Lull in Afghan war allows U.S. carrier to join Somali fray

Tuesday, January 9th 2007, 6:13 am

By: News On 6

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) _ Shifting a U.S. aircraft carrier and its 60 warplanes from the Afghanistan war to Somalia has diverted the Navy from bleak winter fighting with the Taliban to an intelligence-led hunt for terror suspects in the Horn of Africa.

The Navy says aircraft from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower are flying regular intelligence missions over Somalia, playing a critical role monitoring the country's 1,880-mile coast and patrolling the sea that surrounds it to prevent suspects from escaping.

Three other U.S. warships had already taken posts off Somalia, part of the return of U.S. military forces to a country it fled in 1994 after losing 18 soldiers in gritty urban combat, portrayed in the book and film ``Black Hawk Down.''

``There's a lot of water to cover and with four ships, that doesn't always do it,'' said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown of the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. ``But the air assets on the Eisenhower can extend the capabilities of those ships.''

The re-tasking of the Eisenhower came as U.S. aircraft launched air raids in southern Somalia, trying to kill al-Qaida suspects in the first overt American military action there since the 1990s.

On Monday, AC-130 gunships launched at least two deadly strikes, followed the next day by strikes by attack helicopters. U.S. officials said militants were killed, though witnesses reported dozens of civilians dead.

The winter lull in fighting in Afghanistan meant the Eisenhower and its four squadrons of F/A-18 ground attack jets could fight a different war.

Taliban attacks have dropped by half between August and December _ from 913 to 449 _ and U.S. and coalition warplanes have made drastic cutbacks in bombing, according to coalition military data.

Troops in Afghanistan can still rely on air cover from some 20 ground-based warplanes, including U.S. A-10 ground-attack jets and B-1 bombers, Dutch F-16 and British GR-7 fighters.

``There are alternatives to the carrier in Afghanistan,'' said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. ``There really are no alternatives in Somalia.''

The Eisenhower got into position off Somalia ``in the past few days'' and as of late Tuesday its aircraft had not conducted ground strikes in Somalia, Brown said, nor had they provided support for the AC-130 raids.

The Navy said ``rapidly developing events in Somalia'' led it to dispatch the Eisenhower from its battle station in the Arabian Sea to the Indian Ocean off Somalia, where Ethiopian troops and soldiers loyal to Somalia's U.N.-backed government drove out Islamic fighters that controlled the country.

Two guided missile cruisers, the USS Bunker Hill and USS Anzio, and the amphibious landing ship USS Ashland were already patrolling the coast, with crew boarding private vessels in search of fleeing al-Qaida members, Brown said.

No terror suspects have been found aboard any departing ships, he said.

The Eisenhower's aircraft drastically expand U.S. capabilities in the Horn of Africa. They can be used to track escape vessels and other targets, or give air cover to U.S.-trained Ethiopian troops, or repel an assault on the weak Somali government.

``Ethiopia has gone into a very high risk environment with a great deal of American advice and support. If things go wrong they may need American air support,'' Cordesman said. ``Same with the Somali government.''

With U.S. warplanes a few miles offshore, the Navy can strike ground targets in minutes, rather than the hours it would take to fly in long-range bombers from U.S. bases in the region, Cordesman said.

The Eisenhower's compliment of F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers, EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft and E-2C Hawkeye airborne command-and-control craft had been operating over Afghanistan. But bad weather and a string of Taliban defeats has reduced the level of combat operations there, said NATO spokesman Mark Laity in Kabul.

``Since the peak of activity in August and September, we've seen an extremely steep decline in significant actions,'' he said.

Laity said enough warplanes remain in Afghanistan to provide cover.

``If our troops get into trouble they will get air power,'' he said.