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Crack force set to prise bin Laden from his lair
UK Telegraph ^ | Filed: 30/09/2001 | By Macer Hall

Posted on 09/30/2001 6:24:24 AM PDT by vannrox

SPECIAL forces units are preparing to launch underground attacks on the network of tunnels and caves that conceal Osama bin Laden and his guerrilla fighters.

The SAS and American elite troops will attempt to penetrate the fortified subterranean hideouts to kill or capture terrorists under plans being drawn up by military strategists for a "warning shot" in the war against terror.

Commanders know, however, that such close-quarter combat under the mountains of southern Afghanistan could lead to heavy casualties.

Historically, Afghan fighters have used their detailed knowledge of the caves and hidden trails through the mountains to defeat invaders. Their ability to strike with surprise, then vanish, was the key to their success against the Soviet Army in the 1980s.

Bin Laden's forces have burrowed a complex web of tunnels and caves beneath the mountains. Each base is defended by gun emplacements and anti-aircraft missiles launchers. The networks have dozens of escape tunnels and are linked to observation posts on mountain sides.

An assault on one or more of the caves would need a substantial force of aircraft, artillery and airborne troops to support it. Air strikes with deep penetration weapons would begin the attack, to knock out defences and to blast holes into the caves.

The United States could launch Tomahawk Block III missiles, which are guided by the Global Positioning Satellite system and have 1,000lb warheads, from submarines or warships in the Gulf. For greater accuracy, GPS-guided GBU28 "bunker busting" bombs could be dropped by F15E Eagles, F16 Fighting Falcons or other attack aircraft.

Then a special forces team would be deployed by helicopter - CH-53 Sea Stallions are an option - to attack guerrillas flushed out by the bombing and infiltrate the tunnels. In addition to the SAS and US Delta Force, other elite units with mountain fighting capability may be involved in an attack, including the Americans' 75th Ranger Regiment and the Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade.

Charles Heyman, the editor of Jane's World Armies, said: "It would be a very difficult operation, there is no doubt about that. Commanders will want a lot of troops and aircraft as well as artillery in support because many defences may still be in place after air strikes.

"The classic terrorist tactic is to desert these places and move away and not get themselves caught by properly organised military forces of any sort. But if there are people trying to defend them, you could have a really bloody battle on your hands."

Contingency plans for airlifting casualties out of the battle zone will also be necessary. American strategists are drawing on the experiences of the "tunnel rats" of the Vietnam War, the US soldiers who, armed with grenades, pistols and torches, fought in the hundreds of miles of tunnels dug by Communist guerillas.

While military technology has moved on, with thermal imaging equipment used to track enemies, the battle would come down to the same techniques of hand-to-hand fighting in claustrophobic conditions.

The terrorists' tunnels are believed to be able to conceal thousands of fighters for months. They include dormitories and other living quarters, communication centres and armouries stacked with Kalashnikov rifles, mortars, ammunition and explosives.

Some of the caves have lighting and electricity supplied by generators and makeshift systems of hot water pipes for heating. Al-Qaeda fighters live a sparse existence with just the Koran for comfort.

Bin Laden was known to be based in a cave in a mountain range above Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, the subterranean centre of his global terror network, until disappearing before the US hijack attacks.

His underground lair was reported to have a library of Islamic texts, an arms store and a communication room including computers, faxes and a satellite telephone.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:

I really doubt this. If it is planned to be done, it must of already happened. There is no reason why we need to go in and kill each one individually. When all we need is to place a bomb inside and detonate it. I believe that this is a fabricration of the newspapers.


1 posted on 09/30/2001 6:24:24 AM PDT by vannrox (MyEMail)
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To: vannrox
When I saw the headlines, I pictured in my mind's eye, a group of inner city youths attacking bin Laden.

My next thought was of a all girl unit.

2 posted on 09/30/2001 6:29:46 AM PDT by yarddog
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To: vannrox
Underground nukes could do wonders to ferret out these scumbags. No fallout, no mushroom clouds on TV, effective diameter of miles, avoids Guadalcanal-like casualties from nasty hole-to-hole combat. BUMP
3 posted on 09/30/2001 6:30:45 AM PDT by tm22721
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To: vannrox
Why don't we just put a heavy bomb onto every entrance/exit and leave them in there?
4 posted on 09/30/2001 6:31:48 AM PDT by bond7
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To: bond7
You posted: "Why don't we just put a heavy bomb onto every entrance/exit and leave them in there?"

Yep and destroy any living creature within a 50 mile radius who would rescue the madmen, provide food and fuel to them.

The Afghan winters are long and very cold! A winter with minimal food, fuel, and water accompanied by periodic bombing of any entrance to their snake holes, will make them surrender or be easy prey when spring comes!

5 posted on 09/30/2001 6:39:40 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
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To: vannrox
Already posted here:

http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3bb68f054c53.htm

A good thread BTW.

6 posted on 09/30/2001 6:40:20 AM PDT by GVnana
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To: Grampa Dave
Well, we could leave one hole open, build a campfire outside, and clean out guns until they crawl out on their hands and knees and surrender a couple weeks later. Seriously, if we know their complex well, and really do know the entrances and exits (which I suspect we do from years of satellite imagery, and local and Russian intelligence), closing them up would probably be the best military strategy. You can do it from the air, and then move units in to mop up that part of the operation.
7 posted on 09/30/2001 6:50:00 AM PDT by bond7
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To: tm22721
thats an excellent idea, and we could probably do it and claim it was just an earthquake. What would be the big deal, that is how we test them anyway. It would certainly collapse any tunnel complex inside the mountain where it was set off.
8 posted on 09/30/2001 6:52:18 AM PDT by fsh1138
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To: vannrox
Of course the first and last problem is to locate your actual target. First, to isolate the target from places/people/things you choose not to attack, and finally to close and actually destroy the specific target.

If once you are satisfied that the first condition is met, and if you can economically assure yourself of maintaining that condition, then the problem reduces to reducing your uncertainty of the location of the target by degrees, down to the lethal radius of a weapon which you can get to that location. The problem is always that the target tries to make that process "too hard."

We must make that "too hard."

9 posted on 09/30/2001 6:57:27 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion
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To: vannrox
I think we heard all about crack forces in Iraq during the gulf war. They surrendered by the thousands as soon as our troops started to move.
10 posted on 09/30/2001 7:00:13 AM PDT by chainsaw
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To: yarddog
I thought we were employing all of the "Crack Heads" in Harlem to attack the terrorists. Rumor has it the crack fiends were promised 67 virgin pipes and all of the dope captured from the Taliban.
11 posted on 09/30/2001 8:29:58 AM PDT by Hal.009
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To: vannrox
Song Parody: "Hello Mullah, Hello Fatah (Camp Osama)"
12 posted on 09/30/2001 10:38:00 AM PDT by Charles Henrickson
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