US 'Snake Eaters' To

Spearhead Ground Assault

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Special operations forces the so-called ``snake eaters'' of the U.S. military are trained and equipped for clandestine combat ranging from nighttime snatch-and-grabs to sniping with .50 caliber rifles and sabotage.

Marking what could be a new phase in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, defense officials confirmed on Friday that small numbers of such U.S. commandos, who typically travel in units of 12 or fewer, were on the ground in Afghanistan.

Even before mounting direct strikes, U.S. Army special forces would take the lead in advising and supporting anti-Taliban rebel groups such as the Northern Alliance.

Ultimately, they could call in bombing, strafing or rocket fire from U.S. Air Force Special Operations AC-130 gunships.

``Special operators,'' as they like to call themselves, are carefully selected and highly schooled for missions requiring different skills from those normally found in conventional military units.

Among these are short, small-scale strikes such as raids, ambushes and ``surgical strikes'' – like capturing or killing terror suspect Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants.

Army special forces, also known as Green Berets, are trained to live off the land for long stretches while they scout suspected hide-outs and enemy positions using night-vision goggles.

When the time came, they could use hard-to-detect ``burst'' transmissions or hand-held laser designators to guide in heavier forces, air strikes or laser-guided munitions.

LANGUAGE ABILITY

Green Berets are trained to speak the languages of the countries in which they specialize, developing a cultural awareness that is polished by frequent overseas deployments and training missions in the region. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday that U.S.-British air strikes that began on Oct. 7 had weakened the Taliban military and driven some of bin Laden's al Qaeda guerrillas from their hide-outs but unconventional moves were needed to win the battle.

You don't do it with conventional capabilities. You do it with unconventional capabilities,'' Rumsfeld said, noting that aircraftcan't crawl around on the ground'' as the special operators might do.

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