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U.S. Military Moving Quickly to Oust Taliban: Defense Chief
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday that the U.S. forces are moving as quickly as possible to help the opposition to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan regardless of the political process designed to seek an alternate to the regime in case of its collapse.
"We can't know how long that will take or how it will shake out," Rumsfeld said in an airborne news conference on his way to Russia.
The secretary denied that the U.S. forces had slowed down the pace of military actions in Afghanistan to match any political timetable. Waiting for an unpredictable process to be completed "would be mindless," he said.
Rumsfeld also rejected perceptions that the U.S. is dictating Northern Alliance's pace to capture Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, saying that "the implication that we have held them (the Northern Alliance) back is not accurate."
Addressing a briefing on Friday, John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Pentagon would send two new spy planes to Afghanistan to help the opposition forces in fighting the Taliban.
The two Global Hawks, with a wingspan of 35 meters, can work in all weather conditions for 24 hours at an altitude of over 18,000 meters.
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