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Fighting could last into next summer
©New York Times
© St. Petersburg Times, WASHINGTON -- The United States and Britain made clear Thursday that they are marshaling for a long engagement in Afghanistan, stretching into next summer and including the possible use of ground forces. Adm. Michael Boyce, the chief of the British defense staff, said the allies "must expect to go through the winter and into next summer at the very least." President Bush said Thursday night that the military operation would continue "as long as it takes" to defeat the al-Qaida network and its supporters in the Taliban. "It may happen tomorrow; it may happen next month, it may take a year or two," Bush said. Boyce, Britain's top commander, added that if ground forces are called for, a commando brigade of the Royal Marines now taking part in exercises in Oman would most likely be used. "They are our expert mountain and winter warfare troops," he said. "If we were to be thinking about doing any operations in Afghanistan on the ground, then clearly they would be one of the units we would give very close consideration to." At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was circumspect Thursday when asked if the United States might use a significant number of ground troops inside Afghanistan. But he made clear that preparations were in progress for using just such troops. "You have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best," he said. "But we expect it to be a long effort. And we're getting arranged so that we can sustain ourselves over a period of time." The United States already has sent troops from the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y., to Uzbekistan, and other forces have begun to arrive in Pakistan. Military officials said that the Pentagon has recently issued new deployment orders to unspecified units. Heavy bombing of Taliban military forces and installations continued around the clock, using cluster bombs to attack troop concentrations and other, huge bombs to destroy underground fortifications. Many of the targets were near Kabul and Kandahar, a stronghold of the al-Qaida network. Underground command posts used by the Taliban government's forces and those used by Osama bin Laden's terrorist network were being hit by enormous, 5,000-pound bombs known as "bunker busters," as well as by special bombs designed to penetrate deep into the earth before exploding in deep hideouts excavated in the rugged mountainsides. One of the underground bunkers was south of Jalalabad, officials said. "I have seen several examples where there were enormous secondary explosions, in some cases that went on for several hours after targeting underground facilities," Rumsfeld said. That could be an indication that ammunition or fuel was stored there. Britain, the United States' closest ally and the nation most actively participating in the U.S. military operation against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban government that supports him, has often spoken more pointedly than the United States about their joint effort. The British high command has helped draft the campaign plan, according to British officials. The British, who will be carrying out special operations along with the Americans, believe that the attacks will take time. The New York Times reported that a senior British official, who spoke in return for anonymity, said one option was to establish an allied bridgehead inside Afghanistan as a base from which to pursue commando and special forces forays to seek bin Laden. But, the official said, both Britain and the U.S. wanted that base to be independent of Northern Alliance forces. The Northern Alliance is regarded with suspicion by Pakistan. A prolonged operation would have far-reaching political implications abroad as well as in the United States. Pakistan, for example, wants a quick war and the speedy exit of U.S. troops from the region. That would help Pakistan cope with the problem of instability. But the signs Thursday indicated a long campaign, not a short one. Almost all of the Air Force's fleet of more than 100 heavy transport aircraft were being used to rush equipment and supplies to the region, the military said. The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk has arrived in the Arabian Sea, where it is to serve as a platform for troops and helicopters. A large force of Marines is at sea there, too. At a memorial service Thursday at the Pentagon for those killed when a hijacked plane hit the building Sept. 11, President Bush said the United States would "never relent" in the campaign against terrorism. "In the missions ahead for the military, you will have everything you need every resource, every weapon, every means to assure full victory for the United States and the cause of freedom," he said. On Thursday, Rumsfeld said for the first time that the United States was communicating with factions opposed to the Taliban government and using the information to develop targets, though he and other officials said that the exchange stopped short of telling resistance fighters what Taliban forces would be struck. Northern Alliance officials have said that U.S. and British special forces are working in territory controlled by the resistance, and that the resistance forces are gathering intelligence for them. Without acknowledging that, Rumsfeld said that "the United States is in communication with people on the ground in terms of gathering information as to military targets." He said the information comes from "a variety of places." Maj. Gen. Henry Osman, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon briefing that targets hit Thursday included "troop training facilities, military forces, motor pools, and missile and radar sites." Bombers flying from Diego Garcia, jets from two aircraft carriers, and three Tomahawk missiles from a U.S. submarine were used, he said. Officials said similar targets were being hit on Thursday night. The Bush administration has not spoken of a specific timetable. Bush has suggested that the United States would be involved in a long struggle, but never suggested that the operation could take so long. British officials have been telling reporters for days that the military operation may be drawn out for a variety of military and political reasons. One reason is the sense that the airstrikes may not be decisive. But there are other factors. Weather is a major consideration. The British are concerned that bad weather will interfere with ground operations, forcing U.S. and British forces to slow the pace of the fighting until the spring. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins Nov. 15. The Northern Alliance says it will suspend fighting then and the Taliban has done the same in the past. "I certainly see the tempo fluctuating," Boyce said in London. "I think it is certainly possible there will be a slowdown in the near future while we take stock." British officials also say that arranging for a new coalition government to replace the Taliban may take time. The new regime could not only include the Northern Alliance, which is dominated by ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks, but Pashtuns as well. The Pentagon said Thursday that there had now been two American casualties in the military campaign, though neither were due to combat. An Air Force master sergeant, Evander E. Andrews of the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho was killed Wednesday in an accident involving a fork lift at an air field in Qatar. Separately, an Army soldier was seriously injured when he was crushed between two trucks at an airfield in Uzbekistan. The soldier, a member of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum in New York, was airlifted to Turkey and then Germany, where he remained in critical condition Thursday. For the first day this week, the Air Force did not fly C-17 aircraft to drop food packets to Afghan refugees, officials said. The plans were canceled at the last minute. The officials did not say why.
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