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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Operation Mountain Storm launched in Afghanistan |
| 2004-03-13 |
| The US military will launch a spring offensive against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces along the rugged Afghanistan-Pakistan border codenamed "Operation Mountain Storm", US defence officials said on Friday. "Preparations - both intelligence and operational preparations - have begun in earnest," a defence official said. US forces have intensified intelligence gathering in the border area using a variety of surveillance aircraft to prepare for the operation, one official said. US troops have not yet begun deploying into the region in large numbers, but they are expected to ramp up quickly over coming weeks. Military commanders have said they intend to create a "hammer-and-anvil" effect by coordinating with heightened Pakistani operations in tribal areas on the other side of the border. Pakistan has applied unusual pressure on tribal leaders to give up al-Qaeda operatives, raising US hopes for the capture of bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States. The officials would not comment on recent US reports that elite commandos who stalked Iraqi president Saddam Hussein have been shifted to Afghanistan to hunt down bin Laden. The defense officials said the spring offensive has been named "Operation Mountain Storm." "One could make the argument that once there is a name for an operation, it has started," a second defence official said. But he cautioned that the activity so far has been to plan and prepare for action. US military personnel are in the region to coordinate with Afghan forces and with the Pakistanis, the officials said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #11 Hi! NMM! You spell real good. How's the Tarheels doing? Looks like they lost last nite. NC State doing okay tho, but Wake slipped a tad. March Madness make me long for my bong. My freind mr. muck knows where chainney is hiding. |
| Posted by: HalfEmpty 2004-3-13 10:02:51 AM |
| #10 So NMM paid attention in Language Art classes, big deal. He obviously didn't pay attention to Kerry's voting record on National Defense. |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-3-13 9:16:03 AM |
| #9 Not Mike Moore: muck4doo with better spelling that's not a compliment |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-3-13 8:53:51 AM |
| #8 Welcome back, NotMike. Isn't Rantburg the best? |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-3-13 8:11:56 AM |
| #7 If this were France we would have thrown our arms up in surrender on 9/12. Which is what the donk's seem to want for some reason. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-3-13 7:33:08 AM |
| #6 (sigh) I sure miss Scoop Jackson. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-3-13 4:50:19 AM |
| #5 The French aren't that energetic these days, NMM, they're all in the South on vacation :-) Wonder if Jesse Jackson talks about our "illegitimate" government these days? Hey NMM, perhaps your namesake will be Kerry's VP choice -- wouldn't that be fun! |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-3-13 1:46:33 AM |
| #4 And maybe they're waiting for Cheney to surface out of his "undisclosed location" after tampering with the Supreme Court to put this administration of liars/cheats on the run--if this were France they'd be manning the barricades to get rid of this illegitimate government |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-3-13 1:43:17 AM |
| #3 Thanks for pointing that out. Maybe they're waiting for the three day deadline to expire |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-3-13 12:30:00 AM |
| #2 Yeah, but there's a little bit of new info in this one as to what the second defense official said about the starting of the operation. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-3-13 12:22:08 AM |
| #1 Posted yesterday also with some additional links in the comments that may be of interest. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-3-13 12:16:27 AM |