Elite U.S. Troops Ready as Bombs Wear Down Taliban

By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Elite U.S. troops are now poised on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean for possible thrusts into Afghanistan (news - web sites) against a weakened Taliban military and radical al Qaeda guerrillas, defense officials said on Wednesday.

The officials spoke after a senior Pentagon (news - web sites) military officer told reporters an 11-day U.S. bombing campaign had battered the ruling Taliban\'s military so badly that it was no longer firing missiles at warplanes attacking at will over the country.

One of the officials, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that Special Operations troops trained to fight in harsh conditions had been moved with helicopters onto the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk south of Afghanistan.

The official cautioned that the presence of the troops on the carrier, which left Tokyo earlier this month without most of its usual cargo of up to 70 warplanes, did not necessarily signal any quick attacks.

``We have repeatedly said that nothing is ruled out\'\' in America\'s new war on terrorism, said another official.

Earlier, a senior Pentagon officer said that the Taliban had been badly battered by air strikes.

``Their ability to respond is falling away,\'\' Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said as up to 95 fighters, bombers and Special Forces AC-130 gunships blasted targets around Kabul, Kandahar and other areas in an eleventh day of raids.

PULLING OUT THE LEGS

``We are systematically pulling away at those legs underneath the stool that the Taliban leadership counts on to be able to exert their influence and power,\'\' he told a news briefing.

Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Staff, said he had no evidence that the Taliban were now firing fixed-site or mobile anti-aircraft missiles as warplanes struck targets from barracks to airfields, tanks and artillery overnight on Tuesday.

``We are now forcing the targets out to be able to attack what we might not have had as much access to before,\'\' he told reporters as strike pilots included moving troops in their new targets.

But the admiral also stressed that the strikes so far were not specifically aimed at supporting anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military forces, but at weakening the Taliban\'s ability to protect the al Qaeda guerrilla network of Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).

Bin Laden is accused by the United States of masterminding Sept. 11 attacks using hijacked airliners on the Pentagon and New York\'s World Trade Center that left more than 5,000 people dead.

``Our strategy is to go after those elements of military power,\'\' Stufflebeem said. ``The Taliban military is supporting their leadership, and their leadership is supporting al Qaeda.\'\'

The Taliban have accused the United States of bombing and killing civilians. But Stufflebeem repeated that planners were using care to avoid civilians despite adopting a new tactic of \'\'engagement zones\'\' in which pilots could go after emerging \'\'targets of opportunity\'\' with case-by-case approval from aerial spotters.

NO \'FREE TARGET ENVIRONMENT\'

``So there is not a free fire, free target environment,\'\' he said.

``Yesterday was the first time that we formally used the engagement zones as I\'ve defined it,\'\' the admiral added, refusing to say how many zones had been set up.

The Defense Department said on Tuesday that Northern Alliance forces had moved near the airport close to the key northern crossroads city of Mazar-i-Sharif and could be close to taking the city.

The Taliban have denied that, and Stufflebeem said on Wednesday that, while the opposition forces appeared to be near the airport, the civil war was ``ebbing and flowing\'\' in the area.

``We have not seen reports that the Northern Alliance have taken Mazar-i-Sharif. I would characterize this battle as going back and forth or ebbing and flowing between the Taliban and Northern Alliance,\'\' he said.

``We are continuing to support our campaign objectives and where those cross with that of the Northern Alliance, then we obviously have a mutual benefit.\'\'

Stufflebeem said the military was now using as many as four of the four-engine, turboprop AC-130 gunships that circle slowly in the night and concentrate devastating fire from 105mm cannon and rapid-fire machine guns on troops and other targets