1.   The latter would be more feasible and less expensive than large-scale ground operations.

2.   They said they could not provide adequate air cover for ground operations.

3.   The Prime Minister, John Major, offered support during a visit that ended yesterday but said British troops would continue only their ground operation.

4.   Anaconda was the largest ground operation in the war and fighting has been relatively limited since it ended last month.

5.   And the two carriers in the region might allow the United States to sidestep the need for a major ground operation.

6.   At first there would be an attempt to limit the ground operation to Kosovo.

7.   At the White House, Clinton was briefed by security advisers and renewed his view that airstrikes, without follow-up ground operations, could break Milosevic.

8.   Advocates of the Crusader argue that it will be essential to any future ground operations, and that the service must have its own firepower on the battlefield.

9.   Britain announced it would send commandos to the region for possible ground operations inside Afghanistan.

10.   But one U.S. official said late Friday that the Special Forces completed their first ground operation in Afghanistan and have left the country, according to a Reuters report.