The Associated Press President Bush
poses for a photo in the Treaty Room of the White House in
Washington Sunday, Oct. 7, after announcing air strikes on
Afghanistan.
By Robert Burns
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON “”mdash; U.S. and British warplanes and sea-launched
missiles struck at air defenses, air bases, communications and
training camps of the al-Qaida network in Afghanistan on Sunday to
begin what U.S. military leaders called a sustained anti-terror
campaign.
“Our objective is to defeat those who use terrorism and
those who house or support them,” Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference about two hours after the
attacks began.
Along with the strikes against air defenses of
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and their small fleet of
warplanes, U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes began dropping food and
medical supplies inside Afghanistan as part of President
Bush’s promised effort to aid displaced Afghan civilians.
Rumsfeld said 37,500 sets of rations were to be dropped in an
initial wave Sunday in the beginning stage of a humanitarian
operation that might eventually include moving relief supplies by
ground.
The defense secretary said less visible operations also were
part of the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan ““ an apparent
reference to efforts by U.S. special operations forces to track
down al-Qaida and Taliban leaders and to collect new information on
targets that could be struck in coming days.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
at the news conference with Rumsfeld that 15 land-based bombers
““ including B-2 Stealth bombers flying from Whiteman Air
Force Base, Mo. ““ and 25 other strike aircraft flying from
both aircraft carriers and land bases began the attack at 12:30
p.m. EDT ““ darkness in Afghanistan. He termed the strike
“the early stages of ongoing combat operations” against
the Taliban and the al-Qaida network.
Also participating in the initial wave of attacks were American
and British ships and submarines that launched a total of 50
Tomahawk cruise missiles from positions in the Arabian Sea,
officials said.
Rumsfeld said it was too early to judge the success of the
mission. He said there was no indication that any American plane
had been damaged.
The defense secretary said the military campaign “is
continuous” but he declined to say how long it would
last.
Myers, sworn into office less than a week ago, said the U.S.
aircraft used in the initial wave of attacks included Air Force B-1
Lancers, B-2s and B-52 long-range bombers as well as unspecified
carrier-based strike aircraft. The B-2s flew from Whiteman, but
they will remain in the Southwest Asia region, another official
said, suggesting they might operate from Diego Garcia in the Indian
Ocean.
Rumsfeld said an initial goal of the strikes was to render air
defenses ineffective and to wipe out the military aircraft of the
Taliban, who rule most of Afghanistan. The Taliban are known to
have a small inventory of surface-to-air missiles as well as
shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft artillery
guns.
“We also seek to raise the cost of doing business for
foreign terrorists who have chosen Afghanistan from which to
organize their activities, and for the oppressive Taliban regime
that continues to tolerate terrorist presence in those portions of
Afghanistan which they control,” Rumsfeld said.
He said the U.S.-led military effort was focused on achieving
several goals:
“¢bull; “To make clear to the Taliban leaders and their
supporters that harboring terrorists is unacceptable and carries a
price.”
“¢bull; To acquire intelligence that will assist planning for
future attacks against al-Qaida and the Taliban.
“¢bull; To develop relationships with groups in Afghanistan that
oppose the Taliban and al-Qaida.
“¢bull; To make it increasingly difficult for al-Qaida to use
Afghanistan freely as a base of operation.
“¢bull; To “alter the military balance over time” by
denying to the Taliban the weapons they now use in fighting various
opposition forces, including the northern alliance and tribes in
the south of Afghanistan.
“¢bull; To provide humanitarian relief to Afghans suffering
under the Taliban.