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CNN Sunday Morning

The U.S. Rangers' Raid in Afghanistan

Aired October 21, 2001 - 09:04   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: CNN military analyst general David Grange is here to take a closer look at the mission and the message of that hit and run commando raid that took place on Friday in Afghanistan.

First let's talk about that transition of going from bombing at 10,000 feet to boots on the ground. Is this a significant turning of the corner, or is this just another part of an overall operation?

GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think it's a part of an overall operation, but it's very significant. It truly shows commitment of America to this campaign, in winning this war. Not only do the people see that we had troops on the ground, in harm's way, and not the standoff 10,000 type involvement, which is dangerous, but it's not -- an agrarian-type society, like these tribes in Afghanistan, they understand people on the ground. That's what they understand. So to them, that means true commitment. It's very important.

SAVIDGE: One of the things that struck me about this, at Pentagon briefing we did get some detail, but it was the video that came out. We have been told that most of these operations would be conducted outside of the public eye, yet we not only hear about the event, but we actually see footage coming from it.

How much of it was truly about a mission and how much was about a message that was being delivered either to the American public or the Taliban?

GRANGE: Right and -- well, the message itself was probably more powerful than the assault, the raid on the airfield, on the command and control facility; very important. The films that we saw are just basic techniques, the same things used in training. Not covert, very overt, but very capable.

And it showed the world the competence of our military being able to do one of these type of operations. And I think had an effect on the enemy psychologically, that we can do this at a place of choosing that we want, when we want to do it.

SAVIDGE: And not just any place; reportedly it was in the area of Kandahar, which is, of course, the spiritual center and the sort of capital for, at least, the Taliban. Jumping right at their front door, that sends a very clear message to them. GRANGE: A very clear message. And the ability to do it as well as the soldiers did complete that mission and the air crews that put them in, and possibly took them out, very well executed. And really, again, the world sees that this commitment that the United States has, and I think it will booster the coalition, the alliance against terrorism.

SAVIDGE: Now about going so public with this, as the Pentagon did, as a force commander at one time, what would your concerns be now for the follow-up operations? Obviously, the Taliban well aware of what could be done.

GRANGE: Well aware of what could be done, but some of the stuff that we saw on the tapes, they can't do anything about it. We do own the sky. Surprise is still important. And so, you know, these things can be discussed in only so much detail, obviously, because there's a lot of different tactics, techniques and procedures that our forces can use.

But I think the importance of just showing that piece of tape to the world at the same time we have images on the screen of children being wounded by air strikes, which -- that's being propaganda from that, for the Taliban and al Qaeda -- we have to show our commitment. And I think it's very important that we did that on television.

SAVIDGE: And the message being that the troops on the ground have a better ability to discern civilians as opposed to, say, from high altitude?

GRANGE: Well, not so much that. I mean, you know, these air missions are very dangerous, and it shows a commitment as well. But the point is that they show that we'll put people on the ground in harm's way in that type of capacity, where there's civilians on the ground. It just resides better with the civilian populace.

SAVIDGE: The fact that they went in and actually parachuted over the airport there, that suggests clearly they did not expect a lot of resistance on the ground?

GRANGE: Well, they're going to do the type of operation where they have the benefit of survival, obviously. There is always risk. But they jumped on the objective, obviously, because of the threat analysis that was done from the available intelligence for this operation.

And most likely, the threat was minimal. And there was probably some type of air strikes prior to that to soften up any resistance that might have been there.

SAVIDGE: Was this a textbook operation from what you saw?

GRANGE: I would say it's textbook in what Rangers train for. An airfield season objective from land, sea or air. In this case, from the air. The way they deliberately cleared and captured the airfield and the surrounding facilities, and then, if they did, move on rapidly out of the area. A very classic raid. SAVIDGE: The videotape has been very striking. Is it routine for the military to record, video-wise, an operation like this?

GRANGE: Sometimes they're recorded for just review, to go over what happened, how to do things better the next time, what they call an after-action review in the military, and to also capture timing and other things that may have gone on in the operation.

But yes, the capability's there. And it truly is a great capability to use later for training.

SAVIDGE: All right, General. Well, thank you very much. Once again, reviewing what happened on Friday. And as always, it's a great help to have your insights.

GRANGE: Thank you.

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