Word: centcom
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...boost the number of U.S. forces inside Afghanistan to hunt down their two biggest prey and prevent Taliban fighters from going underground. Last week some 1,500 Marines at Forward Operating Base Rhino fanned out across swaths of southern Afghanistan, blocking the escape routes of stray Taliban forces, and Centcom said U.S. ground forces exchanged gunfire with Taliban forces around Kandahar. Deploying a bigger U.S. combat force now would pose political risks, not least the possible opposition of members of the newly picked interim government who don't like the idea of foreign troops staying on Afghan soil. They...
...Last week U.S. warplanes strafed lines of fleeing Taliban soldiers, but even those ripe targets soon withered. That gave U.S. pilots, in the words of Centcom chief Tommy Franks, more room to "focus on the alligators"?the high command of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Last Tuesday, armed with fresh intelligence reports on the whereabouts of key Taliban and al-Qaeda figures, the Pentagon began attacking buildings in Kabul and Kandahar in which they were believed to be hiding. At least one strike nailed its target: on Friday, Rumsfeld said he had seen "authoritative reports" that the U.S. had killed...
...Last Thursday, in his first pentagon briefing since the war began, Centcom chief General Tommy Franks came as close as the Pentagon gets to revealing specifics about its strategy: he acknowledged that the Pentagon was "interested" in Mazar-i-Sharif. Two out of every three bombs dropped by U.S. warplanes last week fell on Taliban lines guarding Mazar. The critical prize was the airport, three miles east of the city; Atta told TIME that "taking the airfield is the same as taking Mazar." The runway may serve as a base from which U.S. jets will be able to strike targets...
...Last week U.S. warplanes strafed lines of fleeing Taliban soldiers, but even those ripe targets soon withered. That gave U.S. pilots, in the words of Centcom chief Tommy Franks, more room to "focus on the alligators"--the high command of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Last Tuesday, armed with fresh intelligence reports on the whereabouts of key Taliban and al-Qaeda figures, the Pentagon began attacking buildings in Kabul and Kandahar in which they were believed to be hiding. At least one strike nailed its target: on Friday, Rumsfeld said he had seen "authoritative reports" that the U.S. had killed...
...Last thursday, in his first pentagon briefing since the war began, Centcom chief General Tommy Franks came as close as the Pentagon gets to revealing specifics about its strategy: he acknowledged that the Pentagon was "interested" in Mazar-i-Sharif. Two out of every three bombs dropped by U.S. warplanes last week fell on Taliban lines guarding Mazar. The critical prize was the airport, three miles east of the city; Atta told Time that "taking the airfield is the same as taking Mazar." The runway may serve as a base from which U.S. jets will be able to strike targets...