Word: hit-and-run
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...ability to withstand an aerial assault. Western and Pakistani military officials openly hint that an American ground force may be required to remove the Taliban and install a successor government. Military commanders are exploring the idea of grabbing territory inside Afghanistan to use as a staging area for hit-and-run attacks against al-Qaeda. Seizing and holding an airstrip would involve as many as 15,000 troops, and there's little chance of inserting them before spring. Waiting that long would provide a psychological and material boost for the Taliban, which will use the winter months to regroup...
...while the war seemed to be following a faster script--precision bombs clearing the way for a quick ground operation. After less than two weeks, the Pentagon was claiming that its bombs had "eviscerated" the Taliban's military capability. But last week that optimism faded. Dreams of a hit-and-run war gave way to the reality of a long twilight struggle that seems sure to drag into the Afghan winter. After more than 3,000 American bombs, the Taliban still has plenty of fight left in it; Taliban troops have thwarted a Northern Alliance offensive at Mazar-i-Sharif...
...That may be why Rear-Admiral John Stufflebeem told a midweek briefing, "I'm a bit surprised at how doggedly (the Taliban) are hanging on to power? They have proven to be tough warriors." At the same time, British chief of staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce warned that hit-and-run commando operations would not be enough to get bin Laden, suggesting that raids behind enemy lines would have to last days or even weeks. But when Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told USA Today that while the Taliban would surely fall, he could not be sure the effort...
Nonetheless, some hit-and-run operations are likely, to hold an airport, raid a terrorist camp, or snatch a top target. But military analysts are bluntly realistic about the challenges facing them. In a sense, the U.S. military is a victim of its own success. The Gulf War, says Charles Dunlap Jr., an Air Force colonel, "was an object lesson to military planners around the globe of the futility of attempting to confront the U.S. symmetrically, that is, with like forces and orthodox tactics." The attacks on the World Trade Center were classic examples of "asymmetric" warfare, using small fanatical...
Sharks come silently, without warning. There are three ways they strike: the hit-and-run, the bump-and-bite and the sneak attack. The hit-and-run is the most common. The shark may see the sole of a swimmer's foot, think it's a fish and take a bite before realizing this isn't its usual prey. It swims away, leaving the bleeding victim in need of stitches. The bump-and-bite is far more serious. Last year Chuck Anderson was training for a triathlon off Gulf Shores, Ala., when he was bumped by a bull shark, testing...