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CNN Live Saturday

General Clark Discusses Special Forces Operations in Afghanistan

Aired September 29, 2001 - 14:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more on the military aspects to the story now and bring in our military analyst and former NATO supreme commander, retired general Wesley Clark. General in Little Rock today.

General, good afternoon, thanks for joining us.

WESLEY CLARK, FMR. NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: Good afternoon, Daryn, thank you.

KAGAN: A lot of Americans woke up today and heard a report of three American commandos and two Afghans who were helping them, that these five people had been captured in Afghanistan. Now since then, that report has been debunked both by the Pentagon and also by the Taliban and those within Afghanistan.

But it brings to mind two points. First of all, the special challenges, the incredible challenges that special forces will have, as they try to penetrate Afghanistan.

CLARK: That's right. No, it's going to be difficult because it's not our country. And we will be using maps. We'll be using a lot of information to how to get along in there, but it's still not ours. And so, it will take time to really acclimatize and really work this country.

KAGAN: And do U.S. forces have that kind of time though?

CLARK: Well, I think we have time to do this job right. And the President said we're going to be patient and we're going to strike very precisely at the terrorist network. And I think that's a very important point to keep in mind because this is a battle against terrorism. And we want to strike as specifically, as precisely, as directly as we can at this network. We're going to take it apart from the inside out, the bottom up. And we're going to go after it from all angles.

But those forces in there have to be given time to prepare the battlefield completely and correctly, so that when they do strike, they're effective.

KAGAN: You brought up the fact that this is against the terrorist network and of course, not against a single country. So from a strategic standpoint, how is that planning different?

CLARK: Well, I think it makes it more difficult because obviously, if there's a country that you're going against, you've got a visible target, a state has organs of power. It has high value targets that you know about. And it represents your adversary.

In this case, the adversary is invisible. And so, we have to strike as precisely as possible. That means we have to make the invisible visible. And that's what our troops in there have to do.

KAGAN: One more point about this story that came out this morning that turned out not to be true. And I'm sure you had to deal with this. So when you're involved with NATO and leading the way there, what do you about false reports and stories and other things that you need to debunk? I imagine that that takes a certain effort and that you would rather have towards a different direction?

CLARK: Well, I think the best policy is always to tell the truth. And in this case, I'm sure that's what we've.

But it brings another point up, Daryn. And that is that this is going to be an information war. And we don't know where this report originated or who originated it. Was it just a slip of a pencil or was it a deliberate effort try to embarrass the United States and its allies in some way or to cast the United States as not being as effective. We don't know.

It could be the first shot in a campaign like this. And it's another dimension of warfare that's going to be especially important in this conflict, because this is an ongoing, long-term effort, that's going to have to retain the support of people not only in the United States, but around the globe.

And in that regard, I think there should be really no doubt that the United States is going to succeed in this. We will persevere. And we will win. And it's just a matter of doing it in a most effective and efficient way possible.

KAGAN: And as we cover it, we're glad to have your insight and your expertise along with us. Retired General Wesley Clark, thanks for joining us, sir.

CLARK: Thanks, Daryn.

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