Bush: American lives will be lost in war against terrorism

By PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The risk of U.S. troop casualties in the war on terrorism rises with the landing of Marines in Afghanistan to help in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

"This is a dangerous period of time," President Bush said Monday. "America must be prepared for loss of life."

He commented on a day when a CIA operative remained unaccounted for in Afghanistan and the Pentagon announced five service members had been hurt by a U.S. bomb.

Though there have been injuries and accidental deaths, no American military commandos have died while fighting alongside anti-Taliban forces – sometimes under heavy fire – in the seven-week-old war.

The 1,000 Marines being deployed this week are more than double the American troops who were already on the ground in Afghanistan, an increase that will raise the possibility of casualties. So will the work they will be doing after weeks dominated by airstrikes.

"This is a period of time in which we're now hunting down the people who are responsible for bombing America," Bush said at the White House.

Bush was asked if Americans will accept casualties. "Obviously, no president or commander in chief hopes anybody loses life in the theater, but it's going to happen," he said, adding that he believes people understand "that there will be a sacrifice."

"I think the American people understand we're in for a long, long struggle in order to rid the world of terrorism and that there might be loss of life," he said. "I pray that not be the case. But our brave men and women who signed up for the military understand the risk inherent with being in the military."

There have been four accidental deaths, all outside Afghanistan, since the U.S. campaign began Oct. 7. It was unclear whether the CIA operative was captured, killed, missing or injured over the weekend when Taliban prisoners began an uprising against rebel forces that had jailed them in a compound near the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

"Until the compound is secured ... we will not know the answers to those questions," Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon.

The Marine Amphibious Units that seized an airstrip near the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar over the weekend are trained for conventional ground combat as well as commando-style missions.

Before their arrival, several hundred special forces troops were sent inside Afghanistan to try to hunt down bin Laden and other leaders of his al-Qaida network and to help opposition forces oust the Taliban. Some forces have moved in and out of the country, sometimes in for only a few days at a time, defense officials have said.

The Pentagon announced Monday that five service members were seriously injured near Mazar-e-Sharif when a U.S. bomb missed its target. No other details were available.

Previous casualties reported by the Pentagon:

– Two Army Rangers died Oct. 19 in the crash of their Black Hawk helicopter in Pakistan, and three other crewmen were injured.

– An Air Force master sergeant died and an Army soldier was severely injured in separate incidents involving vehicles early in October. Both were in locations outside Afghanistan, Pentagon officials have said.

– A sailor fell overboard from an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea Nov. 7. The fireman apprentice has not been found and has been declared dead.

– Two soldiers suffered broken bones and 23 others suffered "very minor jump injuries" during Oct. 19 commando raids on sites near Kandahar.

– Four crewmen were injured Nov. 2 when their helicopter crash-landed inside Afghanistan as they were attempting to rescue a sick U.S. soldier. The wounded crewmen, whose injuries were described by the Pentagon as non-life-threatening, were rescued by an accompanying helicopter.

APNP-11-26-01 1353CST