The US bombing its allies

The anti-terrorist operations which was declared to be finished turned out not to be finished at all. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders are free and they seem not to have intention to lay down arms. And while they are free, it is too early to speak about their organizations’ annihilation. In the Western press, some observers suppose the US has failed the operation in Afghanistan. Though Washington states the leaders’ arrest is a matter of time. One thing is clear: Washington has no idea about where now bin Laden and mullah Omar could be. US intelligence is completely disoriented because of reports about bin Laden’s location, arriving from different regions of Afghanistan. More than 85 people died, while dozens were injured as a result of air strikes delivered by the US on Afghan territory on Friday, Afghan Agency of Islamic Press reports. According to the agency, at night on Thursday to Friday, fire supporting aircraft AC 130 and fighters of US Air Forces delivered strikes on the column of 14 busses and lorries, where there were elders of local tribes and ex-Mojahed commanders. They were driving to Kabul to attend at ceremony of Afghan provisional government’s inauguration. US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld hastened to refute this report. According to him, US aircraft successfully struck a column of Al-Qaeda militants not far from the city of Host. A spokesman for Pentagon said there had been extremists’ leadership in the column, though he did not specified what he meant the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. One of Pentagon’s officials, general Peter Pace reported 10 or 12 transport means had been annihilated. This is already not the first case that the US mistakes in targets. This October, US aircraft attacked the Northern Alliance’s positions by mistake, therefore several soldiers were killed. And how many civilians were killed during the whole operation! Washington intends to withdraw from START which in particular includes prohibition of nuclear weapon production. Scientists managed to assure the White House the terrorists could be lured from their caves with mini-atom bombs. Though these bombs could strike a false target.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2001/12/22/35062.html