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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talk With International Editor Tomas Etzler

Aired January 10, 2003 - 05:35   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: As you know, CNN has people in many parts of the world in hot spots.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and our international editor Tomas Etzler has just got back from, what, the Middle East and Asia?

TOMAS ETZLER, INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: And Afghanistan, yes.

VAUSE: Afghanistan, yes.

ETZLER: Southern Asia. Indeed, I spent 11 weeks on my last trip to Southern Asia, five weeks of it was in Kandahar in the military base with American soldiers. And to then another five weeks in Kabul when I was producing some specials for CNN coverage.

COSTELLO: You know, Afghanistan has sort of fallen off the radar since, you know, the, maybe the pending war with Iraq.

ETZLER: Well, there is a danger that Afghanistan can appear back on that radar, you know, very, very quickly. The situation in Afghanistan is still very, very fragile, very, very volatile. It's not only the fragments of former Taliban apparatus or al Qaeda apparatus, but also Mujahedeens, former Mujahedeens and former warlords. There are still big tensions among them in different provinces in Afghanistan.

VAUSE: And you saw the dangers there in Afghanistan firsthand. You interviewed a U.S. soldier who later died. Tell us about that.

ETZLER: Yes, unfortunately I interviewed in September a U.S. soldier during the life exercises in Kandahar and when I came back, actually, just before Christmas, I've learned that this soldier was killed in eastern Afghanistan. It was a very, very sad coincidence.

VAUSE: Here we're showing a photograph of it now. What's this photograph, Tomas?

ETZLER: This is actually from that exercise during which I met the soldier, whose name was Sergeant Steven Chekoff (ph). It is a life exercise of Delta Company First Battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division. They, the reason why I wanted to do this story is this exercise is taking place at Tarnac Farms (ph). And Tarnac Farms used to be the biggest, one of the biggest Taliban and al Qaeda training camps and training grounds. And now it's being recycled and being used as a training ground for U.S. forces.

VAUSE: And this is another photograph. This is, what, a sunset over Kandahar? Is that right?

ETZLER: Yes. You know, a lot of people ask me, you know, I love Afghanistan. It's a fascinating country, you know. It's a very sad country, a very sad history, and a lot of people ask me, you know, what I like about Afghanistan. And I usually explain it with this photograph. You know, it's a gorgeous sunset west of Kandahar, of course. And, as I said, it's a gorgeous, beautiful country, a rough country and...

COSTELLO: Well, you know, that's so hard for many Americans to believe because the only pictures we see is of the war torn parts of Afghanistan.

ETZLER: Unfortunately. You know, this is what we have seen for the last 23 years. But Afghanistan is a beautiful country with beautiful mountains in the north and beautiful forests, beautiful deserts. It used to be a very popular tourist destination before the whole tragedy started occurring there in the mid-'70s.

VAUSE: The countryside reminds me of Utah.

COSTELLO: Really?

VAUSE: Yes, it's really, really similar.

ETZLER: It is. It is very similar. It's very similar to the American West, Utah or Arizona, you know, or New Mexico, very similar.

VAUSE: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, so finally, your final word on Afghanistan. Will it ever make its way out of its horrible history?

ETZLER: I hope so. Afghans hope so. I think everybody in this world hopes so. There will be, of course, several things need to be fulfilled. You know, first of all, political stability is needed in Afghanistan and Afghanistan at the moment as it is will not survive without a tremendous financial and presence help of the rest of the world.

VAUSE: Yes, that's very true.

COSTELLO: Tomas, thanks so much.

VAUSE: Thanks for this.

ETZLER: Thank you. Thank you very much.

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






Aired January 10, 2003 - 05:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As you know, CNN has people in many parts of the world in hot spots.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and our international editor Tomas Etzler has just got back from, what, the Middle East and Asia?

TOMAS ETZLER, INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: And Afghanistan, yes.

VAUSE: Afghanistan, yes.

ETZLER: Southern Asia. Indeed, I spent 11 weeks on my last trip to Southern Asia, five weeks of it was in Kandahar in the military base with American soldiers. And to then another five weeks in Kabul when I was producing some specials for CNN coverage.

COSTELLO: You know, Afghanistan has sort of fallen off the radar since, you know, the, maybe the pending war with Iraq.

ETZLER: Well, there is a danger that Afghanistan can appear back on that radar, you know, very, very quickly. The situation in Afghanistan is still very, very fragile, very, very volatile. It's not only the fragments of former Taliban apparatus or al Qaeda apparatus, but also Mujahedeens, former Mujahedeens and former warlords. There are still big tensions among them in different provinces in Afghanistan.

VAUSE: And you saw the dangers there in Afghanistan firsthand. You interviewed a U.S. soldier who later died. Tell us about that.

ETZLER: Yes, unfortunately I interviewed in September a U.S. soldier during the life exercises in Kandahar and when I came back, actually, just before Christmas, I've learned that this soldier was killed in eastern Afghanistan. It was a very, very sad coincidence.

VAUSE: Here we're showing a photograph of it now. What's this photograph, Tomas?

ETZLER: This is actually from that exercise during which I met the soldier, whose name was Sergeant Steven Chekoff (ph). It is a life exercise of Delta Company First Battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division. They, the reason why I wanted to do this story is this exercise is taking place at Tarnac Farms (ph). And Tarnac Farms used to be the biggest, one of the biggest Taliban and al Qaeda training camps and training grounds. And now it's being recycled and being used as a training ground for U.S. forces.

VAUSE: And this is another photograph. This is, what, a sunset over Kandahar? Is that right?

ETZLER: Yes. You know, a lot of people ask me, you know, I love Afghanistan. It's a fascinating country, you know. It's a very sad country, a very sad history, and a lot of people ask me, you know, what I like about Afghanistan. And I usually explain it with this photograph. You know, it's a gorgeous sunset west of Kandahar, of course. And, as I said, it's a gorgeous, beautiful country, a rough country and...

COSTELLO: Well, you know, that's so hard for many Americans to believe because the only pictures we see is of the war torn parts of Afghanistan.

ETZLER: Unfortunately. You know, this is what we have seen for the last 23 years. But Afghanistan is a beautiful country with beautiful mountains in the north and beautiful forests, beautiful deserts. It used to be a very popular tourist destination before the whole tragedy started occurring there in the mid-'70s.

VAUSE: The countryside reminds me of Utah.

COSTELLO: Really?

VAUSE: Yes, it's really, really similar.

ETZLER: It is. It is very similar. It's very similar to the American West, Utah or Arizona, you know, or New Mexico, very similar.

VAUSE: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, so finally, your final word on Afghanistan. Will it ever make its way out of its horrible history?

ETZLER: I hope so. Afghans hope so. I think everybody in this world hopes so. There will be, of course, several things need to be fulfilled. You know, first of all, political stability is needed in Afghanistan and Afghanistan at the moment as it is will not survive without a tremendous financial and presence help of the rest of the world.

VAUSE: Yes, that's very true.

COSTELLO: Tomas, thanks so much.

VAUSE: Thanks for this.

ETZLER: Thank you. Thank you very much.

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