Skip to main content /US
CNN.com /US
SERVICES
CNN TV
EDITIONS


COMPLETE COVERAGE | FRONT LINES | AMERICA AT HOME | INTERACTIVES »

military.desk.graphic.gif

Gen. Wesley Clark: Attacks deliberate and patient
image
Retired Army General Wesley Clark is a former NATO supreme commander and a military analyst for CNN  


Update: U.S. aircraft continue the intense bombing of targets in Afghanistan.

Impact: We're into a process that can last days, weeks or months. There's nothing to stop it. Osama bin Laden has apparently bought the Taliban or paid a great deal of money to influence them. He's inside Afghanistan. As long as there's no significant military assistance being received by the Taliban from Pakistan, China, Iran or any other country, then we just need to work very deliberately and patiently and it may take a few days or a few months to have the impact of destroying the Taliban's control, flushing out Osama bin Laden and ultimately detaining Osama bin Laden. But I think it can be done.

Strategy: We need to use air power to deliver the firepower. We need to augment or assist the air power by using unmanned aerial vehicles and special operating forces on the ground in target identification and detection. I think we're going to continue to bomb. I think there's still troop movement going on and we're probably making preparations to put special operations forces in, in somewhat larger numbers. They probably haven't already gone in yet.

What we have to do is we have to be very, very aware of the land mine issue because it is a potential problem. If we don't have information on where the land mines are, we've got to assume that they are in places that might impede our movement. The best way (to find them) is local knowledge. Afghans probably know where they are.

Tactics: Our troops know how to fight and if given the right orders and the right resources they'll do a fine job.


horizontal.rule.gif

U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark (ret.), a former NATO supreme commander, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. David Grange (ret.) and Air Force Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd (ret.) are serving as CNN military analysts during the war against terror. Their briefings will appear daily on CNN.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: CNN is sensitive to reporting any information that could endanger lives or operations.



 
 
 
 



RELATED SITES:
See related sites about US
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

U.S. TOP STORIES:

 Search   

Back to the top