Fwd: Phony War (against Taliban)-Real Bombing (of neighborhoods)

Shane Mage shmage at pipeline.com
Thu Oct 18 09:12:46 PDT 2001


NYT, October 18, 2001

THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE

U.S. Tactics

Thwart Afghan

Rebels

By DAVID ROHDE

OPDARA, Afghanistan, Oct. 17 -

The night, like the 10 before it,

began with the same sense of

expectation and ended with the

same sense of disappointment.

Soldiers in this rebel-held

mountainside village watched

American warplanes bomb the

Afghan capital, Kabul, in the distance and ignore front-line Taliban

positions in the valley below.

An American plane raised hopes here Tuesday night by bombing the

Barikab munitions dump on the Taliban side of the valley. But tonight the

estimated 7,000 Taliban soldiers across the no man's land sat as they have

since the bombing began - unchallenged.

It appeared once again today that American military planners were

worried that bombing the Taliban front-line positions here, just 35 miles

north of Kabul, would open the door for Northern Alliance forces to take

the Afghan capital. Pakistan, a vital American ally in the campaign against

Osama bin Laden's network in Afghanistan, is strongly opposed to any

move on Kabul by the alliance.

The Northern Alliance is dominated by ethnic Tajiks from northern

Afghanistan. The Taliban are dominated by ethnic Pashtuns from southern

Afghanistan. Many Pashtuns also live in Pakistan.

But President Bush said today that intensive bombing attacks in

Afghanistan were intended to pave the way for anti-Taliban ground forces

- as opposed to American or British troops - to overthrow the Taliban

leadership. But neither he nor military spokesmen reconciled the apparent

contradiction.

The sense of marginalization and frustration with

American policy and tactics is growing here among

Northern Alliance officials and soldiers.

They argue that the United States is being drawn

into a lengthy, largely ineffective, bombing

campaign that will fail to dislodge the Taliban. They

say that the Taliban cannot be quickly dislodged

without an immediate ground offensive.

The mood, sights and sounds here have changed

radically since the first night of bombing. Then,

several dozen soldiers gathered here on the top of

mud brick homes and gleefully watched bombs fall

on Kabul. Tonight, on a black, moonless and mostly

silent night, a lone sentry sat catnapping while

other soldiers slept at home with their families. At 3

a.m., he shook his head in exasperation. The

American planes had not come again.

The American campaign to oust the Taliban has settled into a routine

pattern here. At dusk, the village and valley below, known as the Shamali

Plain, are oddly serene. At 5 p.m. sporadic gunfire can be heard on the

mountaintop ridge behind this village. Two Taliban soldiers could be seen

through field glasses standing on the ridge and peering down at the

village below. The gunfire continued. But the front line did not change.

As the sun set at 6:30, the first of what would be dozens of sets of

headlights appeared from the Taliban- held southern end of the valley.

The headlights are from dozens of Taliban vehicles that stream out of

Kabul every night, full of soldiers and possibly civilians who come here to

avoid the danger of American bombing in Kabul.

Soldiers here say that on some nights they have seen more than 100 cars

come out of the city. Tonight, at least 50 were seen at different times.

Muhammad Assif, a 30-year-old local commander, stared at the Taliban

convoys tonight with a look of dismay on his face. Asked if he would like

to see the Taliban vehicles in positions below bombed, he said: "Of course

we would. They are our enemy."

Northern Alliance officials offer a view of the Taliban's military strength

that differs from that of officials in Washington. A day after Lt. Gen.

Gregory S. Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

said that the "combat power of the Taliban had been eviscerated," an

alliance general whose forces have moved into the outskirts of the

strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, contradicted him.

The rebel general said in a telephone interview that Taliban forces had

mounted a half dozen counterattacks on his forces throughout the day.

There was a Taliban attack on the trenches he captured, he said. But the

attacks did not succeed.

Taliban forces here, just north of Kabul, also appeared to be fighting on.

In the late afternoon, light artillery and small arms fire could be heard

echoing throughout the valley.

A small number of shells and tracer bullets fired from Taliban positions

arced high over the valley before hitting alliance-held positions below.

The alliance forces returned fire, sending small puffs of smoke into the

sky.

But after years of fighting here, life all around the valley continued as if

nothing were happening. The village mullah's peaceful call to prayer at

dusk was occasionally interrupted by gunfire, but no one seemed to

notice.

A flock of birds sang from one of the few trees in this arid village, which is

surrounded by a small maze of stone walls and grape vineyards. The

occasional explosion did not interrupt their song.

At midnight tonight, the most powerful force in the sky seemed to be the

Milky Way, whose bright bands of stars illuminated the moonless sky.

Earlier in the day, what appeared to be an American B-52 bomber was

seen flying overhead. But the only evidence of American planes tonight

were occasional flashes from Kabul to the south.

In this village, disappointment about the American campaign was palpable.

Earlier in the evening Kazem, a 25-year-old commander here, happily

described how an American plane had attacked a Taliban base on the

other side of the valley for the first time on Tuesday night. He said there

was a strategic ridge and a base there, and he clearly hoped American

forces would begin bombing the Taliban's front-line position here.

"There are munitions there and heavy weapons," he said. "There was a

fire."

