_ From: Stasi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Afghanistan: Allies Study Options For Full-Scale Invasion [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Allies study options for full-scale invasion Attack possible in spring if bombing and subversion fail Richard Norton-Taylor Thursday November 1, 2001 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,584559,00.html Britain and the US are discussing plans for a large-scale ground invasion of Afghanistan from the north, defence sources said yesterday. But they made it clear an invasion could not take place before the spring. The plans - already drawn up in the Pentagon - would be a last resort and only if the bombing campaign, future raids by special forces, and attempts to lure Pashtun leaders from the Taliban, failed to lead to a collapse of the regime, defence sources said. After 25 days of bombing, there is no indication so far that the Taliban are crumbling. "The situation may arise when we need to do that [launch a ground invasion] but we are not there yet," a defence official said last night. The prospect of a ground assault was raised at a joint press conference in Washington earlier this week by Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary, and his US counterpart, Donald Rumsfeld. "We do not have anything like the ground forces we had in world war two or in Korea or in the Gulf war, but we have not ruled that out," Mr Rumsfeld said. He later reiterated the point, emphasising: "The United States of America has certainly not ruled out the use of ground troops." Mr Hoon said: "Nor have we." Mr Hoon said such an invasion must wait until the spring. Admitting time was running out for a ground deployment this year, he told Sky News: "The weather is closing in. It does limit the opportunity of certain kinds of operations." The Democratic senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, also pointed yesterday to the prospect of deploying large numbers of ground troops. "There may be a need for additional efforts on the ground and if that's necessary I'm sure the president will brief Congress on the importance of doing it," he said. Officials familiar with the Rumsfeld-Hoon talks said last night that the talks concentrated on how to keep up the pressure on al-Qaida and Taliban forces. Mr Hoon and Mr Rumsfeld discussed the possibility of other raids into Afghanistan by US and British special forces through the winter. Their better equipment could place them at an advantage even against indigenous forces in cold weather, defence sources claimed. The sources admitted yesterday that both governments are concerned that strike aircraft are running out of targets. "We do not want to create anarchy in Afghanistan," as one defence official put it. British military officials in particular are concerned about the continuing failure to procure adequate intelligence. The night raids two weeks ago by US special forces are now admitted to have been a failure, with the troops forced to exit quickly when faced with Taliban troops. British commanders are more cautious than their US counterparts about ground operations, including quick raids without proper preparation and intelligence. One element is to encourage the Northern Alliance to increase their control in the north while raids and other covert operations - including those by CIA and Pakistani agents - in the south will weaken the Taliban. In London, the Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, warned there may need to be a "major effort" on the ground. "I think the alliance has accepted, and quite rightly so, that they must do whatever is necessary to bring this to a conclusion," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "That may be a very major effort on the ground." _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
