President Bush was unusually quiet during the initial phase of military intervention in Afghanistan; when he talked, he was not very clear, and even less convincing. He gave silly talks, more adapted to a bad western that to a US President ("We want bin Laden dead or alive, at any cost". "We will take the time necessary to get him anywhere he is!!").
However, the majority of the American people, and the media, were behind him. His popularity was very high (about 80%), but this is probably normal in the US where the president, once elected, is not put into discussion anymore. This so-called war will increase his probability to be re-elected, whereas before it was far less certain.
The men who appear to run the American show are the Defence Secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld; the Vice-President Dick Cheney; the Secretary of State, Colin Powel; and the Army General Tommy Frank in charge of the operations. General Frank is based at Mac Dill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
Some politicians in Britain are afraid that the British soldiers will found themselves in the middle of a Vietnam-style civil war in Afghanistan with no end in view. It also looks as if the British soldiers are doing the fighting for America, becoming Bush's new proxy forces together with the Afghans of the Northern Alliance. Increasingly the British troops are doing the dangerous ground battles in this American war. This British presence is also justified by the poor performance on the ground of both the American and Afghan soldiers, especially in the Tora Bora Mountains in winter and in the attack on Shah-I-Kot. The Pentagon denies it, of course, because it would confirm that the American soldiers are not as good as claimed. In other words, Britain is taking a central role in a war it did not start, does not direct, and cannot finish. However, sooner or later, the British proxies could be the fall guys. And Blair will have to live with it!
General Franks, visiting London on April 26, 2002, said that the future operations in Afghanistan would not involve large-scale missions similar to Operation Anaconda (that was a failure, not a success). What will be needed, according to him, can be described as "rooting out, sweep, and clear" smaller pockets of resistance. He expected that the remaining al-Qaida fighters will try to regroup, but intelligence from the leaders of Afghan communities is better everyday, and should help limiting the damage. He also confirmed that British and US troops are operating on Pakistani soil in collaboration with Pakistan.
In April 2002, more and more people in Great Britain have doubt about the usefulness of the Royal Marine mission in Afghanistan. They were called in too late following the failure of the previous US military actions in the southeastern mountains near Tora Bora. The remaining of the Taliban and al-Qaida forces were supposed to be there, with or without bin Laden himself. The delay allowed these remaining enemies to escape to Pakistan from where they will probably come back, once the British soldiers have left, to try to destabilise Afghanistan once more. Up to now the British have found some ammunition, but no enemies.
Two American pilots -Major William Umbach and Major Harry Schmidt- were charged with involuntary manslaughter for dropping a bomb on Canadian soldiers near Kandahar, killing four of them on April 17, 2002. Their lawyers said that they had been given amphetamines to keep them awake in the long mission, and that the drug caused them to make an error of judgment. They were not told that friendly troops were in this place, and they misunderstood these soldiers for Taliban or al-Qaida fighters.
On January 14, 2003, they appeared before a military court that had to decide if they should be sent to a court martial. If found guilty, they could be condemned to 64 years in military prison.
On January 22, 2003, the Air Force general who conducted the enquiry, Brigadier General Stephen T. Sareant, said to the Court, that the two accused did not follow the orders given them, nor the military procedures to use in cases like this.
On January 23, 2003, they apologised to the victims' families while defending their actions. Two US military pilots who bombed Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan will not face a court martial or go to prison. They will instead be disciplined at an "administrative forum," Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson of the 8th Air Force in Barksdale, La., said Thursday June 19, 2003. The pilots were facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and dereliction of duty for the April 2002.
On June 26, 2003, Major Schmidt turned down an air force offer of lesser charges and will face a court martial. It is a high-stakes gamble since he could be exonerated of the charges he faces or end up with a prison term of up to 64 years. A military spokesperson confirmed the air force had accepted Schmidt's request, but had not set a date for the trial. The Court martial that was supposed to punish him reduced Schmidt's original charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault to a charge of dereliction of duty. Found guilty of this "charge", he was given a reprimand and a fine of a month's pay. He is no longer allowed to fly in the Air Force, but he can remain in the Illinois National Guard. In other words, he got off with a slap on the wrist.
On January 18, 2002, the US media reported that Saudi Arabia would probably ask the American military forces to leave the country as soon as the Afghanistan non-war is finally finished.
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