Captain of USS Roosevelt says war is on target, carrier can apply more pressure

By HRVOJE HRANJSKI
Associated Press Writer

ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT – The captain of this giant aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea said Wednesday that his ship has the ability to apply more pressure on Taliban and al-Qaida targets, but the struggle won't "be won overnight."

Richard O'Hanlon dismissed criticism that the airstrikes the Roosevelt has been launching every night had achieved little, saying "anything we can find to break the backbone of the Taliban army" had been hit in Afghanistan.

"I know maybe some people at home are frustrated by perceived lack of progress, but from my point of view the progress has been substantial," O'Hanlon, a New York native, told reporters early Wednesday.

"It will take time to finally break down the fighting spirit of the Taliban to the point where we will be victorious. But leave no doubt, we will be victorious," he said.

So far the strikes had targeted terrorist training camps, military positions and cave network where Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and Osama bin Laden are believed hiding, he said. Bin Laden is the No. 1 suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

"We've gone after tanks, artillery pieces, armored personnel carriers, supply networks, anything we can find to break the backbone of the Taliban army," he said. "We've been pounding them day and night for weeks and weeks, affecting their morale, affecting their will to fight. But this is not going to be something that is going to be won overnight."

He said as of a few weeks ago, the U.S. fighter jets concentrated on Taliban ground forces along the front lines with the opposition northern alliance.

"There is an offensive that northern alliance has started in their push toward Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul. The next few weeks will be very telling in how this plays out," he said. Kabul is Afghanistan's capital, and Mazar-e-Sharif a key city in the north.

Early Wednesday, the Roosevelt launched another 12-hour bombing run in Afghanistan with U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcats and Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornet attack jets. They were preceded by EA-6B Prowler surveillance planes catapulted off the flight deck.

On Tuesday, the giant carrier was resupplied with fuel and ammunition for its 76 aircraft by USNS Niagara Falls and USS Detroit.

The carrier is leading one of three U.S. battle groups in the Arabian Sea. The other two are the carriers USS Carl Vinson and the USS Kitty Hawk, which Pentagon officials have said is being used as a base for special operations troops.

O'Hanlon said the Roosevelt could still apply more pressure on the targets in Afghanistan.

"We're probably not operating at a tempo we could be operating," he said. "If we're asked to apply more pressure, we can do that. Especially with the battle force we've assembled here, there is a tremendous amount of military might yet to be untapped."

Despite the exhaustive work, the Roosevelt crew of 5,500, O'Hanlon said he expects the carrier to be back on schedule in its home port in Norfolk, Va., in March 2002.

"If we keep people and the ship on station for a very long time, we'll wear out the ship and people," he said.

AP-WS-11-06-01 1839EST