Pentagon: Taliban might poison food
dropped by U.S. into Afghanistan
By Sandra Jontz, Washington
bureau
WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials obtained credible information that the
Taliban might poison humanitarian food supplies being distributed to the nation’s
starving people, and then blame the food-tainting on Americans, a Pentagon spokesman said
Wednesday.
Officials have used "all sources of intelligence" to gather the information
and now are working on spreading words of caution, said Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy
director of Operations for Current Readiness and Capabilities on the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
U.S. forces will use a variety of means, such as distributing fliers and sending out
radio broadcasts, to inform Afghans that the Taliban might poison food supplies and to
exercise caution when eating anything that has been in the regime’s control, he said.
"There is no truth that [Americans] would poison food," he said. "That
is beyond our comprehension."
Stufflebeem did not refute media reports that the Taliban have staged soldiers in
civilians’ homes, put them up in university dorm rooms and are hiding military
vehicles in mosques in order to keep them from coming under fire.
He did question Taliban reports that errant bombs have hit Afghan neighborhoods,
killing hundreds of civilians.
"We don’t know if they were errant bombs or weapons from other forces,"
Stufflebeem said. "It’s a difficult environment to get anything out of
there."
The Taliban regime has proven to be a more formidable force than first thought, he
said.
"I am surprised by how doggedly they are hanging on," Stufflebeem said.
"But we are prepared to take however long to bring the Taliban down."
In an update of progress associated with Operation Enduring Freedom, Stufflebeem said
U.S. forces retrieved a downed Black Hawk helicopter abandoned in Pakistan on Monday when
U.S. forces took on light ground fire during a refueling mission, Stufflebeem said.
The Black Hawk crashed Saturday in Pakistan, killing two Special Forces soldiers.
"All are safely under U.S. possession," Stufflebeem said.
Also, the United States on Monday carried out 90 strikes against the Taliban and
al-Qaida forces, using 75 carrier-based strike fighters, 10 long-range bombers and the
remaining land-based aircraft including AC-130s.
Despite intelligence that the Taliban might taint food supplies, the United States is
continuing is humanitarian aid missions and Monday used two C-17 Globemaster III cargo
planes to drop another 34,000 humanitarian food rations, bringing the total rations
supplied to the starving Afghan people to more than 785,000 since the mission started Oct.
7.
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