Guest guest Posted October 23, 2001 Report Share Posted October 23, 2001 AMERICA COMES BRAIN-SHOPPING FROM SUJAN DUTTA New Delhi, Oct. 23: At a quiet dinner last week during Colin Powell's visit to New Delhi, an official accompanying the US secretary of state sidled up to a former Indian army officer and got him talking on the military campaign in Afghanistan. A fortnight ago, another former officer visiting the US was discreetly asked for his opinion. It is not a formal arrangement but former Indian military officers who retain an interest in the study of armed conflicts in the region are being quietly sounded. The Indian army runs a military hospital at Farkhor, just inside Tajikistan from across the border with Afghanistan. It was to the Farkhor hospital that Ahmad Shah Masood, the Northern Alliance commander, was taken after two assailants posing as journalists blew up on him last month in a suicide mission. The Farkhor mission is reported to have 25 doctors. It is not unreasonable to assume that it also works as a listening, observation and liaison post of the Indian security establishment, which has retained ties with the Northern Alliance. In the two instances where the Indian military experts were sounded, both proffered the same advice: step up the ground campaign within a month. "Studies on weather conditions over Afghanistan give the US till November 19 to conclude phase one of a ground operation," one expert said. That is roughly the time that Ramzan will begin. "America now has to take one of three options: support the Northern Alliance in its advance on Kabul, take special forces in and out of Afghanistan on lightning raids based on intelligence or put in larger forces, maybe an airborne division, to hold territory in strategic locations," said Major General (retired) Ashok Krishna, deputy director of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, a think tank in New Delhi. Another expert says Monday's bombing of the Taliban front line marks a shift in military tactics. The strongest indication of the possibility of American troops supporting the alliance is their presence north of Afghanistan. Among these troops is the US' 5th Special Operations Group, which specialises on Central Asia. Also involved in ground operations would be the 10th Special Forces, which specialises in cold weather missions and thus are particularly suited to the Afghan winter. An estimated 1,000 troops from the 10th Mountain Division have been based in Uzbekistan. By default almost, American support for the Northern Alliance also means India's finger in the Afghan pie will go in that bit deeper. In the Indian security establishment, that is a minor victory for those who insisted India must maintain its links with the Northern Alliance through the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and even through the army. It is a policy that has been pursued quietly despite opposition from within since the time Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister and Pranab Mukherjee the external affairs minister and still keeps India a player in Afghanistan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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