In special forces' fight, even who's in it is a secret

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Special forces from a range of nations fill the air at the U.S.-led coalition's largest base in Afghanistan with Cockney pub songs, flags of every hue, accents from broad to nasal. They fight al-Qaida and Taliban, sometimes hand-to-hand. Sometimes, they fill coffins for a long, sad flight home.

In an anti-terror war being fought largely by stealth, the United States is withholding the identities of nations providing special operations forces.

On the ground, however, it's an open secret. Canadian troops roam Afghanistan in distinctive green fatigues. The Germans wear desert camouflage with flag patches.

In uniforms without name tags, or in traditional Afghan clothing, commandos from at least five nations hopscotch desert steppes and mountaintops in military aircraft, touching down at suspected al-Qaida or Taliban sites, leaping from hatches at dead runs with guns ready.

"They're not doing hearts-and-mind stuff here," a U.S. special forces spokesman, who declined to allow his name to be used, said last week at an unprecedented news conference about American special operations troops. "Everyone here is hunting for Taliban and al-Qaida."

Troops from Germany

At the news conference, Navy SEALs showed off their desert patrol vehicles -- part dune buggy, part race car -- and brought out a scampering puppy rescued from a U.S. bomb target.

On Sunday, German Defense Minister Rudolph Scharping broke ranks among some of the allies by confirming a report in a German newspaper that German commandos are at work here.

In fact, German troops have been in Afghanistan for weeks. One sure sign of their presence was a note in English that appeared last month on the door of their headquarters in Kandahar. It said, "If you don't speak German, don't come in."

Like Germany, Canada also has tried to keep its role in the covert operations quiet. But Defense Minister Art Eggleton broke the strict secrecy policy when he announced last month that special forces had been in on the capture of suspects in Afghanistan.

Eggleton's remarks brought a parliamentary inquiry upon himself. Lawmakers are investigating whether he misled them about the circumstances of a raid.

The United States has said 25 nations are represented in the Afghan campaign's Central Command in Florida. But U.S. officials guard the identities and roles of those on the ground -- even when special forces are exposed through success, accident or death.

U.S. officials say it's up to individual nations to choose whether to disclose their roles.