Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke responds to a reporter's question during a Pentagon press briefing on March 18, 2002. Clarke and Air Force Brig. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr. announced the end of Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. Operation Anaconda was a combat operation involving U.S. and coalition forces against al Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations in the Shahikot Mountains of eastern Afghanistan, near the city of Gardez.