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American Morning
U.S. Soldier Sustained Injuries Today During Mine-Clearing Operation at Bagram Airport
Aired December 18, 2001 - 08:03 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: CNN has learned a U.S. soldier sustained injuries today during a mine clearing operation at Bagram Airport. Officials say the injury is not life threatening. This news as three U.S. Marines injured in a mine clearing operation at Kandahar Airport have now been transported out of Afghanistan. One actually lost a foot in the explosion.
It is a reminder of the danger left by decades of war. Will Afghanistan ever be safe from landmines? Daryn Kagan is standing by in Atlanta with some answers -- good morning, Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, good morning to you. The problem of landmines is nothing new for Afghanistan. As you mentioned, the country has been dealing with the threat throughout 22 years of war. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) experts, actually tomorrow, will restart efforts to rid of Afghanistan of landmines.
We have one of the experts, Bob McPherson. He is with Care International, a group that is very interested in getting that cleanup effort going again. In fact, they actually, literally, wrote the book on landmines. It's the safety handbook that the United Nations uses -- Bob, welcome and thanks for joining us...
BOB MCPHERSON, CATE INTERNATIONAL: Thank you.
... here on CNN.
MCPHERSON: Thanks.
KAGAN: First, let's go to the news of the day of what's happening near the Bagram Airport. This is an area that you visited within the last six or seven months.
MCPHERSON: Yes.
KAGAN: What can you tell us about it in terms of landmines?
MCPHERSON: It's not untypical of that whole area. This is a mine-infested country, and Bagram is no different from other areas throughout all of Afghanistan.
KAGAN: And the same challenges that troops and also people, who are returning... MCPHERSON: Absolutely.
KAGAN: ... to that area are going to face. Now, you brought some actual landmines with you. These are deactivated.
MCPHERSON: Absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: ... too carefully here. Show us some of the ones that are going to be very important as these cleanup efforts begin again.
MCPHERSON: Certainly. All right. We'll find this more and more. This is a cluster bomb unit, and it's actually...
KAGAN: This is the one that got so much attention because of the color.
MCPHERSON: Absolutely.
KAGAN: It's yellow just like those food packets.
MCPHERSON: Yes. Unfortunately, yes.
KAGAN: So people go and step up, they don't know if they're seeing a landmine -- or actually this...
(CROSSTALK)
MCPHERSON: Right.
KAGAN: ... cluster bomb...
MCPHERSON: Cluster bomb.
KAGAN: ... or if they're seeing a food packet.
MCPHERSON: Exactly. And, you know, I mean when you get close, you can see the difference, but for kids and some others like that, it can be a problem.
KAGAN: Another one that really attracts kids is called butterfly?
MCPHERSON: Absolutely. These...
KAGAN: They look so -- it just looks like a little toy.
MCPHERSON: Oh, they were introduced during the war with the Soviets, and actually they were painted colors -- very bright colors -- pastel. And they would twirl, float down to the Earth, land on the Earth...
KAGAN: A kid would think this is a toy.
MCPHERSON: A kid picks it up or an adult, and it can even have a delayed fuse. So as you pick it up, somebody can actually put their face in it before it goes off.
KAGAN: And this, because these are attractive and these are difficult to know if they are dangerous, as many as 90 or more people each day injured or killed in Afghanistan from landmines.
MCPHERSON: I suspect that true. In fact, because of just the nature of Afghanistan, it could be double that number, but that's an estimate I heard that I accept.
KAGAN: But the numbers in terms of costs also shocking. As little as $3.00 to produce something like this.
MCPHERSON: Yes.
KAGAN: And yet, as much as $1,000 to remove it.
MCPHERSON: Absolutely.
KAGAN: As those removal efforts begin again, why is it so expensive?
MCPHERSON: Well, they are plastic, and as you say, $3.00, and they last forever. I mean, they are watertight. They'll float. You put them in the ground and they'll stay there. But you have to remove them one at a time. And deminers who do heroic efforts out there...
KAGAN: What kind of people do that? Who signs up for that kind of work?
MCPHERSON: Just in Afghanistan, it's probably the model from which all other mine action programs begin, and that's -- those are national staff or nationals who actually are educated and trained and go about doing it. But it's one at a time, and it's laborious.
KAGAN: But there's no shortcuts.
MCPHERSON: There's no shortcuts.
KAGAN: One by one.
MCPHERSON: And that's why it's so expensive.
KAGAN: One of these good news/bad news situations, families going back to areas that they might have been...
MCPHERSON: Yes.
KAGAN: ... staying away from for as long as 20 years or more, so happy they're getting their land back. What they don't realize, though, they literally might be going back to a minefield.
MCPHERSON: Oh, absolutely right. In fact, much -- a great deal of the work that's been done out there where areas have been cleared, because of the bombing and who knows who has been laying mines around that area, and we may have to reclear or recertify. And now, you have families who are trying to move back in, and it's catastrophic. KAGAN: A very dangerous situation -- a lot of work ahead. But the question is: Will Afghanistan ever be rid of all of these landmines?
MCPHERSON: It's -- we're on the road.
KAGAN: A reasonable goal.
MCPHERSON: I'll tell you we're on the road, and I heard coming over here this morning, a gentleman said that if current standards stay the way they are, and it could take 100 years. It really becomes a resources, and it becomes a manpower available.
KAGAN: But the work begins again.
MCPHERSON: It begins again.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: Bob McPherson with Care -- thank you.
MCPHERSON: Thank you.
KAGAN: And thanks for the handbook.
MCPHERSON: Appreciate it -- thanks.
KAGAN: I appreciate it. And, Paula, back to you.
ZAHN: Thanks, Daryn.
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