[Peace-discuss] more troops

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

U.S. Plans Africa Anti - Terror Force
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Filed at 2:30 a.m. ET


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon is setting up a special military command on 
the Horn of Africa to track down al-Qaida terrorists trying to slip into 
countries like Yemen and Somalia to plan more attacks on U.S. interests.

Yemen is of particular interest, although the U.S. counterterrorism strategy 
there goes beyond use of the U.S. military. Officials said a U.S. aircraft -- 
perhaps under control of the CIA -- fired a Hellfire missile at a car in 
northern Yemen on Sunday, killing at least six terrorists, including 
al-Qaida's top man in Yemen, Qaed Salim Sunian al-Harethi.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, while not saying who conducted the 
attack, said he understood al-Harethi was among those killed. He said 
al-Harethi was involved in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, the Navy 
warship bombed while in the port of Aden, killing 17 sailors.

``It would be a very good thing if he were out of business,'' Rumsfeld told 
reporters.

To coordinate U.S. military operations against terrorists in Yemen and 
elsewhere in the vicinity, the Pentagon is establishing a Joint Task Force 
Horn of Africa, to be based in the tiny country of Djibouti, between Somalia 
and Ethiopia.

A headquarters element of the 2nd Marine Division, numbering about 400 
troops, will head the command, officials said. It initially will operate from 
a Navy ship in the Red Sea, probably the command ship USS Mount Whitney, for 
the 60 to 90 days it likely will take to build a command post ashore.

There already are about 800 Army Special Forces soldiers in Djibouti. More 
Marines could be added later, officials said. They described the arrangement 
as a significant step forward in the global war on terrorism, likening the 
task force to a similar command running operations in Afghanistan.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed the plan 
at a Pentagon news conference.

``The Horn of Africa turns out to be a fairly busy place in terms of the flow 
of people and other instruments of war -- weapons, explosives, perhaps 
weapons of mass destruction,'' he said.

Myers described the Horn of Africa -- which includes Sudan, Ethiopia, 
Djibouti and Somalia, as well as Yemen across the Gulf of Aden -- as a region 
in which ``terrorists can gather and either do operational planning or 
training. ... We're very interested in the area for that reason and have 
positioned forces there to take appropriate action.''

The task force is nearly ready to begin operating, Myers said.

Djibouti, a sleepy Muslim nation that lives off port fees, base rentals and 
foreign aid, has worked closely with the United States since the Sept. 11, 
2001 terrorist attacks and has welcomed U.S. and other foreign troops that 
have trained in Djibouti. For a period during the Cold War, the U.S. Army 
used a Djibouti base as a listening post to collect intelligence.

U.S. Special Forces soldiers conducted counterterrorism training with Yemeni 
forces earlier this year, and Rumsfeld said in a joint appearance with Myers 
on Monday that a small number of U.S. military personnel are still there.

``We have some folks in that country that have been working with the 
government and helping them think through ways of doing things,'' Rumsfeld 
said. ``It's been a good cooperation, and we've shared some information and 
we think that over time it ought to be beneficial because there is no 
question but that there are al-Qaida in Yemen.''

Rumsfeld said terrorists have ``taken advantage'' of sea routes in and out of 
Yemen as well as its porous borders.

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