As reported in today's issue of The Federalist:

"President Bush is appropriately deliberate in determining our method of attack and choice of targets -- avoiding noncombatants while inflicting maximum pain and suffering on combatants and their rear echelon of support. While we still expect a show of force from the air -- reducing to fine powder any hole where bin Laden's al Qaeda cadre have ever stopped for shade -- the President has chosen to implement our most effective means of redress based on the cold and calculated Israeli model -- insertion of small special forces units to quietly bleed out anyone aligned with bin Laden.

Regarding those operations, we cautiously add this note: According to our military sources in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Peshawar, Pakistan, bin Laden's operatives suffered the consequences of several firefights with U.S. Special Forces six days ago -- we were asked, for obvious reasons, to provide no details about the locations. Our sources indicate that the rules of engagement were "unrestricted in contact with verifiable combatants." One of those night assaults produced a "significant number of enemy dead." There were no American casualties reported.  

Interesting if true.

I would love to have some deatils -- and CNN video of course -- but none of us are ever going to see any.

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CNN.com - U.S. official: Special forces in Afghan operations - September 28, 2001

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/09/28/ret.sas.profile/index.html

U.S. official: Special forces in Afghan operations
September 28, 2001 Posted: 1:24 PM EDT (1724 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. and British special forces have conducted
operations in Afghanistan and the Central Asian region, a senior U.S.
official told CNN on Friday.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
CNN is sensitive about reporting information that
could jeopardize lives or ongoing military
operations.

It is CNN's policy not to report the specifics of
imminent or real-time military actions when told
by appropriate authorities that this could
jeopardize lives or ongoing operations.

CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King reported that a senior U.S.
official said the operations took place "in the region" and "in country,"
meaning Afghanistan.
The Pentagon refused to comment. Top officials in Pakistan said they had
not been informed of any U.S. operations.
Reports of special operations were first reported in the Pakistani press
and in Friday's editions of USA Today. The senior official confirmed those
reports to CNN.
The official did not confirm reports that the forces were hunting
suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden, cautioning that the United States has
little information on bin Laden's whereabouts.

Special operations forces are trained in a variety of combat
specialties.
"We have an intelligence deficit here," the official said.
The official characterized the operations as part of routine special
forces deployment that typically accompany U.S. troop deployments. Such
operations would perform logistics tasks such as scouting locations.
President Bush told reporters at the White House that conventional
military force "may or may not" participate in the campaign against
Afghanistan if the Taliban refuse to hand over bin Laden.
"It is very hard to fight a guerrilla war with conventional forces, and we
understand that," Bush said, recognizing the Soviet defeat in a 10-year
war in Afghanistan. "That is why we have explained to the American people
that the new war on terrorism is going to be a different war."

Bush repeated that U.S. officials would rely more on financial and
intelligence efforts to track suspected terrorists and cut off their
resources.
'Standard military stuff'
Military experts told CNN they would be surprised if such operations were
not happening.
"They're doing exactly what special forces always do," said retired U.S.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Donald Shepperd, a CNN military analyst. "They're
there behind the scenes establishing the locations of people and things
that will be used later. ... This is standard military stuff."

British special operations forces include the Special Air Service.
Shepperd said the British have more experience at special operations, but
the U.S. military has been bolstering its forces.
"In the last 10 years, they have really been hard at work getting ready
for this type of thing," Shepperd said.
U.S. special operations units include Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Army
Special Forces known as Green Berets, Air Force Special Operations and the
ultra-secret Delta Force, of which the Pentagon does not even acknowledge
its existence.
"They're there quietly, unseen, behind the scenes, establishing locations
of people and things that will be used in military campaigns later,"
Shepperd said. "They don't get a lot of credit for this. We don't talk a
lot about it, but they're always part of any military operation."
Specialized units
Special operations forces share many of the same combat skills; each unit
also maintains its own specialty, which may be useful in this new war on
terrorism.
For example, if the United States works with opposition groups such as the
anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, the Green Berets could play a role.
Green Berets are required to have the ability to speak and read at least
one foreign language. They are trained in a variety of specialties,
including foreign internal defense, unconventional warfare, security
assistance, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance.
The Army Rangers work in larger groups, pack more firepower and are
considered the experts in seizing airfields. They are trained in
infiltrating and exiting by land, sea and air; conducting raids; and
recovering personnel and special equipment.
Air Force Special Operations specialize in inserting, resupplying and
retrieving soldiers inside enemy territory, using standard military
aircraft modified to fly longer, lower and quieter.
"In a special operations mission, a routine mission, if you're detected on
the way to the target, you may as well turn around and go home," said
retired Gen. William Patterson, a former commander of Air Force Special
Operations. "You failed."
Navy SEALs -- an acronym for Sea, Air and Land -- are trained in special
reconnaissance, combat search and rescue and unconventional warfare.
As tensions rise in this unconventional war, U.S. officials are likely to
monitor the status of eight Western humanitarian workers -- including two
U.S. citizens -- arrested by the Taliban last month and charged with
trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.
The ultra-secret Delta Force might be employed to help this situation as
its specialty is hostage rescue.
"Units like Delta Force are pretty much focused on hostage rescue," said
retired Army Gen. David Grange, a former Ranger commander.
(c) 2001 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.

I hope like hell this story is true. Makes me wish I was 20 again.

Yea, okay.  Whatever.  These bozos forget that the most successful operations are the ones that aren't public.

-SARguy

Anyone else heard news on this?

I wonder why it would be released, then kept quiet.

Well, I guess Osama was not among the dead or it would be big news. Or would it?

Maybe "delay" reporting his demise until we had slammed terrorist governments and supporters everywhere, then say he was dead.

Sounds like a plan to me...