Vanishing soldiers head for a secret war

By ANDREW BUNCOMBE

TAMPA - There have been no fanfares, no special announcements, but across America the secret soldiers who will head America's strikes against terrorism are heading to war.

At the bases where America's Special Forces train and live, the signs are clear. Security is up, the fit, young men have disappeared from view and families are arriving to say goodbye and wish them the best.

"You don't see so many soldiers on the streets any more. It's real quiet," said Stacy Lange, owner of an outdoor equipment shop at Southern Pines, a small North Carolina community near Fort Bragg, headquarters of the Army's Special Forces contingent.

In the coming days, weeks and even months, President George Bush and his military advisers are going to rely heavily on the Special Forces. A number of units have already been deployed to northern Afghanistan and neighbouring Tajikistan, where they are taking up positions and supporting the anti-Taleban fighters of the Northern Alliance.

It is believed that the US battleplan will use a mixture of airstrikes and ground forces in its retaliation against the forces of Osama bin Laden.

Mr Bush has 46,000 Special Forces troops at his disposal - made up of the Army's legendary Delta Detachment, the Navy's Seal team six, units of the 75th Army Ranger Regiment and selected Air Force squadrons. These are the dark soldiers who fight America's grey wars.

Though they have their individual bases, the Special Forces are being coordinated from behind the razor-wire, roadblocks and armed guards that protect the perimeter of MacGill Air Force base in Tampa, Florida.

This base - perched on a spit of land jutting into the glistening blue-green waters of Tampa Bay - is headquarters of USSOCOM, the US Special Operations Command. In the base's Action Crisis Centre the strikes that the American public may not even hear anything about will be controlled, monitored and assessed.

"If there was no mission that conventional forces could not carry out there would no need for us," said Sergeant Major Raymond Cordell, USSOCOM's spokesman.

"The name Special Operations gives away what we are about.

"Just like soldiers everywhere we are ready to go."

The Fort Bragg locals, the people who live in the small communities of clap-board houses and neat gardens that adjoin MacGill have seen the preparations for war before.

During Desert Storm, the covert missions into Iraqi territory in search of Scud missile bases were also coordinated from here.

"You can always tell when there is something big happening because of all the extra air traffic you get coming in here," said Jay Strackman, a long-term Tampa resident, referring to the traffic jams and diversions that the increased state of alert at the base has caused.

At the Green Iguana Bar and Grill, a lively bar about 3km from MacGill perimeter wire, there was no shortage of enthusiasm for the strikes.

Pinned to the till was a photocopied picture of Osama bin Laden, his notorious visage fixed in the cross-hairs of an imagined rifle sight.

Beneath his picture were the words: "Cost of air ticket to Afghanistan: $800. Sniper rifle: $1000. Hotel with rooftop access: $100. Clear head shot at Osama bin Laden: Priceless." At the door, a large man with close-cropped hair demanded: "Are you with us or against us?"

"I don't think there is an American anywhere who does not support military action," said Spike, a 37-year-old salesman. "I think you are going to see the war machine of America like never before - with a fervour and a vengeance you have not seen. We have weapons that no one has seen used before."

His friend, Mr Sprackman, 45, an anaesthetist, added: "I think that something has to be done. It's the first time that America has been 100 per cent in agreement. It's too late [to stop]."

Despite the Special Forces' legendary status, the relationship between them and America's top brass has been uneasy ever since the unit developed from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), set up by President Roosevelt during the Second World War.

Apart from the Hollywood movies that seek to portray their heroics, the public hears about them only when something goes wrong, such as with Desert One - the disastrous Iranian hostage rescue attempt in 1979 - and the ill-fated 1993 attempt to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

But experts on the Special Forces say their past experiences will be essential in the battle to "neutralise" bin Laden.

David Morris, a former Marine Corps officer with a background in special operations who now teaches at San Diego State University, said the lessons learned in the pursuit of the Colombian cocaine king, Pablo Escobar - officially killed by Colombian Government forces in 1993 - could prove crucial.

"This type of war, fought against an equally insidious enemy, is likely what is being planned."

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