Special covert commandos to track down Saddam, Osama

The top US military commander for West Asia has created a covert commando force to hunt Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and key terrorists t...

The top US military commander for West Asia has created a covert commando force to hunt Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and key terrorists throughout the region, according to Pentagon and military officials.

The new Special Operations organisation is designed to act with greater speed on intelligence tips about ‘‘high-value targets’’ and not be contained within the borders where American conventional forces are operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gen John P. Abizaid, who commands all US forces in West Asia, decided over the summer to disband two Special Operations missions, Task Force 5 in Afghanistan and Task Force 20 in Iraq, officials said. Military officers say a broader, regional mission was given to the new force, which has become one of the Pentagon’s most highly classified and closely watched operations under way today.

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Much about the force remains classified, and Pentagon officials declined to discuss the rules under which the new task force operates throughout the region, nor whether its actions might first require permission from a national government to operate in its territory.

Officers say focusing intelligence, and the Special Operations firepower, within one organisation, called Task Force 121, streamlines the effort to use information on targets and mount an attack. (NYT)