U.S. keen to wipe out foreign terrorists in Afghanistan

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 14.Senior Bush administration Cabinet members took to the airwaves in Sunday talk shows trying to allay the fears of the general public about bio-terrorism, even while discussing whether sending anthrax by mail would amount to an act of terrorism under the new scheme of things. ``It is certainly an act of terrorism to send anthrax through the mail'', said the Secretary for Health and Human Services, Mr. Tommy Thompson.

The Attorney General, Mr. John Ashcroft, did not conclusively link the source of the anthrax to terrorism even as he has left that possibility wide open. For now Mr. Ashcroft would go no further than saying, ``It is premature at this time to decide whether there is a direct link''.

In Camp David, the President, Mr. George W. Bush is closeted with key aides such as his National Security Adviser, Dr. Condoleeza Rice plotting the second and perhaps the third phases of the American operation. His Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell leaves for an important trip to Pakistan and India. One of the critical things he will be discussing in Islamabad is the political scenario for Kabul in the post-Taliban militia era. The President will be returning to the White House later in the day.

A new opinion poll shows that nearly two thirds of the Americans see the capture or death of Osama bin Laden as necessary before the Administration can consider the military action in Afghanistan a victory. According to a Time-CNN poll, 61 per cent see it in this fashion, even as more than 80 per cent say that capturing or killing of Osama bin Laden is a `necessary' goal.

The Administration's focus right now is not on the opinion polls but in how to get into the second phase of the military strikes which will then be followed by the third and political phase of the operations. The military focus will soon be moving away from the routine pounding of fixed targets in and around Kabul and Kandahar or positions in the North East.

The United States is getting ready to focus on the elite Taliban forces. According to various reports the elite commandos of the United States and Britain which are already inside Afghanistan and in a number of neighbouring States will be carrying out intensive covert activities. They will be assisted by other commandos who will be paradropped by attack helicopters from ships. Navy jets and long range bombers like the B-1, the B-2 and the B-52 will be called in if necessary for support action.

As it is the Pentagon is having some difficulty in explaining the rationale for daily bombing runs in the wake of dwindling targets. Politically the Bush Administration, at the start of the crisis, had tried to make the point that it made no sense to go after $10 tents with $million Cruise missiles. The Defence Department, in refusing to get into operational details, is merely saying that some of the targets are being revisited.

In going after the hardened Taliban forces, the United States is actually looking for those thousands of `foreigners' in that hapless country who are a part of the Al Qaeda network. These were terrorists who had come for training and under the aegis of the Taliban. The Bush administration is intent on wiping out this huge crowd of foreign terrorists and weaken the Taliban in the process.

The next element of the second phase, according to military planners and experts, would be for the United States and Britain to carry out punishing attacks on the underground and hidden `assets' of the Al Qaeda. The definite thinking here is that the Al Qaeda has at its disposal chemical and biological weapons - even nuclear materials.

Mr. Bush, according to one report, is keen on getting on with the political alternative to the Taliban and is said to be focussing on this aspect in his meeting with advisers. Apparently the President does not wish the civilised world to be in a situation of having to deal with the same problem of terrorists and terrorism in Afghanistan in a few years.

The Bush administration has moved away from an earlier policy of not wanting to play a role in `nation-building'. In the context of Afghanistan the President has made it clear that the United States will be there in the post-conflict situation although the impression is that the United Nations will be playing the lead role in the economic rebuilding of that country.

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Section  : International
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