Major ground tremors were felt about every 10 to 15 minutes.
Israel last carried out a major ground offensive in Gaza in January 2009.
Military analysts say rebels no longer have the diamond revenue necessary to pay for major ground operations.
"Today", the president said, "is the first Memorial Day in 14 years that the United States is not engaged in a major ground war".
Anti-Taliban commanders near the fortified Tora Bora cave complex in eastern Afghanistan said they were preparing for a major ground assault.
It has not ruled out the use of major ground units, the mistake President Clinton made early in the Kosovo conflict and which he later moved to reverse.
On April 22, the army launched a major ground and air assault on the Abu Sayyaf camp deep in the jungles of Basilan.
February: Thousands of Turkish troops are sent across the border into northern Iraq in a major ground offensive against the Kurdish PKK rebel forces.
But there would not be any major ground operations south of the river and certainly no heavy street fighting in Grozny.
The Israeli military is readying for a major ground operation, after unleashing deadly airstrikes in Gaza, which killed the Hamas military chief and, according to Palestinian officials, nineteen others, including five children.
A major ground invasion would be required to stop the janjaweed's horse- and camel-mounted killers — and advocates of intervention insist that air power would be needed as well.
