Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Operation Anaconda Progresses Despite Inclement Weather

Aired March 08, 2002 - 05:01   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to Afghanistan. Stormy weather has been a concern for U.S.-led forces targeting al Qaeda positions in the eastern Afghan mountains.

CNN's Martin Savidge joins us from Bagram Air Base with an update on Operation Anaconda. Good morning, Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Weather is a problem up there in the mountains, not so bad down here. But there is heavy snows falling in the higher elevations. Still, the military says they were planning for just that circumstance. They flew in extra men and extra supplies before the weather closed in. They actually think it may clear sooner than expected.

Operation Anaconda, as you heard military officials say, is squeezing the enemy like the snake that it was named after. Colonel Joe Smith is the man who is the chief of staff for Operation Anaconda and he said basically now that the enemy has been badly hurt and that 50 percent of the Taliban force, of al Qaeda as well, has now been destroyed. That is a significant number. They had put the number of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters at one point possibly over 1,000 so that could possibly mean enemy casualties of well over 500.

He also said this was the pocket that they've been looking for, these are the true hard core elements of the Taliban and al Qaeda, these are the people responsible for September 11.

What they are not saying is whether or not Osama bin Laden is among those that may be there. They simply will not speculate on that fact. They do believe, though, upper leadership is among those that are still in the fight.

A short while ago I had the opportunity to talk to Colonel Frank Wiercinski. He is essentially the man in command of all the ground forces involved in Operation Anaconda and he says that they have had great success over the past few days.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. FRANK WIERCINSKI, COMMANDER, TASK FORCE RAKASAN, U.S. ARMY: Task Force Rakasan is continuing to conduct security patrols, continuing to exploit cave complexes that we come upon that have been supplied over months, it appears, with arms caches and supplies to sustain a very long campaign. We exploit those caves, find what we can in there and destroy all the arms and ammunition that have been stockpiled in there. We also continue to do patrolling to ensure that we are secure in the positions that we command right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The commander does say that there was some light fighting in the north of the operational zone last night, heavier fighting in the south. That is pretty much the way it has been. I asked him if the worst of the fighting, perhaps, is behind us now. He said no, he couldn't answer that one. He was not going to second guess the Taliban. And also I asked him if he had any idea when it might wrap up. The answer to that was also no. But he did finish by saying that when this mission is complete, it will be a full success and will be remembered as a key turning point in the war against terrorism -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, let's expound on that a little. What does he mean by a full success? Does that mean there are no new targets for the future?

SAVIDGE: Well, what I think he means by that is that this pocket, this significant number of al Qaeda and Taliban could be the last major pocket that they are going to find. That's not to say that this will mean the elimination of all terrorism threats against the United States or the Western coalition allies, but it does mean that those that will be left in the outskirts of Afghanistan will be few and small in number, and they will continue to be hunted down.

But he pointed out that they were glad to see the large numbers focused in one area. As he put it, it makes their job of finding and killing them a lot easier.

COSTELLO: All right, Martin Savidge joining us live from Bagram Air Base this morning.

Thank you.

The widow of Senior Airman Jason Cunningham remembered her husband as a loving father who was devoted to the military. A video of Cunningham and his family was played during a memorial at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia. Cunningham was one of seven U.S. servicemen killed Monday in Operation Anaconda.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com