Agence France Presse October 10, 2001
Intelligence assets come into play as US forces search for targets
By Jim Mannion
With control of the skies, US commanders can be expected to unleash their intelligence assets in an intensive search for moving targets inside Afghanistan, ranging from tanks to terrorist leaders and their Taliban supporters, Pentagon officials and analysts say. Satellites, spy planes and special forces have been deployed in the region to watch for telltale changes on the ground as US aircraft and cruise missiles hammer known facilities of the ruling Taliban militia and al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization blamed for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
"We're in the smoking them out part, finding targets of opportunity," said a Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The first step was to shatter Taliban's air defenses, which were neutralized in two nights of cruise missile and air strikes, prompting Air Force General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to declare that air supremacy had been established. That allows US air forces to stay aloft over the country longer, waiting to pounce on fleeting targets which have been identified by intelligence sources on the ground or in the air.
"I think we feel we're comfortable that if we knock down the air defenses it gives you a little more freedom to knock down more pop up targets, or targets of opportunity," said a second Pentagon official. That could include Osama bin Laden, as al-Qaeda's leader, and the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, bin Laden's chief protecter in Afghanistan. A residential compound belonging to Omar was hit in a raid Monday night in Kandahar, a Pentagon official said.
The official said the compound, which had tunnels and interconnected buildings, was targeted because it housed a command and control center. But that attack and others like it were clearly intended to keep the Taliban leadership off balance and on the run.
"One of objective is to disrupt and get everybody relocated so we can get better visuals on them," said the official. "It's having some effect, but this is long-term, not short term." With Taliban's air defenses crippled, US special forces should have greater freedom to move about the country with helicopters and gunships to gather intelligence or conduct assaults, analysts said. Special forces teams are trained to hide for days while spying on potential targets.
Others like the super secret Delta Force are experts at surprise attacks and could be used to capture prisoners for interrogation. Much of the intelligence work will be done from on high by satellites, U-2 spy planes, and unmanned Predator drones.
Analysts will pore over imagery from satellites and U-2 spy planes to see what has changed on the ground since the strikes began, said John Pike, a military and intelligence expert . "Do they see convoys on roads? Do they see camps that were empty a month ago that suddenly have a lot of activity? You might send in a Predator to figure out whether I'm looking at commandos or refugees," he said.
Radio and cell phone communications can be intercepted by satellites, U-2 spy planes, or Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft which can pinpoint the source of a radio signal and quickly call in an air strike.
"Basically the strategy is to create dilemmas for the adversary," said Pike. "The dilemma is if they do talk on the radio they die, if they don't talk on the radio they are uncoordinated and disorganized."
Copyright 2001 Agence France Presse
