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CNN Live Today

U.S., British Continue Search for al Qaeda

Aired May 03, 2002 - 13:34   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: CNN military analyst Major Don Shepperd now joins us with more on the operations in Afghanistan. Don, it's been a while. Good afternoon, welcome back.

RETIRED MAJOR GENERAL DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Welcome to you, Bill.

HEMMER: Well, thank you, sir. Listen, there is a lot being talked about, but there's not a whole lot that is known. And Donald Rumsfeld has been somewhat reluctant at the briefings at the Pentagon to even talk about this. Do you see significance there?

SHEPPERD: Well, appropriately, we are left guessing. Secretary Rumsfeld has repeatedly said he's not discussing ongoing operations because it puts troops in danger. He has also said on the reports that we are being allowed hot pursuit into Pakistan, that he prefers to let leaders of other countries characterize the things going on in their countries. So, Pakistan hasn't said anything and Secretary Rumsfeld hasn't confirmed anything. But it is fairly clear that a fairly significant military operation is going on there south of Jalalabad and east of Kabul in the mountains.

HEMMER: Why are the British leading this?

SHEPPERD: Well, I think it is like a football team. Remember, General Franks doesn't have huge numbers of forces available to him. There's only reportedly about 4,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and then the British forces in the international security assistance force are about another 4,000 there. So, troops can be rotated in from the surrounding countries to go on these combat operations. So, it is like giving the American troops a rest while the British lead. It may be the Canadians in lead next time. But, it's prudent rotation of troops.

HEMMER: The numbers are high, about 1,000, the word we're getting. Does that suggest to you that the U.S. and the British are not relying any longer on local forces to do their dirty work?

SHEPPERD: Well, much has been made about that. But let me tell you, you do rely on the local forces. You rely on them for support. You rely on them for security. You rely on them for intelligence. So, no matter what you want to do unilaterally, you can't do it without the support of the Afghan troops and even the tribal warlords in these particular areas. So you have to stay with them there. It is just -- it is not that we don't trust them. It's that we are more capable from a combat standpoint. But a thousand troops inserted in the middle of an area is not a lot of troops. You have to provide security for yourself as well.

HEMMER: Yes. And the Pentagon has said that this area has yet to be explored. And my first thought when I heard that was why not. Is there any significance about this area as to why troops haven't been on the ground there before?

SHEPPERD: No. Again, I think we have a limited number of troops and a limited ability to search areas. So what we're doing is amassing intelligence. We're putting people on the ground to watch. We're using the Afghan troops to tell us where to search, and then we're going, when we have got targets of opportunity that we think are reliable. Remember, people coming from Pakistan, if that's where they are coming, across the border, can't carry all the things with them they need to fight. So they have to store it somewhere. And it appears that that's what we are going after.

HEMMER: Yes. General, what about this point, though? To this point, we are getting reports that no al Qaeda forces have been located as a result of this operation. If that's the case, and that indicates that the al Qaeda troops are gone, possibly in Pakistan, does that mean Afghanistan has been flushed clean and now the door is open to continue the conflict in a widening sense in that neighboring country of Pakistan to the east?

SHEPPERD: I don't take it that way at all, Bill. What I take is that Pakistan has been a sanctuary for these troops in this tribal area with loose control of the Pakistani government over that particular area for centuries, not just during this war.

And so, what apparently happened is they have received -- they have gotten refuge there. Now, we are gaining intelligence. We're helping the Pakistanis with that intelligence to put pressure on these forces. The idea would be to get them out of the tribal homes and villages in which they are being supported, to find out where they are operating, and then to go after them as they come out into the open. But it's going to take a long time to do this. This isn't going to be over in a week, Bill.

HEMMER: The British call it Operation Snipe. It is my understanding that a snipe is a bird that's very different to locate for hunters. Appropriately named, I would say.

Thank you. Major General Don Shepperd, good to talk to you again.

SHEPPERD: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: And we'll talk again next week. Thank you, sir.

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