Retreat prompts change in U.S. plans

WASHINGTON -- The commander of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, seeking to capitalize on sudden success, is preparing a new military plan for tracking down the leaders of the al-Qaida terrorist network and their Taliban supporters.

American ground troops, now present in small numbers, still figure to play a role. But the scale and nature of their involvement will depend on whether the Taliban and al-Qaida collapse completely, flee the country or regroup to fight a guerrilla war from caves and tunnels in the mountains.

The U.S. bombing campaign probably will be dramatically scaled back, perhaps coinciding with the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan this weekend, senior defense officials said Wednesday.

There is less need to bomb in the north now, and pilots returning to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt with their bombs still attached told reporters they refrained from attacking in the south because it has become harder to tell friend from foe.

Bombing might be limited to cave complexes and pockets of Taliban resistance in areas such as Konduz.

Eliminating the Taliban as a support structure for al-Qaida was a key step, but it leaves unresolved the question of how to track down Osama bin Laden and other leaders of his al-Qaida network. It also requires consideration of an international peacekeeping force to stabilize the country.

It seems likely that the Bush administration will push for having troops from Islamic countries perform the main peacekeeping work, supported by U.S. and European logistics and communications.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made clear Wednesday that the fight will go on.

"We're making progress, but it's far from finished," he said in New York, where he toured the World Trade Center ruins. "And as the president said, we're going to stick at it until it's done."

The original attack plan written by Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. Central Command, achieved its objective -- the collapse of the Taliban -- so suddenly that the entire approach to Afghanistan needs to be rethought, officials said.

according to defense officials who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity.

Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he could not rule out that Taliban fighters retreating to the south may be trying to find refuge in caves held by their home tribes and regroup for more combat. He also said there were intelligence reports that some may be fleeing into neighboring Pakistan.

"It's a confusing time," he said.

Franks is considering a host of new possibilities in light of the Taliban retreat, the fall of Kabul and the success of the northern alliance of opposition forces in consolidating their territorial gains across northern Afghanistan.

Just last week Franks was under fire from critics who said he was moving too slowly against the Taliban. Then the crossroads city of Mazar-e-Sharif fell and the rout was on.

Franks' new plan has yet to be written and must be approved by Rumsfeld and President Bush.