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It's the top story across the whole front page with the Special Ops General pictured<br>---------------------------------<br><br>Rumsfeld toughens terror fight <br><br> By Rowan Scarborough <br> THE WASHINGTON TIMES <br><br><br> Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has ordered his<br> top special-operations general to accelerate covert missions<br> in the war on terrorism because he is impatient with the pace<br> at which al Qaeda terrorists are captured or killed, The<br> Washington Times has learned. <br> Administration officials say<br> Gen. Charles R. Holland, who<br> leads U.S. Special Operations<br> Command, has completed an initial<br> war plan referred to inside the<br> Bush administration as "the first 30<br> percent."<br> The highly classified plan calls<br> for new types of clandestine<br> operations that could be initiated<br> against terrorist targets at a<br> moment's notice, outside<br> restrictions of traditional law enforcement.<br> Gen. Holland's draft is circulating inside the Pentagon. He<br> was scheduled to brief Mr. Rumsfeld soon, perhaps as early<br> as today.<br> Gen. Holland's command will also gain new<br> responsibilities in the global war, although regional combatant<br> commanders, such as Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S.<br> Central Command, will retain overall control of their area of<br> responsibility.<br> Some officials inside the administration view Mr.<br> Rumsfeld's moves as somewhat of a rebuke to Gen. Franks,<br> who is running the war in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater.<br> Three administration sources said Mr. Rumsfeld is not<br> happy at the rate at which al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are<br> being found and eliminated in Gen. Franks' theater. Some of<br> Mr. Rumsfeld's senior advisers view the four-star Army<br> general as too cautious.<br> One source said Gen. Holland will have a bigger say in<br> which type of special-operations missions are run in<br> Afghanistan.<br> In recent weeks, Mr. Rumsfeld asked Gen. Holland and<br> other senior military officials to devise a new plan for<br> attacking terrorist cells around the world, primarily using<br> covert warriors. The "30 percent" plan is so named because it<br> reflects about one-third of the total plan Gen. Holland is now<br> developing. <br> Mr. Rumsfeld is giving Special Operations Command new<br> powers to organize specific missions. The Pentagon<br> designates its combatant commands as either "supported,"<br> such as Central Command, or "supporting," such as Special<br> Operations Command. These two key words describe the<br> general relationship between combatant commanders.<br> Sources said Special Operations Command will now be a<br> "supported command" in some circumstances.<br> Sources said Mr. Rumsfeld has not always been happy<br> with Gen. Franks' planning in Afghanistan or for a possible<br> war against Iraq. Still, Gen. Franks has important supporters<br> inside the administration, including Secretary of State Colin L.<br> Powell, a former Army general and Joint Chiefs chairman.<br> President Bush is described as especially fond of the fellow<br> Texan.<br> Mr. Rumsfeld publicly supports Gen. Franks and says the<br> 9-month-old Afghanistan mission is on track but still<br> open-ended.<br> Officials familiar with the "30 percent plan" say Mr.<br> Rumsfeld wants ideas on how to expand the use of<br> special-operations forces, including elite Army Delta Force<br> commandos and Navy SEALs. <br> Mr. Rumsfeld, one of the Bush Cabinet's most hawkish<br> members, wants these covert warriors to capture or kill<br> terrorists outside civilian law enforcement, where operations<br> can take months to win approval.<br> "Rumsfeld wants to stay as far away from law<br> enforcement as possible," said one source, who adds that, as<br> is usual for the defense secretary, he wants "new thinking."<br> The defense secretary seeks a new operating plan<br> whereby special-operations forces can be deployed<br> extremely rapidly against a terrorist target. He wants Gen.<br> Holland to design different types of operations, perhaps with<br> new tactics, to disrupt or destroy terrorist cells, officials told<br> The Times.<br> Whatever final plan Mr. Rumsfeld approves must be<br> approved by Mr. Bush. The president is said to share the<br> defense secretary's thinking on the need to eliminate al Qaeda<br> members at a faster rate.<br> Gen. Holland in October 2000 assumed command of<br> Special Operations Command at McDill Air Force Base in<br> Florida.<br> The general, who oversees all the branches' covert<br> warriors, has flown more than 100 combat missions, including<br> 79 in the AC-130 during the Vietnam War. <br> The AC-130, armed with two cannons, has played a<br> major role in Afghanistan, backing ground troops on night<br> operations.<br> Mr. Rumsfeld is already relying heavily on<br> special-operations troops in the global war declared by Mr.<br> Bush after al Qaeda terrorists flew hijacked jetliners into the<br> World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11,<br> killing more than 3,000 people.<br> Commandos are training anti-terror units in the<br> Philippines, Yemen and Georgia. In Afghanistan, they turned<br> the tide of battle by organizing anti-Taliban forces and<br> pointing out targets for strike pilots.<br> Now, Delta Force and SEALs, part of a special Task<br> Force 11, are hunting down senior al Qaeda and Taliban<br> leaders in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.
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