U.S. may use high-tech in hunting low-tech foe

NEW YORK -- The military's campaign against terrorism could include such high-tech tools as spy satellites, drones, motion sensors, and smart bombs.

The shadowy National Security Agency is already believed to be directing spy satellites to monitor camps, while the agency's supercomputers search for clues to militants' identities and whereabouts.

The Air Force may send unmanned "drone" aircraft to record images and sounds using sophisticated radar and imaging tools.

U.S. ground troops could scout for hostile forces using hidden sensors buried in the ground or dropped from the air -- and airborne reconnaissance vehicles the size of birds.

But even with these high-tech devices, experts say, it will be difficult to root out warrior clans that may not wear uniforms and whose beliefs and actions may be all that distinguish them from civilians.

"We're like the best hardware store in town," said John Hillen, a former defense analyst and Bush campaign adviser. "We have all the latest power tools. They were useful when the problems in the neighborhood required that stuff. Now the neighborhood has an infestation of fruit flies. And all we've got is a store full of power tools."

In recent conflicts, U.S. military technology sometimes fell short. In 1999, U.S. aircraft destroyed just two dozen Serbian tanks in a 78-day air campaign. In 1993, U.S. special forces failed to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid. And, during the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein survived several bombings.

The capture of Osama bin Laden, whom U.S. officials have called the main suspect in the terrorist attacks, is also expected to be difficult. Bin Laden survived a fusillade of U.S. cruise missiles in 1998.

"It's the hardest problem you can imagine," said Glenn Buchan, a Rand Corp. military surveillance expert. "The places he hides -- like caves -- are hard to attack."