Pentagon considers setting up a base in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- The United States is considering setting up a base inside Afghanistan from which commandos, and possibly conventional ground troops, would launch missions against Taliban and terrorist targets, defense officials said Monday.

This option, which Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld hinted at in a Pentagon news conference, could indicate the U.S. military is planning more aggressive moves against the Taliban, the Islamic militia that rules most of Afghanistan and harbors Osama bin Laden.

More than three weeks of aerial bombardment by Navy fighter-bombers flying from aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea and by Air Force bombers and fighters based hundreds of miles from Afghanistan have neutralized the Taliban's air defenses but have not yet rooted out the terrorists.

Rumsfeld said when the bombing began Oct. 7 that air power alone would not be enough to win the battle in Afghanistan and that special operations forces would play a key role. In the only acknowledged mission by special operations forces so far, more than 100 Army Rangers parachuted onto an airfield in southern Afghan-istan Oct. 20 and left after several hours.

Troops on the ground will likely be needed to capture or kill bin Laden and other leaders of his al-Qaida network, but past wars in Afghanistan have shown the high cost of a conventional large-scale ground invasion.

Many possibilities

Rumsfeld was asked about a USA Today report that said U.S. forces may soon establish a forward base in Afghan-istan that would support 200 to 300 commandos. The newspaper, quoting an unidentified defense official, said the base might be in northern Afghanistan.

"You're asking if we're considering doing something additional in various ways," Rumsfeld said. "Needless to say, that's our job -- to consider much different things, and we do." He said he had nothing to announce.

A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. planners were considering many possibilities, including the idea of a forward operating base in Afghanistan and other ways of using ground forces.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Sunday the administration should be thinking about deploying a large-scale ground force in Afghanistan.