U.S. strikes pound Taliban

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- Stepped up U.S. bombing has crippled Taliban fighting power, and the Pentagon has positioned special operations forces for yet another kind of assault in the war on terrorism.

On the third day of intense air strikes over Afghanistan by dozens of warplanes, a defense official said helicopter-borne special forces were deployed to the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean.

The forces, which specialize in lightning raids and other secret missions, were put in place over the weekend and are ready to join the campaign, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The Kitty Hawk left its home base in Japan early this month without its usual number of airplanes aboard, allowing it to be used as a floating base for special operations.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told an Arabic television station Wednesday that the United States does not want to hurt ordinary Afghans and is not seeking to occupy any country.

It was the second Bush administration interview in as many days with Al-Jazeera following Tuesday's appearance by White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Asked about the military actions, Rumsfeld said: "We feel that they're progressing in an orderly way, in a measured way ... we've taken our time, and we have been very careful in selecting targets."

The Pentagon acknowledged Tuesday that a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet dropped 1,000-pound bombs on Red Cross warehouses in Kabul.

Also Tuesday, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold said the Taliban's ability to put up a fight has been crippled by several days of intense strikes, including the first use of AC-130 gunships Monday.

He said Monday's targets included armored vehicles at a training facility near Kandahar, surface-to-air missiles near that city's airport and a tank at an airport near Mazar-e-Sharif.

That key northern city has been in Taliban hands since 1998, but forces from the opposition northern alliance recently started a push to retake it.

Newbold said the nine days of U.S. and British bombing, including attacks that have aided alliance forces, have put the Taliban in jeopardy of losing Mazar-e-Sharif.

Losing the city would hurt the Taliban in two ways, said Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"One is that it's a crossroads mostly for resupply of their forces," he said. "The other one is a psychologic one: As most of you know, Mazar-e-Sharif has been fought over for three years now, and it's changed hands. Its loss to the Taliban would be a significant setback."

Newbold said that while U.S. forces are not working directly with northern alliance troops on the ground, the airstrikes are dramatically reducing the Taliban's ability to wage war.

"The combat power of the Taliban has been eviscerated," Newbold said.

Two AC-130 gunships, propeller-driven planes that fly low and slowly over a target, had successful missions Monday over Afghanistan, Newbold said, but he refused to give details. The planes are the first special forces aircraft that the Pentagon has acknowledged flew combat missions over Afghanistan.

Another defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were used against a Taliban military barracks and headquarters building in Kandahar, the Taliban's seat of power in southern Afghanistan.

Monday's attacks were against 12 target areas, Newbold said, using about 100 strike aircraft. About 90 of the warplanes flew from U.S. Navy carriers in the Arabian Sea, and up to eight of the 100 were land-based Air Force bombers, he said. U.S. warships fired five Tomahawk cruise missiles.

On many previous days of the air campaign, only 10 to 15 carrier-based aircraft were used, along with five to 10 bombers.

Meanwhile, international aid organizations urged a pause in bombing so they could deliver food to the Afghan population.

The Red Cross bombing was the second in four days in which the Defense Department admitted mistakenly hitting civilian areas. On Saturday, a guided bomb went off target, hitting a residential area in Kabul and killing up to four civilians.

Since the charity had pulled international observers out of Afghanistan, it had no information to confirm or challenge the Pentagon's belief that the building was being used by the Taliban, Bernadine Healy, American Red Cross president, said Wednesday on NBC's "Today."

U.S. forces did not know the warehouses were being used by the Red Cross, the statement said. The warehouses were among several targeted because officials believed they contained Taliban military equipment, and military vehicles had been seen nearby.

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Pentagon statement: http://www.defenselink.