But tonight that base and scores of other Taliban positions sat as they

have since the bombing began - untouched. The Northern Alliance did not

attack them and neither did the Americans.

Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company

October 18, 2001

THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE

U.S. Tactics

Thwart Afghan

Rebels

By DAVID ROHDE

OPDARA, Afghanistan, Oct. 17 -

The night, like the 10 before it,

began with the same sense of

expectation and ended with the

same sense of disappointment.

Soldiers in this rebel-held

mountainside village watched

American warplanes bomb the

Afghan capital, Kabul, in the distance and ignore front-line Taliban

positions in the valley below.

An American plane raised hopes here Tuesday night by bombing the

Barikab munitions dump on the Taliban side of the valley. But tonight the

estimated 7,000 Taliban soldiers across the no man's land sat as they have

since the bombing began - unchallenged.

It appeared once again today that American military planners were

worried that bombing the Taliban front-line positions here, just 35 miles

north of Kabul, would open the door for Northern Alliance forces to take

the Afghan capital. Pakistan, a vital American ally in the campaign against

Osama bin Laden's network in Afghanistan, is strongly opposed to any

move on Kabul by the alliance.

The Northern Alliance is dominated by ethnic Tajiks from northern

Afghanistan. The Taliban are dominated by ethnic Pashtuns from southern

Afghanistan. Many Pashtuns also live in Pakistan.

But President Bush said today that intensive bombing attacks in

Afghanistan were intended to pave the way for anti-Taliban ground forces

- as opposed to American or British troops - to overthrow the Taliban

leadership. But neither he nor military spokesmen reconciled the apparent

contradiction.

The sense of marginalization and frustration with

American policy and tactics is growing here among

Northern Alliance officials and soldiers.

They argue that the United States is being drawn

into a lengthy, largely ineffective, bombing

campaign that will fail to dislodge the Taliban. They

say that the Taliban cannot be quickly dislodged

without an immediate ground offensive.

The mood, sights and sounds here have changed

radically since the first night of bombing. Then,

several dozen soldiers gathered here on the top of

mud brick homes and gleefully watched bombs fall

on Kabul. Tonight, on a black, moonless and mostly

silent night, a lone sentry sat catnapping while

other soldiers slept at home with their families. At 3

a.m., he shook his head in exasperation. The

American planes had not come again.

The American campaign to oust the Taliban has settled into a routine

pattern here. At dusk, the village and valley below, known as the Shamali

Plain, are oddly serene. At 5 p.m. sporadic gunfire can be heard on the

mountaintop ridge behind this village. Two Taliban soldiers could be seen

through field glasses standing on the ridge and peering down at the

village below. The gunfire continued. But the front line did not change.

As the sun set at 6:30, the first of what would be dozens of sets of

headlights appeared from the Taliban- held southern end of the valley.

The headlights are from dozens of Taliban vehicles that stream out of

Kabul every night, full of soldiers and possibly civilians who come here to

avoid the danger of American bombing in Kabul.

Soldiers here say that on some nights they have seen more than 100 cars

come out of the city. Tonight, at least 50 were seen at different times.

Muhammad Assif, a 30-year-old local commander, stared at the Taliban

convoys tonight with a look of dismay on his face. Asked if he would like

to see the Taliban vehicles in positions below bombed, he said: "Of course

we would. They are our enemy."

Northern Alliance officials offer a view of the Taliban's military strength

that differs from that of officials in Washington. A day after Lt. Gen.

Gregory S. Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

said that the "combat power of the Taliban had been eviscerated," an

alliance general whose forces have moved into the outskirts of the

strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, contradicted him.

The rebel general said in a telephone interview that Taliban forces had

mounted a half dozen counterattacks on his forces throughout the day.

There was a Taliban attack on the trenches he captured, he said. But the

attacks did not succeed.

Taliban forces here, just north of Kabul, also appeared to be fighting on.

In the late afternoon, light artillery and small arms fire could be heard

echoing throughout the valley.

A small number of shells and tracer bullets fired from Taliban positions

arced high over the valley before hitting alliance-held positions below.

The alliance forces returned fire, sending small puffs of smoke into the

sky.

But after years of fighting here, life all around the valley continued as if

nothing were happening. The village mullah's peaceful call to prayer at

dusk was occasionally interrupted by gunfire, but no one seemed to

notice.

A flock of birds sang from one of the few trees in this arid village, which is

surrounded by a small maze of stone walls and grape vineyards. The

occasional explosion did not interrupt their song.

At midnight tonight, the most powerful force in the sky seemed to be the

Milky Way, whose bright bands of stars illuminated the moonless sky.

Earlier in the day, what appeared to be an American B-52 bomber was

seen flying overhead. But the only evidence of American planes tonight

were occasional flashes from Kabul to the south.

In this village, disappointment about the American campaign was palpable.

Earlier in the evening Kazem, a 25-year-old commander here, happily

described how an American plane had attacked a Taliban base on the

other side of the valley for the first time on Tuesday night. He said there

was a strategic ridge and a base there, and he clearly hoped American

forces would begin bombing the Taliban's front-line position here.

"There are munitions there and heavy weapons," he said. "There was a

fire."

But tonight that base and scores of other Taliban positions sat as they

have since the bombing began - untouched. The Northern Alliance did not

attack them and neither did the Americans.

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Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company



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