Word: centcom
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...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...
threats in order to push a pro-Yemen policy agenda. If CENTCOM had visions of using Aden to support American troops in regional missions it shows a shortsightedness with respect to vulnerability, as well as a lack of understanding that such actions would...
...both irresponsible and arrogant. If such incidents are to be avoided in the future, there must be greater attention to the link between U.S. policy towards Israel and U.S. vulnerabilities in the region. There must also be a thorough review of the decision-making process--the rationale of CENTCOM and the embassy, the interface between intelligence and policy-makers and the needs of ship refueling and force protection measures. While a perfect policy of combating terrorism is impossible, unsubstantiated judgements and statements that it was bound to happen or a determined terrorist will succeed regardless are unacceptable excuses. Leaders learn...