wonder if this massive, once-and-for-all anti-al- Qaida Afghan/Pak border operation could not have been put into place nearly a year ago today, in March 2003, (with results such as Osama's head on a platter) if we had not mobilized for a massive preoccupied strike on and pacification occupation of Iraq....which is still proving to be one big cruddy headache for us? "

The resources and desire that are there now were available in March of 2003. The difference is that time and effort have advanced the intel. Iraq is, day-by-day, becoming more and more of a headache for the Democrat anti-Liberationists, not for Americans in general.

[cookcounty]

"But reporters probably watch every military move and rather than have rampant speculation on what's really going on, the brass puts out their version first.

"Something big going on in Afghanistan" has been rumbling around on the back pages of your newspaper for the last 3 days, it isn't like operational cover is being blown.

[DollyCali]

Afghanistan Ping..

[DollyCali]

so much of what has been going on there has been overshadowed by things in Iraq.. there are still a lot of cockroaches there to smoke out.. and the king of course.

Continual prayers for the safety of the men & women who are working there.. and they deserve all the steak & lobster they get!

[armymarinemom]

Good Luck to the 501st.

[blackie]

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[AmericanInTokyo]

Since 1 single minute of our current military activities in Iraq amount to $93,000, or that we could have utilized many more Bunker-buster guided bombs at $145,600 each in the Tora Bora/Spin Boldak or Waziristan/Balouchistan Pak.-Afghan border areas as opposed to deployment in Iraq, or that we could have alotted even more unmanned Predator drones at approximately $130 million a pop to the detection and ultimate obliteration of the Taliban and al Qaida in Iraq in the March 2003-March 2004 timeframe.

In addition to an even more fortified human intelligence infrastructure in Afghanistan and Pakistan to root out a known irritant, Osama, than a perceived irritant, yet-to-be found WMD in Iraq.

Not to mention all of the costs now in nation- building that we are accountable for in Iraq, when our immediate priority of first completely obliterating AL QAEDA top leadership in Afghanistan/Pakistan to prevent such disasters as the Madrid Bombings...should have been the case. I agree that Iraq was a problem that needed to be removed; it is an issue of timing and priorities and resources. I personally think it would have been prudent to launch the Iraq operation to topple the Ba'athists this year or next year, only after we had totally pacified/neutralized Afghanistan (which we have yet to do, particularly in areas outside of Kabul) and reached all of our prime anti-terrorist objectives there first (which we have not completed).

In the meantime, we are up to our eyes now, like it or not, in Clintonesque "nation building" in Iraq with some of our very-own trained Iraqi police force now assassinating our own men on the ground, while Kim Jong-il--knowing our overstretched limits--in Pyongyang diplomatically digs in his heels (waiting for "President John Kerry") and still more than likely moves forward with production of uranium/plutonium for even more nuclear bombs, not to mention continued tweaking of the DPRK's ICBM capabilities threatening the whole of East Asia (Saddam had nowhere NEAR these capabilities).

All I am saying, big picture, is it grows increasingly clear (more US casulties on the ground in Iraq during occupation than the damned war itself, no WMD discovered (yet), the US now has to backtrack and perform retroactive "mission creep" on what it initially theorized about Iraq, massive Madrid Blast probably attributable to al Qaeda and therefore Osama bin Laden imbedded deep in the Af-Pak tribal areas, North Korea's continuing nuke growing threat where we know PRECISELY where the DPRK WMDs are or if they even have them), that perhaps you may appreciate the picture I paint about the importance of priorities.

As for Iraq, if the general situation is still problematic for us in the summer and fall, it could well be a contributing factor to the defeat of George Bush. How does that benefit any of us?

[BamaFan]

Do you have any clue what the best mix of forces are to accomplish the mission of catching rats in Afhanistan? It's not a bunch of remote-controlled UAVs & additional munitions.

Calling the situaion in Iraq a "perceived" irratant shows just how little you really appreciate the difficulty of sustaining deterrence on behalf of new but jittery allies through no-fly zones enforced by occupying large areas of land in nations where our presence is resented by terrorRATs. I suppose you thought the cost of continuing the detterrence, converted to a single life cycle cost number, was cheaper than the lcc of a 5-10 year concentrated effort to remove the need for an extended deterrence posture? I'd like to see you justify that with some math! Do you have any clue what the cost of the 12+ years of deterrence was? Add in the dead Americans from 911, because they were casualties DIRECTLY related to that effort!

You don't win wars by completing actions in a series manner like you suggest, especially when you are the USA - the country MOST able to conduct parallel operations all over the planet. That just throws away our greatest advantage. We can concentrate enough power in each of these areas to win, and we win faster by doing these things simultaneously and unpredictably, keeping the enemy off balance. And oh, by the way, you DO win wars by COMPLETING THEM (what you derisively call "nation-building") Compare the victory from WWII w/ the "victory" from WWI if you need a lesson in defining "victory".

If you want to criticize strategic decisions in the past, concentrate on the greatest blunder, failing to respond directly to AQ's skirmishes in 91-98, or failing to respond to AQ's FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR in 98!

You really think NK is closer now than in 00 to being a proliferation problem? I think that's absurd.

The beauty of GWB is that he appears to be doing what's NECESSARY for the long-term, and is taking short-term political risks to do it. I think he believes the American people aren't as stupid as the press seems to think, and that he can afford to do the right thing the right way, going for the long-term payoff even when the short term lacks those Clinton-like moments a moran calls "victory".

[kitkat]

***Continual prayers for the safety of the men & women who are working there.. and they deserve all the steak & lobster they get!***

They sure do! And I'm darned sure that those soldiers would rather be eating a burger at McD's AT HOME.

[kitkat]

***In my observations, the Army acts more like a military extension of the Postal Service. This operation smacks of being compromised.***

That's right, johnny. Back up our brave soldiers over there. Keep telling them that their commanders don't know what they are doing. The anti-war idiots need more help to discourage morale in the armed forces.

[kitkat]

WHOA! Bama, great post.