U.S. special forces in northern Afghanistan are coordinating support, not directing rebel troops, Pentagon says

By MATT KELLEY
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – U.S. special operations soldiers working alongside anti-Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan are coordinating U.S. military support but not directing the land battle, a senior Pentagon official said Wednesday.

Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said small groups of U.S. special forces are mainly there to identify targets for U.S. airstrikes and to act as liaison with opposition forces.

"Their purpose in being there is to be able to coordinate U.S. support to the (opposition) units on the ground, not to be giving guidance or direction to their commanders on the ground," he told a Pentagon news conference.

"If the commander on the ground were to ask for their opinion, they would certainly give it to them," he added.

Pace said the northern alliance of opposition forces are making progress against Taliban forces in the vicinity of Mazar-e-Sharif, a key crossroads held by the Taliban, but he could not be more specific. Pace said the opposition forces are attacking – in some cases on horseback against Taliban tanks.

Victoria Clarke, chief spokeswoman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, told the news conference that it was too early to assess whether the opposition forces had gained any ground on the Taliban in that area.

Opposition officials in northern Afghanistan said Wednesday they had seized a district near Mazar-e-Sharif from Taliban forces and were closing in on the city.

American efforts to encourage an anti-Taliban revolt in southern Afghanistan have gotten off to a rough start, with one opposition figure captured and executed and another plucked from the area by U.S. forces.

The difficulties contrast with efforts in the north, where the opposition northern alliance said it seized a district from Taliban forces Wednesday and was closing in on the key northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. The northern alliance said it captured several areas south of the city on Tuesday.

But the Oct. 26 killing of Abdul Haq and last weekend's extraction of Hamid Karzai illustrate the difficulties of the American effort in the south, where most Afghans are of the Taliban's Pashtun ethnic group. Most of the U.S. special forces teams on the ground in Afghanistan are working with rebels in the north.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon attempted Wednesday to squelch speculation that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld might sideline the commander of the campaign, Gen. Tommy Franks.

"General Franks is not going anywhere," said Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke. "The secretary has the greatest confidence in General Franks and his leadership at Central Command."

She said Rumsfeld is extremely pleased with Franks' execution of the campaign in Afghanistan. Rumsfeld had addressed the ups and down of the war at a press conference Tuesday.

"It is not going to be a steady march forward across a front. It is going to be probes and pushes and successes and steps back. That is the nature of it, and I think we just have to face that fact," Rumsfeld said Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, Rumsfeld said Karzai, an exiled tribal chief who had been in Afghanistan to rally opposition to the Taliban, was flown to Pakistan, where he has been living in recent years. Rumsfeld said the trip was not a rescue mission, though Taliban officials claim Karzai was picked up by a U.S. helicopter during a gunbattle with Taliban forces.

Rumsfeld said Karzai undoubtedly will go back to southern Afghanistan to resume his efforts against the Taliban.

Karzai and his band of armed supporters battled Taliban forces last week in the southern province of Uruzgan. His brother, Ahmed, confirmed the gunbattle, but said Karzai and his men made it to safety.

Rumsfeld said Karzai was flown out of Afghanistan Sunday with a small number of senior supporters and fighters. He said U.S. forces had been supplying ammunition to Karzai's fighters before the extraction.

President Bush, meanwhile, said the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan has made good progress since it began Oct. 7, although he cautioned Americans not to expect it to end soon.

"We are at the beginning of our efforts in Afghanistan, and Afghanistan is the beginning of our efforts in the world," Bush said.

The Pentagon announced that the number of military reservists called to active duty since Bush authorized a partial mobilization Sept. 14 stands at 52,457 after the Air Force corrected the total it published just days ago. The Air Force said it reviewed its figures and found that the figure of 20,292 it released Friday was nearly 9,000 short of the actual number called to active duty.

At his news conference, Rumsfeld said there was no telling how long it would take for the alliance of anti-Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan to succeed. He declined to say whether he believes it will, but said American military assistance will continue.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was encouraged that U.S. bombing in recent days has focused on the Taliban's front-line troops.

"They've really been pounding very hard the Taliban lines. I think that's very good. I hope the northern alliance succeeds," he told reporters.

Rumsfeld planned to visit the Capitol Wednesday to brief members of Congress.

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