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CNN Live Today

Operation Anaconda Moves Into Exploitation Phase

Aired March 15, 2002 - 14:07   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: From the Pentagon, Rumsfeld saying today that Operation Anaconda now moving into that exploitation phase -- we talked a little bit about that yesterday. To define more on that, Barbara Starr back at the Pentagon with us now -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Bill. Well, what U.S. and coalition forces are doing is searching dozens and dozens of caves in this area of eastern Afghanistan where Operation Anaconda has been going on. They are looking for any last remnants of the al Qaeda, munitions, weapons, intelligence information. They're just conducting a last series of final sweeps through the area. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warns that the al Qaeda is definitely still a force to be reckoned with.

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DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There are still pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters at a number of locations in Afghanistan, and certainly there are others just across their various borders of that country that would like to come back. They are determined to attack U.S. military forces and U.S. interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere to attempt to show their strength.

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STARR: At his press briefing here earlier today, Rumsfeld also said that the Pentagon is getting ready to unveil its plans for how it will conduct military commissions, commissions to try Taliban and al Qaeda detainees that have been held by U.S. for some months now. He wouldn't reveal too many details, but we are led to believe that these commissions will have a great deal of security around them because of the ongoing terrorist threat, security for the judges, the juries, the members of those commissions.

And back in Afghanistan, one other thing. We are now being told that a lot of consideration by military planners is going on about whether or not the Pentagon needs to send more troops to Afghanistan. No final decisions yet, but a rotation of troops is coming up in the next days ahead, and the question is whether or not this rotation could lead to some of these troops actually staying there and a plus- up of troops. The thinking is if they want to do more operations like Anaconda, go after more pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda, they may need more troops on the ground to actually do that. It's a very manpower- intensive kind of operation. So no final decisions yet, but there is going to be a small plus- up of U.S. troops in Kuwait. Two battalions which have been there on routine training exercises will be coming home, but the Pentagon is going to send three battalions out to Kuwait. That's a plus-up of several hundred troops. They want more boots on the ground, more soldiers training in Kuwait -- Bill.

HEMMER: Got it, Barbara. Thank you. Very interesting. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon there.

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