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American Morning
What's Ultimate Goal of U.S.-Led Forces in Afghanistan?
Aired December 13, 2001 - 09:42 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: From the air and from the ground, U.S.- led forces continue to pound Tora Bora. What's the ultimate goal? And is it the same as that as American Afghan allies. That's a question for our military analyst, retired Major Air Force General Don Shepherd.
Good to have you with us. This is the first chance I've had today talk with you this morning.
So, general, before we move on to B-1 bomber facts, just a quick reaction to a piece that ran in "The Washington Post" this morning that suggested there might be a bit of discord about how far to take this campaign.
Do you believe the goal of the campaign is to defeat Al Qaeda or annihilate Al Qaeda?
DON SHEPPARD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think the goal of the United States as far as Al Qaeda goes is very simple, either to kill them, or have them surrender or capture them. The goal of the Eastern Alliance is a little bit different: to get them out of Afghanistan. So there is a little bit of a mismatch there. But in the end, all of us want the Al Qaeda want the Al-Qaeda gone from Afghanistan, imprisoned or dead, one or the other, Paula. I don't see the endgame as being much different.
ZAHN: So you don't think there is a big thing to reconcile here.
SHEPPARD: No, I don't. The idea behind the United States all along has been to continue to put pressure on Taliban and Al Qaeda, and that appears to be exactly what we're doing. We are after them with air power, as the Eastern Alliance is making advances into the Tora Bora area, into those caves. I see us as working together. There may be some minor differences, but the end game is the same -- you're gone.
ZAHN: Let's move on to the fate of the B-1b bomber, that $200 millionaire aircraft. I want to replay for you part of an interview I did with one of the pilots onboard that plane, a man whose fight name is "Stainless." Let's hear what he said it was like to lose control of his plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STAINLESS: I can't give out details on exactly what went wrong where the aircraft. It is still under investigation. I will say that it became uncontrollable, and we had no other choice, but to eject.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: So, general, as know, this is not the first problem this plane has had. How many crashes have there been so far?
SHEPPARD: Well actually, there is a little over a hundred B-1s built. We got about 93 remaining. There have actually been eight aircraft crashes and six airplane losses. It's been a fairly safe airplane. The overall mishap rate for class a, which is the most serious type accident, Over a million dollars, airplane loss, or someone killed, is it about 3.48 per 100,000. That makes it about 308 of a hundred thousand. The loss rate is 1.7 per hundred thousand flying hours over the history of the airplane. So it's been a pretty safe and effective airplane.
ZAHN: So you don't see this crash inspiring a major change at the Pentagon for its usage.
SHEPPARD: Absolutely not. About a third of the planes are being parked to afford the modernization that's needed for the airplane. But Stainless Steel there in his debriefing described it pretty well. He lost control of the airplane. This was on departure, leaving Diego Garcia for a mission. It's a hydraulically controlled flight control, so it's a very early speculation. I'm sure Captain Steel doesn't know exactly what happened, but something affected the flight controls. It could be a fire. It could be an engine that throws parts through the hydraulic pumps to control the flight controls, but he lost control and had to eject, and it's a wild ride when you eject from one of those.
ZAHN: Yes, we don't know how fast that plane was going. It could travel to 900 miles an hour. What do you imagine it was traveling at that point?
SHEPPARD: Well, it could travel that fast. My guess is after departure, a hundred miles out, is probably the 200-300 knot range, if you will, and he would try to slow it down as much as possible for ejection. On the other hand, if he lost control and the airplane was pointed down, it could have been going very fast. But no matter how fast you're going, when you pull those handles on the ejection seat, it is a wild rocket ride out of that airplane.
ZAHN: Well, they were lucky they escaped with such minor injuries. I guess that's a little bit of good news there.
General shepherd, thank you so much for your insights.
SHEPPARD: Pleasure.
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