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CNN Live Today

U.S. Could Start New Mission in Yemen

Aired March 12, 2002 - 14:22   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The very latest on Operation Anaconda: The war on terror appears to shifting to the shoulders now of Afghan fighters, slightly anyway. Meanwhile, CNN has word now the possibility of a new U.S. mission in Yemen. Back to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, who is shaking down both of these fronts. Barbara, good afternoon again.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon again, Bill. Well, the Pentagon has been thinking about sending troops to Yemen for some time. But it now appears it's very close to happening. An execute order that would send the first of several dozen U.S. troops to Yemen is expected by the end of this week, possibly the first of next week.

These troops will go to Yemen initially to train and equip the Yemeni military, which is poorly equipped, in dealing with the terrorism problem inside their own country. Al Qaeda cells are widely believed, of course, to be operating inside that country. But officials tell us this train and equip mission could rapidly grow to be much broader, much deeper, a mission to assist and advice the Yemeni military. This could bring U.S. troops into more direct action in that country, in terms of helping the Yemini military plan and potentially execute missions, advising them on tactics and specific missions in going after suspected terrorist cells in that country.

We are also told, as of today, there is an advance team of 20 U.S. military personnel already in Yemen getting ready for the rest of the troops, which, as we say, could arrive in several days -- Bill.

HEMMER: Barbara, on Operation Anaconda, Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday this mopping up phase was underway. But Tommy Franks, just two days ago, was warning that it is not winding down, not mopping up, in his words. Curious to know from the Pentagon's perspective what do we believe here?

STARR: Well, there is mopping up and there is mopping up. The initial phases of Operation Anaconda clearly are winding down. They believe perhaps there's less than 200 of the original 800 to 1,000 fighters up in those mountains, but there still are smaller pockets. They're still going to go after them. They still believe that it is possible and, in fact, very likely some Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have escaped that region further into southern Afghanistan or across the border into Pakistan. But what was raised at the briefing today a couple of hours ago here in the Pentagon is the notion that, yes, there are more pockets of al Qaeda across Afghanistan. U.S. intelligence and reconnaissance is looking at those pockets very, very closely, trying to determine exactly what's going on. And it's almost inevitable that there will be additional U.S. military action against these other pockets across Afghanistan -- Bill.

Got it. Barbara, thank you.

All righty. More military perspective now. Retired General Don Shepperd standing by live in Washington with us now as well. Don, good afternoon.

RETIRED MAJOR GENERAL DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hello, Bill.

HEMMER: Just to follow up on what Barbara Starr talking about there, Marty Savidge reported about two hours ago that Operation Anaconda may be used as a "model" for further action in Afghanistan. One would think from that that it's been rather successful.

SHEPPERD: Yes. My impression is it's been very successful. And I think the model he is talking about is that the U.S. forces go in with high-tech equipment, based upon excellent intelligence. We use air support. We go in on the frontlines and do some very hard work. At the same time, we have blocking forces. We use our coalition, our allied forces, if you will, as part of our initial forces. And then we also bring in the Afghans at the appropriate time, not only as part of initial force, a small part, but as part of the follow-on force. Just makes sense, Bill.

HEMMER: And, listen, General, you heard me talking with Barbara Starr. Winding down, mopping up, a question of semantics at this point or not?

SHEPPERD: No. I think Barbara is right on the money there. There's mopping up and there is mopping up. There may be mopping up in this particular (UNINTELLIGIBLE) around Gardez. But there are many other places in Afghanistan where we're identifying pockets that we will go after. So, mopping up all over Afghanistan may take an extended period of time and still be very dangerous, Bill.

HEMMER: You may have seen the report, General, that there was talk apparently in some circles in eastern Afghanistan for the Afghan leaders to allow Taliban elements al Qaeda elements simply to flee if they just surrendered. Apparently, that went nowhere. A lesson learned from Tora Bora and previous conflicts there?

SHEPPERD: Well, perhaps a lesson learned. There is also talk, of course, of getting these people to surrender, as you've said, and basically that just makes sense. We're not out to just kill everybody that's in Afghanistan just because they are holding a gun. We want to bring them to justice, which means we'll kill them if they won't surrender. But what you don't want is escaping through some type of back- door agreement, and then going into Pakistan and come back and fight another day. So we are going to be very, very careful about any surrender talks that are being negotiated by Afghans or other people.

HEMMER: And quickly here, the news on Yemen. Does it surprise you, (a); and (b), what do you compare to at this point, knowing the information that we have? Philippines, Georgia, what?

SHEPPERD: Yes. Vintage tactics of the United States, we go and we establish teams that help to train the forces of other nations and equip them so they can use the equipment and do it themselves. And then at the right time, we provide them with intelligence information, including perhaps overhead photographs of areas, particularly useful in an area like Yemen where we have some wild back country. I would compare it not to the Philippines, where we are more actively engaged with a larger number of troops, but the activities in Georgia, where we have about 40 to 80, maybe up to 150 troops training and advising.

HEMMER: Listed, I'm almost out of time. Based on what you've heard from your sources at the Pentagon, how did this operation go? Would you grade it? Would you put it in a category, classify it in any way?

SHEPPERD: Yes, I would. Very successful operation. Although we lost troops, that's what happens when you go to war against an enemy. This is not a -- this is not a casualty-free, either in Afghanistan or other places. We're going to suffer more casualties and more losses in the war on terrorism worldwide, Bill.

HEMMER: Got it. Videotape from the Pentagon released earlier today, saw it right there. Don, thanks. Major General Don Shepperd. Talk to you later this week, OK.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

HEMMER: Good deal.

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