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General Says Afghan Mission May Last Four Years
Wednesday, June 19, 2002
By Henry Cuningham
Military editor

Bases have been difficult to establish in nearby countries, and Russia is not happy about U.S. activity in nations around its southern border, Marine Lt. Gen. Michael P. DeLong said.

The United States will be in Afghanistan for 18 months to four years longer, the second-highest U.S. general for the Middle East said Tuesday.

“We are not done in Afghanistan,” Marine Lt. Gen. Michael P. DeLong said.

DeLong is deputy commander in chief of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. He spoke to the Special Forces Conference at the Cumberland County Coliseum Complex in Fayetteville.

The challenges include establishing a secure environment in the Central Asian country that harbored terrorists associated with the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Special Forces soldiers are helping train Afghan battalions.

Special Forces are making unique contributions with their ability to call in precision air strikes from the ground.

Central Command is responsible for Afghanistan and 24 other countries around the Persian Gulf region. The area has about 522 million people, seven major languages and 18 ethnic groups.
(More: Fayetteville Online News Source)
2002 © The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer.

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