Toronto Star August 14, 2002
Experts split on U.S. use of 'hit teams'
By William Walker
Pentagon plans to send "hit teams" of U.S. special operations soldiers around the world to hunt down and kill suspected Al Qaeda terrorists may not only be illegal, but could prompt a huge international backlash, some experts say.
"This would amount to undercover operations without the consent of the countries concerned and I think, frankly, that it's just internationally unacceptable," said German diplomat Hans Von Sponeck, a former United Nations assistant secretary-general who headed the U.N.'s "oil for food" program.
"I think it would just ignite fear and anger and encourage extreme factions who are against America to strike back," he said in an interview. "It's just not something that reflects any consideration of reality." U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, angered that it has taken so long to capture or kill senior Al Qaeda operatives, is considering the "lightning strike" plan recommended two weeks ago by air force Gen. Charles Holland, head of U.S. Special Operations Command.
Last month, Rumsfeld asked Holland to devise a strategy to speed up the capture or killing of members of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. Holland recommended using army Delta Force and navy SEAL special forces soldiers to hunt down Al Qaeda internationally, as the Washington Times first reported. The plan, which experts say may conflict with a rule barring U.S. President George W. Bush from ordering assassinations, is being actively considered at the Pentagon. Countries would not necessarily be informed in advance.
It's believed military officials would justify the unprecedented use of military muscle by defining the missions as "preparation of the battlefield."
The Pentagon also argues the Sept. 11 attacks, killing about 3,000 people, put the United States "at war" with Al Qaeda globally.
However, some experts support the "lightning strike" plan as less contentious than conventional large-scale military action.
Scott Ritter, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq, told The Star yesterday that hunting down terrorists wherever they're hiding would be more effective in reducing worldwide terrorism than a full-scale invasion of Iraq, where it's believed the number of Al Qaeda hiding is small and its members ineffective.
The surviving Al Qaeda leadership isn't likely in Iraq, and should be hunted down wherever it is, Ritter said. "We have to look and make sure the things we do are legal ... But we need to focus on (the Rumsfeld plan) instead of Iraq, which seems to me to be a fabricated excuse for a war.
"I would be very concerned about going into Iraq just to divert attention from some of the failures of the over-all war on terrorism," Ritter added. "Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants were the perpetrators of these attacks and we need to bring them to justice wherever they are."
But Rahul Mahajan, an Austin, Texas, researcher and Iraq expert, who wrote the recent book The New Crusade: America's War on Terrorism, said: "There's no question that it's against international law. You don't have the right to intervene in other countries without their permission.
"I think the international reaction would be uniform outrage," Mahajan added in an interview. "This type of plan could take outrage against the United States to a new level, in terms of an American mandate to attack anywhere, any time, it wishes."
Implementing Rumsfeld's new plan would only make that worse, argues John Pike of the Virginia-based defence policy institute Globalsecurity.org. Pike said such steps haven't been taken since the 1970s, when the Israeli government hunted down and killed suspected Arab terrorists hiding in Europe. Even then, Israel had great difficulty identifying the terrorist suspects, he said. "The notion of American hit teams fanning out across the globe killing people, that's normally the sort of thing we accuse (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein of doing," Pike said. "There is obviously a range of scenarios here. It would be one thing to hunt down and kill someone in the wilds of Yemen. But it would be another thing again for it to be happening in suburban Toronto.
"But if you take at face value the claim that there are Al Qaeda in five dozen countries, that's a lot of countries to have American soldiers going around killing people in," he added.
Normally such covert operations are carried out by the CIA.
Copyright 2002 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.
