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Rumsfeld: Taliban Not Yet Crippled
Tuesday, October 16, 2001
By Drew Brown / Knight Ridder News Service
The Philadelphia Inquirer wire services contributed to this report.

"There is no question that we have a job to do as a country to make sure that the entire world understands that this is not against any religion, it is not against any country, it's not against any people, it's against terrorists," Rumsfeld said.

WASHINGTON
U.S. warplanes pounded Afghanistan yesterday with the heaviest bombing raids since the war began, and defense officials said more air strikes were needed to eliminate remaining Taliban aircraft and air-defense missile batteries.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the United States and its allies needed to improve communication with anti-Taliban groups, including the United Front, also called the Northern Alliance, because these groups could "provide more precise information as to potential targets, so that these can be dealt with aggressively from the air."

Rumsfeld's comments indicated the United States was not ready to launch the next phase of the war, which he called "sustained antiterrorist operations inside Afghanistan." Although he declined to be specific, the next phase is expected to involve commando raids.

When the air strikes have hit enough targets and communication with anti-Taliban fighters is better, Rumsfeld said, "then one would think that the people on the ground would be more successful against the Taliban and the al-Qaeda forces, ... that the environment for the terrorists would be less hospitable, that people would be less inclined to support them."
(More: The Philadelphia Inquirer News Source)
2001 © Knight Ridder News Service

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