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T V Parasuram in Washington
Washington and Islamabad have drafted plans for using bases in Pakistan as staging grounds for raids in Afghanistan, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
The Pentagon had intensified preparations for a possible overseas deployment of US troops that could begin within weeks, the report said, quoting officials in Washington and Islamabad.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters that US was preparing "a very broadly based campaign to go after the terrorist problem where it exists".
The US military, he added, would "use the full spectrum of our capabilities".
"There is nothing that inhibits the US from defending itself," Rumsfeld said.
While no decisions had been made, according to Pentagon officials, Rumsfeld and other senior officials were considering a wide range of options for attacking suspected terrorists and their supporters in Afghanistan "and elsewhere".
The options range from small-scale raids using Special Forces troops to air strikes and cruise missile barrages, officials said.
PTI
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