Posted on 10/15/2001 7:21:40 AM PDT by LavaDog
As the Bush Administration's 'War on Terrorism' completes its second, more militarised phase, the emerging US military strategy has begun to take shape. US-led forces last week moved from the initial phase of military build-up and economic, diplomatic and political measures to open hostilities with air strikes on both Al-Qaeda terrorist network and Taliban regime targets in Afghanistan.
The initial strikes hit air defence sites, munitions dumps and other military depots, artillery and armour, Al-Qaeda terrorist training camps, as well as command and control facilities. Platforms used were B-1B Lancer and B-52H strategic bombers, B-2A Spirit strategic stealth bombers, carrier-borne F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet strike aircraft and ship- and submarine-launched RGM/UGM-109 B/C Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.
The aircraft dropped 500lb (226kg) Mk 82 'dumb' bombs and 'smart' weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition, AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon, AGM-84H Standoff Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response and 1,000lb laser guided GBU-16 bombs. Some 4,700lb GBU-28 laser-guided penetration bombs were also dropped by B-2 or F-15 aircraft to strike buried targets such as command and control facilities.
The air attacks were supplemented by US Navy and UK Royal Navy ship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles that struck the Taliban's small number of fighter aircraft, helicopters, airfields, and air-defence systems to limit threats to US aircraft.
Prior to the attacks, the Taliban was believed to have some three S-125 Pechora (NATO reporting name: SA-3 'Goa') surface-to-air missile systems, a US defence official said.
Additionally, it had a fleet of more than two dozen MiG-21 ('Fishbed') interceptor/ground attack aircraft, although the official told Janes's Defence Weekly that only about six were operational.
Later strikes included B-1Bs and B-52Hs dropping cluster munitions on Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces around the cities of Kabul, Kandahar and Mazar-e Sharif. One objective of the attacks was to weaken the Taliban's overall grip on power, particularly near Mazar-e-Sharif and other key northern cities, US officials said. Prior to the attacks, the US Department of Defense estimated that there were about 20,000 Taliban troops stationed along the front lines fighting with the anti-Taliban United Front (UF).
There has been a shift in the initial strategy to weaken the Taliban sufficiently to allow other groups in Afghanistan - such as the UF and tribal leaders in the country's south - to gain control.
In early October, US officials privately began to say that they would curtail attacks on Taliban positions around Kabul until an interim government could be formed to take over once the Taliban was ousted from power. The UN could serve a role in forming such a government, US President George Bush said on 11 October, adding that the USA "should not simply leave after a military objective is achieved" in Afghanistan.
Coupled with diminishing bombing targets, as the few high-value military sites were destroyed, the evolving US strategy presaged an end to the bombing and a start of the next phase involving the insertion of special operations forces and helicopters. Once a core interim government is formed by the various anti-Taliban Afghan forces, US officials said, Washington will seek to strike remaining Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. Such attacks could include aerial bombing of Taliban troop concentrations, sending in small special forces units for strikes and intelligence gathering, or, as a last resort, using larger ground forces.
Other US officials added that they would not immediately make the pursuit of Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leadership a top priority until the larger issue of ending the support for terrorism inside Afghanistan had been resolved. Moreover, US officials said, they fear international support for the anti-terrorism campaign could unravel once Bin Laden and his top associates are dealt with.
If used, US special forces would include the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment operating off the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.
Although the regiment's helicopters would be more vulnerable to anti-aircraft defences than fixed-wing assets, a US defence official told JDW that at least one publicly cited Taliban threat, the FIM-92 Stinger man-portable low-altitude surface-to-air missile system, presents only a limited challenge. The Taliban possesses both Stingers and SS-1 'Scud' short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, but US military commanders believe that few, possibly none, are in operational condition, the official said.
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