[iwar] [fc:US.and.Britain.to.strike.terror.camps.within.days]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-01 06:27:02


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Subject: [iwar] [fc:US.and.Britain.to.strike.terror.camps.within.days]
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US and Britain to strike terror camps within days

Attacks limited to targets found by special forces

Ed Vulliamy, Washington, Jason Burke, Peshawar, Peter Beaumont and
Paul Beaver
Sunday September 30, 2001
The Observer

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 last 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.'

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 be 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.  All 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. 

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. 

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.  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. 


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