В очередной раз убили Бин Ладена - "по тиливизиру", с беспилотного аэроплана, потому такая подробность - "убили длинного", т.е. "длинного бойца АльКайды, а больше по тиливизиру не разглядеть."
U.S. planes bombed suspected Taliban and al Qaeda positions in eastern Afghanistan Thursday as a missile attack by a pilotless CIA drone triggered speculation that Osama bin Laden himself had been killed. U.S. officials in Washington said they believed a tall al Qaeda leader had been killed in the CIA missile strike in the east of the country but the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency said three Afghan civilians had been killed.
An Altus II unmanned robot plane flies in this undated photo. NASA scientists unveiled the Altus II September 4, 2001, calling the plane the next generation of fire fighting technology. The plane is able to circle for up to 24 hours over wildfires, beaming video images and information back to computers by satellite. The Altus II uses cutting-edge technology usually seen in military aircraft, giving fire crews a real-time view of fires that can burn over hundreds of thousands of acres. (Photo courtesy of General Atomic Aeronautical Systems)
Решено талибанцев рассматривать POW и обращаться по Женевской Конвенции - обьясняли, из-за опасений, что буде амеркианцы попадут в плен, с ними не будут церемониться, и крытьбудет нечем. Да, данное решение не относится к членам Аль-Кайды.
///////
American war on terror: Day 124
By Anwar Iqbal
UPI South Asian Affairs Analyst
Published 2/7/2002
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- On the 124th day of the war on terror, U.S. President George Bush said Thursday that Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war will apply to Taliban prisoners but not to those associated with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network.
Announcing the president's decision, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters in Washington that neither Taliban nor al Qaida fighters qualify for the prisoners-of-war status as they were never a recognizable military force.
The decision applies to all prisoners, either held in Afghanistan or the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
"Al Qaida is an international terrorist group and cannot be considered a state party to the Geneva Convention," said Fleischer.
The Taliban, however, will enjoy the facilities given under the Geneva Conventions "because Afghanistan is a signatory of the treaty," he said.
The refusal to grant them prisoner-of-war status will allow U.S. investigators to interrogate both Taliban and al Qaida prisoners.
The Geneva Conventions allows prisoners-of-war to remain silent under interrogation, giving only their names, ranks and serial numbers.
The media in Europe, and other regions, have criticized the United States' treatment of some 150 prisoners transferred to the U.S. base in Cuba last month.
Another batch of 28 prisoners arrived at Guantanamo Bay on Thursday.
///////
Ну и зарисовка из жизни спецназа в Кандагаре
/////////
Special Forces rock in Kandahar
By Richard Tomkins
Published 2/7/2002
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- With their unkempt appearance, odd mixture of clothing and low-slung pistol belts, the small bands of Americans roaming Kandahar in the back of battered pickups look like central casting candidates for a Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western. The only things missing are sombreros, serapes and a grizzled Eli Wallach lookalike.
But make no mistake: When push comes to shove, U.S. Special Forces rock in Kandahar, former stronghold of Afghanistan's Taliban extremist militia and its ally, the al Qaida terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, accused of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
"Special Forces' areas (on the base) are off-limits," said a public affairs officer with the 101st Airborne at Kandahar Airport, headquarters of U.S. military operations in southern Afghanistan. "They have a PAO, I think, but no one can find him. But it doesn't matter -- they just won't talk."
But actions speak louder than words.
When Anti-Taliban Forces stormed Mirwais Hospital last month, killing all six heavily armed al Qaida terrorists holed up there, it was Special Forces that trained them for that mission and advised them during it. What's more, it was Special Forces that blocked the streets around the hospital on Kandahar's outskirts, keeping at bay anyone who managed to slip by ATF guards to get a closer look at the explosions and gunfire that marked the end of the six-week standoff.
When Taliban or old Soviet arms caches -- not to mention suspected Taliban or al Qaida holdouts -- are found in and around villages in the province, or unexploded landmines are found and later disposed of, it's usually Special Forces soldiers who obtained the information while visiting and hobnobbing with the locals.
If there is new discipline among ATF personnel, Special Forces again take a bow.
And when people in dire need of food or medicine need someone to turn to, Special Forces again step to the plate.
And, of course, during the fight for Kandahar between ATF and Taliban forces, and in battles elsewhere around the country in October through December, it was this special motley crew, or their compatriots, who took the lead in infiltrating the country and directing bombers to targets and urging forward the battle on the ground.
Their acceptance by Afghans, who with the departure of the Taliban, can for the first time in years listen to music, sing, dance and fly kites, is obvious. As they dodge donkey carts, three-wheeled samalors, bicyclists and head-in-the-cloud, jaywalking pedestrians in Kandahar -- a Wild West-style city of adobe and concrete buildings in the high desert -- people throw casual, friendly waves or later stop by to shake hands as the soldiers sit down in local restaurants to eat traditional Afghan fare.
Their prominence in town is easily matched by their easy recognizability at Kandahar Airport, where FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency agents maintain their own special milieu amid soldiers of the 101st Airborne.
FBI and DEA agents are generally clean-shaven, or if bearded, their hair is closely and neatly trimmed. Jeans or fatigue trousers are relatively clean, and are complemented with a government-issued, black waist-length fleece jackets. And when FBI and DEA agents jog around the base's dusty environs, they do so in proper running attire, their un-holstered pistols in their hands.
Compare that to Special Forces. Trousers -- usually dust covered -- can be military, U.S. civilian or baggy Afghan; Fleece can be accompanied by a pato, a traditional shawl-like cloth worn by Afghan men, and headgear, if worn, can be either a knit stocking cap, baseball cap or Afghan pie hat.
Clean-shaven? Not likely. And pistols, slung low as if expecting a High Noon shootout at any time, are augmented with M-4 assault rifles.
Jogging? Sure, but more fun is roaring around on dune buggies and their derivatives.
But what really stands out is their build. Some, surely, fit the Rambo image of bulging muscles, but with many others, it is clear their strength is in their training, their skills and resolve as well as unseen muscle.
"Man, I can't believe it," a soldier named Adkins said to a Special Forces man attached to his Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit at Kandahar Airport. "We're going to have the finest ... (toilet) on base.
"Calm down. Have a Coke or something. I'm getting tired just watching you."
The Special Forces soldier, who looked like any middle-aged clerk you'd find at a home improvement or hardware store, had in off time not only built a floor for the barrel used as a toilet in the EOD compound, he had built walls for it, a roof -- complete with joists -- and a hinged door, which he hoped to paint.
Could plumbing be far off? There may be no running water on the base, but with Special Forces all things are possible.
