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| Afghanistan |
| Rumsfeld says no D-Day assault on Afghanistan |
| 2001-10-02 |
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last week sought to dampen speculation of an all-out offensive against Afghanistan by saying that there would be no single co-ordinated "D-Day-style assault" on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network or the forces of the ruling Taliban regime. Instead, Rumsfeld warned, the US-led anti-terror campaign would be long, difficult and dangerous. Rumsfeld's comments raise the spectre of a prolonged conflict, but they also point towards a careful double-edged strategy, analysts believe, comprising a comprehensive military build-up backed by a barely perceptible psychological operations offensive, designed to throw the enemy off-guard and to maximise the effects of US and allied military action when it takes place. This is hardly surprising, they add, given that psychological operations (Psyops) are an integral part of US information warfare (Infowar) strategy and Infowar is now an accepted part of US battle-planning. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |