Quagmire?

NY Times, October 30, 2001

THE MILITARY
Material Seized in U.S. Ground Raid Yields Few Gains
By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ERIC SCHMITT
 
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 — The collection of documents, computer disks and other
material seized during a nighttime raid by special operations forces in
southern Afghanistan 10 days ago failed to produce the intelligence bonanza
that the Pentagon had sought, military and government officials said today.

Analysts in the region continue to review the material taken from a
compound on the outskirts of Kandahar and belonging to the Taliban leader,
Mullah Muhammad Omar. But an early assessment has disappointed senior
military commanders who believed that the cache might have clues to the
whereabouts and operations of senior Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders,
including Osama bin Laden.

A top aide to a senior Pentagon officer who was briefed on the raid, the
only known American ground combat operation in the military campaign in
Afghanistan, said the officer "wasn't all that impressed" with what had
been learned so far from the documents and disks.

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/30/international/asia/30MILI.html

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NY Times, October 30, 2001

THE POLL 

Survey Shows Doubts Stirring on Terror War

By RICHARD L. BERKE and JANET ELDER

Beyond the efforts at home, Americans are not entirely satisfied with the
military action in Afghanistan and seem less hopeful than they were before
the bombing began. Although most respondents said the war was going well
for the United States, the largest proportion — 58 percent — said it was
going only somewhat well. Twenty-five percent said it was going very well,
and 13 percent said the war was going badly.

Only 28 percent are very confident that the United States will capture or
kill Mr. bin Laden, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the Sept.
11 attacks. In a CBS News poll two weeks earlier, 38 percent said they were
very confident.

"Osama bin Laden is like a ghost," said Eleanor Roth, 67, a retired
receptionist from Dayton, Ohio. "I would rather him be captured than killed
to avoid him being labeled a martyr. Maybe they will find him, but then
again, many of these terrorists have been on the loose for years. And with
all of our technology, it doesn't seem to make a difference."

James Oleszcsuk, 57, a longshoreman from Baltimore, was even less optimistic. 

"It won't be easy getting bin Laden," Mr. Oleszcsuk said. "First it was
weeks, then months, now years to get this guy. It makes me wonder what kind
of intelligence reports the government is getting. You hear so many things,
you don't know what to believe. The political implications of capturing him
would be problematic with many of the Middle Eastern countries. I don't
think it's going to happen."

In another sign of mounting uneasiness about the war, only 29 percent said
they were very confident in the ability of the United States government to
maintain the international alliance of countries that support the military
campaign; two weeks ago, 46 percent were very confident.

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/30/national/30POLL.html

====

Rebels Say Taliban Strengthening in West 
  
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, October 30, 2001; Page A13 

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, Oct. 29 -- Opposition fighters trying to take the
western Afghan city of Herat said the Taliban forces there have gotten
stronger and cannot be defeated before winter without a major U.S. bombing
campaign.

"The number of Talibans has actually increased since the American bombings.
They have become more powerful," Sayed Nasir Ahmed, an officer with the
rebel Northern Alliance forces in northwestern Afghanistan, said by
telephone. "If we do not have more assistance, we will not win."

The message from the little-noticed western front echoes statements by
Northern Alliance officers seeking to capture Kabul, in eastern
Afghanistan, and Mazar-e Sharif, in the north.

Full article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8586-2001Oct29.html




Louis Proyect
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