GlobalSecurity.org In the News

Special military-CIA teams already in Afghanistan

American reconnaissance and intelligence gathering teams have been on the ground in Afghanistan for at least 10 days as a prelude to any effort to go after Saudi exile Osama bin Laden and members of his terrorist network, an intelligence source said Friday.

The teams are a combined operation by the military's Joint Special Operations Command and the Central Intelligence Agency, the source said. He discounted reports that American and British commandos already are attempting to capture bin Laden. The teams now in Afghanistan, he said, are on an intelligence collection mission and "are not searching through caves and shooting at people."

The special operations forces that probably would go after bin Laden in substantial numbers remain outside of Afghanistan in staging areas such as Uzbekistan, according to the source.

Analysts said it makes sense that small U.S. and British teams, with perhaps a dozen or fewer members, already are doing scouting missions in Afghanistan. The Joint Special Operations Command can use troops such as the Army Delta force commandos and Navy SEALs, according to John Pike, director of the nonprofit GlobalSecurity.org. He said the CIA has operatives skilled in deploying eavesdropping bugs, motion sensors and other equipment useful in tracking the movement of equipment or personnel through an area.

Intelligence operatives in Afghanistan also are likely to be reaching out to people who might know where bin Laden is, Pike said, whether they be dissidents among the Taliban regime, drug traders who flourish in that region or others.

President George W. Bush, in comments to reporters at the start of a White House meeting Friday with Jordan's King Abdullah, declined to discuss military operations, saying he did not want to "jeopardize any mission we may be thinking about." But Bush said, "Make no mistake about it, we're in hot pursuit" of those responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks that left more than 6,600 dead or missing.

Abdullah, with whom Bush signed a free-trade agreement, assured Bush that he had Jordan's "full, unequivocal support" and said "the majority of Arabs and Muslims will band together with our colleagues all over the world to be able to put an end to this horrible scourge of international terrorism."

Also on Friday, Saudi Arabia said it will allow the United States to use a state-of-the-art command center for possible air strikes in Afghanistan.

Gaafar Allagany, a spokesman at the Saudi embassy in Washington, said the Bush administration has yet to ask the Saudi government for the use of the center at Prince Sultan Air Base. But when the United States makes the request, Saudi officials will say yes, Allagany said.

Allagany said his nation would prefer the United States do what it can do against Osama bin Laden without launching air strikes against Afghanistan. But, he added, that if air strikes are necessary, all the Saudi government will ask is that the United States ensure that civilian casualties are kept to a minimum. "Make sure you have the target," he said. "We don't want innocent civilians killed."

While Bush has declared war on terrorism, he reiterated Friday that the prosecution of that war may be unconventional. "It is very hard to fight ... a guerrilla war with conventional forces," Bush said. Bombers, tanks and large-scale deployment of ground forces may be of little use against an elusive foe in mountain hideouts, military analysts have said.

"There may or may not be a conventional component to it," Bush said. "I said loud and clear, sometimes people will be able to see what we do on television screens; other times the American people won't be able to see what we're doing."

While it is generally agreed that bin Laden remains in Afghanistan, locating him in the mountainous terrain remains a challenge, experts said. An intelligence source said the United States will be seeking information on his whereabouts from the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, which has been mounting patrols into central Afghanistan, and from Pakistani intelligence sources. He said bin Laden may be in a rugged region southwest of the Afghan town of Bamian.

The use of intelligence forces on the ground is taking on added importance in this conflict, as the United States tries to flush out an unseen enemy. In fact, some defense sources say one factor that appears to be delaying the United States from striking militarily has been the lack of reliable intelligence information about bin Laden's whereabouts.

Some consideration was given to an early strike in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, but the idea wasn't pursued because of the feeling that it would be "more symbolic than effective," one defense official said.

Added one retired senior military official: "They could just bomb. They could do that tomorrow, or today for that matter, but bomb what? . . .What they're finding is collecting intelligence that gives them a strong focus of where to go, I think they're having a hard time getting that stuff."

Defense officials this week have indicated that a military strike is not imminent. Some believe that could change quickly if any forces on the ground are able to pinpoint bin Laden and his network, simply because the information is "perishable" and would become useless when bin Laden moves again.

"The real driver in this case is going to be the intelligence, and intelligence is fleeting, so if they've got a good batch of intelligence, then they'll probably launch," the retired senior military official said.

Another retired military official, Navy Rear Adm. Stephen Baker said that any U.S. special operations forces in the region would want near-certain information about bin Laden's whereabouts before trying to move against him.

For special forces, "It's a cardinal rule, and it's their religion. They cannot execute a capture squad, or just grabbing bin Laden for example, until they have very close to extremely accurate information. Otherwise. . .the risk is just too high."

Earlier media reports had said that Saudi officials, weighing conservative religious leanings of its people, had denied the administration use of the U.S.-built center at Prince Sultan Air Base, located about 70 miles southeast of the capital of Riyadh. But Secretary of State Colin Powell called such reports "incorrect."

Copyright © 2001, Newsday, Inc.