Military

While fighting hostile forces remains a top priority, the U.S. military now has entered
a "sustainment phase," where it will help support the interim government.

"There are a few pockets of resistance remaining, and we're going after
them," said Army Maj. Gen. Henry "Hank" Stratman, deputy commander of
support for the Coalition Forces Land Component Command. "It's difficult sorting
them out. . there's still a lot of unrest."

Meanwhile, U.S. Army spokesman Maj. AC Roper on Wednesday said the coalition released
27 detainees who had been apprehended two weeks ago by U.S. special operations forces.

Afghan officials say that mission was an intelligence blunder. But U.S. military
officials maintain that their intelligence is good and that the Jan. 23 mission, in which
more than a dozen people were killed in a village between Kabul and Kandahar, has not
hampered the enthusiasm of future and current operations.

Stratman, who over the past several days has visited military compounds at Kandahar and
Bagram, Afghanistan, as well as in Uzbekistan, said coalition forces are ready to help
stabilize Afghanistan.

"We are here for the duration of the mission to bring peace and stability to this
failed nation-state [so it can be] an acceptable member of the region," he said.

Stratman said he doesn't believe his views differ much from those of other leaders
over how military operations in Afghanistan fit into the larger war on terrorism.

He said he arrived at Kandahar airfield Wednesday to assess military operations and to
ensure that U.S. troops are ready for the long haul.

Afghanistan's interim prime minister, Hamid Karzai, has asked the U.S. and other
nations to help set-up a peacekeeping force that would operate throughout the entire
country. So far, the only peacekeeping force is in Kabul, and the United States is not a
participant.

President Bush has said the United States would not be part of any peacekeeping force
and would be out of Afghanistan in a few months. But military leaders on the ground
repeatedly have said that U.S. troops are prepared to stay for a long time.

Roper and Stratman reiterated that the Jan. 23 operation has not hampered the zest of
missions or intelligence gathering. And, Roper added, there has been no official report
that last month's mission was a failure.

The coalition has good intelligence operations, Stratman said.

"It is not a perfect science," he said. "This is a war environment.
There are no changes in our operation as a result of that [raid.]"