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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: McCain Comments on Afghanistan Campaign

Aired October 09, 2001 - 08:02   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, we go to Washington where one member of Congress who knows a lot about combat will be joining us -- Senator John McCain. He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He joins us from the nation's capital this morning -- welcome, sir.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: So, Mr. McCain, do you have any reaction to what you heard coming out of Kabul this morning? I don't know how much of that conversation you could actually hear from Mr. Allouni.

MCCAIN: No, I heard it. I found it interesting, particularly his comments about people who have to stay because they have no place to go. That's one of the tragedies of war is that -- and it's very unfortunate. But I thought it was a very interesting interview.

ZAHN: We are just beginning, I guess, to get a fuller understanding of the success of the strikes so far. Give us your judgment of what the U.S. and its allies have accomplished, and what comes next?

MCCAIN: Well, I think they have taken care of the first phase, which is to remove any anti-air capabilities that the Taliban might have had, which was minimal, but had to be reduced. I think they went after known terrorist camps as well. And our overall objective in the first phase was to make sure that we are capable of moving around the country air wise without any significant threat.

That doesn't mean that helicopters won't be vulnerable to the shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles SA-7s, but overall, I think it has been a success. There are very few targets. I think Secretary Rumsfeld has made that clear. There are not that many targets like we had in Kosovo or in the Persian Gulf War.

Now, the next phase is most likely to be the insertion and extraction of ground troops. I think continued support of the Northern Alliance, continued shoring up of our relationship with Pakistan and other nations, particularly moderate Arab nations, and try to help feed these people who have been displaced.

So it's a multi-faceted strategy, which I think the American people are very supportive of, and so far obviously successful. I think the hard part, obviously, is ahead. ZAHN: All right. You talk about the insertion and extraction of ground troops. Do you foresee a scenario where U.S. ground troops would remain on the ground for a chunk of time?

MCCAIN: No, I do not, nor do I see a necessity for it. I think we go in, carry out operations, whether it be search and destroy for bin Laden or his network. But a permanent occupation of that country or even semi-permanent would be just the height (ph) of foolishness and strategically would make no sense.

ZAHN: And as you know, Senator, the U.S. and Great Britain notified the U.N. Security Council yesterday that they reserve the right to strike against other countries in this campaign.

What countries are we looking at?

MCCAIN: Well, I think very obviously Iraq is the first country, but there are others -- Syria, Iran, the Sudan, who have continued to harbor terrorist organizations and actually assist them.

I think that we have invoked the U.N. Charter as far as every nation's right of self-defense of attack. And I believe that this is the first step in preparing, if necessary -- and I emphasize if necessary -- attacks on other countries that may continue to feel that they can, with impunity, harbor terrorist organizations who continue to inflict acts of terror on Americans and our property, which many of these organizations have already done in the case of Khobar Towers, USS Cole, the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the shoot down of the PanAm 103 and other acts of terror.

ZAHN: You mentioned Syria, sir, and a country, which has long been considered a state that sponsor terrorism. And yesterday, Syria ends up with a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Do you have a problem with that?

MCCAIN: I have a problem with it, but I think I can understand that right now, our job is to keep the coalition of moderate Arab states together as we take care of the Afghan situation. It is certainly a contradiction that now Syria should be sitting in the Security Council, but I hope that it causes some maturation there in their government, and hopefully they will respond by ejecting terrorist organizations and renouncing any support of them and actually joining us in this war against terrorism.

ZAHN: Are you optimistic that Syria will cooperate with the U.S. and its allies? Or do you have some doubts?

MCCAIN: Well, I obviously have doubts, but I think the best way to convince them is to succeed in Afghanistan, eliminate bin Laden and overthrow the Taliban and display, as the president has, as the American people have, our steadfastness to see this thing through to the end until all capabilities or the majority of capabilities of any organization or nation to commit acts of terror against the United States have been dramatically reduced or eliminated.

ZAHN: What are the chances that the U.S. will be attacked again on U.S. soil by terrorists as a result of this campaign?

MCCAIN: Well, I think we should be concerned, but I think Americans are on the alert. I think our law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies are on the job. I think Americans should be very alert, but frightened -- no. And I think there is every likelihood that we can foil any attempts at retaliation, and I am confident of that.

ZAHN: All right. Senator John McCain, it is always good to see you -- thanks so much for joining us this morning.

MCCAIN: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: Appreciate your time.

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