U.S. rules out pause during Ramadan

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, NOV. 2. American B-52s are continuing with the carpet bombing of the Taliban positions near Kabul and Kandahar as the Bush administration has made it known that the offensives will last through the month of Ramadan. ``This is an enemy that has to be taken on and taken on aggressively and pressed to the end. We cannot afford to have a pause,'' remarked the National Security Adviser, Dr. Condoleeza Rice. All senior Cabinet members in the national security team have expressed similar views.

From the frontlines of the battle, the Bush administration is being increasingly urged to put more heat on the Taliban and the carpet bombing the last three days is seen as a direct response to the request of the commanders of the Northern Alliance.

The Pentagon is also making it known that it is inducting more troops on the ground, but these are not conventional forces. Rather the units will be Special Forces and Elite Commandos trained for specific purposes. The Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, said that the increased number of troops was to facilitate bomb targeting.

All indications are that the American soldiers are alongside the Northern Alliance and are helping coordinate the rebel's offensives against the Taliban militia. The Northern Alliance is seen here as getting ready for its major ground offensive, which will most certainly be backed by air power from the American jets operating out of the Carrier groups and forward bases in the area.

There are continuing indications that the Bush administration is holding out on an all-out assistance to the Northern Alliance, because a proper political framework for Kabul in the post Taliban phase has not been worked out. The last thing Washington wants is the Northern Alliance marching into Kabul in the absence of a proper political environment and a bloodbath to ensue. While the Taliban is despised in many quarters here for its ruthlessness, very few see the Northern Alliance as being any different.

The U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, is expected to take his anti-terrorism campaign on a high profile in the next ten days. Aides maintain that the administration has to do a better job of putting forth to the American people and the world at large on what it is that the U.S. is doing on the anti-terror front.

Mr. Bush is expected to make a primetime speech next week to reach out to his domestic audience and bases of support. The President, it is argued, has to lay out the scene and the response against the backdrop of increasing insecurity in different parts of the country, including the Capital, chiefly related to bio-terrorism.

On the international front, Mr. Bush will be addressing by satellite the East European leaders gathering in Warsaw on Tuesday. ``He will define the nature of global response to terrorism and update the progress on the war on terrorism, talking about responsibilities of those who have joined the coalition,'' Dr. Rice said.

In the next ten days, Mr. Bush will be meeting several international leaders here and in New York, which he will be visiting on November 10 to address the United Nations General Assembly. In Washington, Mr. Bush will meet the leaders of Britain, France, India, Brazil and Algeria. In New York, he is expected to have private sessions with a handful of world leaders, including the President of Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in this ``coalition'' against terrorism.

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