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American Morning

What Kind of Support Can U.S. Expect?

Aired March 19, 2003 - 08:39   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: So if there is a war, what kind of support can the U.S. expect?
Joining us once again this morning, a very busy man, our military analyst, retired Army General David Grange.

Welcome back, general.

GEN. DAVID GRANGE, (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, again.

ZAHN: The ambassador didn't specifically state how the French might help, although he did indicate they have some special equipment. What is it they could add?

GRANGE: Well, they could provide some equipment just like some of the other countries already have providing in Kuwait to the coalition force or that's follow-on equipment. It may be chemical, biological detection or decontamination equipment. It may be post-war support.

The support from allies will come in four general areas. One, it will be for combat, or post combat. The other is just moral support, just like the 30 countries that said we support the war. Some of those happen to be Muslim countries, and who would ever have guessed that Afghanistan is one of those countries. Six months ago, who would have thought that? Also, you have support of bases and airspace. Airspace is very critical. And then the combination of, like I said, post-war support, which is going to be quite a challenge.

ZAHN: I want to come back to this airspace part of the equation after we put some graphics up to reinforce a little bit of what you're saying. The State Department released a list yesterday of what they described as the coalition of the willing, 30 nations in all. Most of them will not be participating in any direct combat. Many like Bulgaria will offer the use of its airspace. Tell us about the importance of the use of the airspace and the use of airports to the troops in the Gulf.

GRANGE: Well, the bases, whether it be sea or air, are critical for staging, for rearming, refueling and just moving from the United States of America over to the Middle East, or from Europe or elsewhere to support the effort. The airspace shortens the distance for strike aircraft. As an example, airspace over Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, those three countries are critical to the air space, so not all of the air sorties are coming from one direction, so you can get to targets faster, and it relieves some of the demand on a very critical resource that the coalition has, and that's refueling aircraft. So the basing and overflight rights are very critical, as it is for ground rights for movement of ground troops.

ZAHN: Let's for a minute talk about the country offering combat troops. Australian prime minister offered up some 2,000 combat troops. Can you expand on that and what other kind of help the U.S. and Britain might be getting on that front?

GRANGE: The 2,000 troops from Australia, those troops are already in theater. They're working on command-and-control staff positions. They have some special operating forces that are quite capable, and they have some combat troops and combat aircraft as well to support the coalition forces. And 2,000 troops that are trained well is a substantial number for a fight like this.

Now, a lot of the other forces that are going to participate, we're not sure exactly whether we'll have it there in time for the fight when it begins or not.

ZAHN: Spain is among those countries that will not be providing combat troops, but noncombat troops. I guess they are saying that they will provide a hospital vessel, a mine-clearing unit and a team of chemical-detection experts. Run us through your understanding of what other noncombat help might be provided.

GRANGE: Paula, this is extremely important. You know, when you look at 250,000, 300,000 coalition forces there now, let's say the British and the U.S., you know most of those forces are not fighters. It's usually one to four, one to five fighters to support troops, and they're very critical. So these other countries that supply medical support, communications, chemical, biological, radiological detection and decontamination, resupply, driving trucks, all of those things are critical to the effort. And you can't look at the battle that's going to take place in Iraq itself. It has to be tied into other operations like the war on terrorism, and if Japan supports the war on terrorism, the Spanish provide ships on the war on terrorism, that's a key part in supporting this war, because you can't take it separate. They overlap. They're both critical to the success.

ZAHN: General, we appreciate your educating us this morning. I think it's the first day where we've had a clear idea of how some of the pieces of this puzzle are fitting together. Always good to have your input. Thanks.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

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 March 19, 2003 - 08:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: So if there is a war, what kind of support can the U.S. expect?
Joining us once again this morning, a very busy man, our military analyst, retired Army General David Grange.

Welcome back, general.

GEN. DAVID GRANGE, (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, again.

ZAHN: The ambassador didn't specifically state how the French might help, although he did indicate they have some special equipment. What is it they could add?

GRANGE: Well, they could provide some equipment just like some of the other countries already have providing in Kuwait to the coalition force or that's follow-on equipment. It may be chemical, biological detection or decontamination equipment. It may be post-war support.

The support from allies will come in four general areas. One, it will be for combat, or post combat. The other is just moral support, just like the 30 countries that said we support the war. Some of those happen to be Muslim countries, and who would ever have guessed that Afghanistan is one of those countries. Six months ago, who would have thought that? Also, you have support of bases and airspace. Airspace is very critical. And then the combination of, like I said, post-war support, which is going to be quite a challenge.

ZAHN: I want to come back to this airspace part of the equation after we put some graphics up to reinforce a little bit of what you're saying. The State Department released a list yesterday of what they described as the coalition of the willing, 30 nations in all. Most of them will not be participating in any direct combat. Many like Bulgaria will offer the use of its airspace. Tell us about the importance of the use of the airspace and the use of airports to the troops in the Gulf.

GRANGE: Well, the bases, whether it be sea or air, are critical for staging, for rearming, refueling and just moving from the United States of America over to the Middle East, or from Europe or elsewhere to support the effort. The airspace shortens the distance for strike aircraft. As an example, airspace over Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, those three countries are critical to the air space, so not all of the air sorties are coming from one direction, so you can get to targets faster, and it relieves some of the demand on a very critical resource that the coalition has, and that's refueling aircraft. So the basing and overflight rights are very critical, as it is for ground rights for movement of ground troops.

ZAHN: Let's for a minute talk about the country offering combat troops. Australian prime minister offered up some 2,000 combat troops. Can you expand on that and what other kind of help the U.S. and Britain might be getting on that front?

GRANGE: The 2,000 troops from Australia, those troops are already in theater. They're working on command-and-control staff positions. They have some special operating forces that are quite capable, and they have some combat troops and combat aircraft as well to support the coalition forces. And 2,000 troops that are trained well is a substantial number for a fight like this.

Now, a lot of the other forces that are going to participate, we're not sure exactly whether we'll have it there in time for the fight when it begins or not.

ZAHN: Spain is among those countries that will not be providing combat troops, but noncombat troops. I guess they are saying that they will provide a hospital vessel, a mine-clearing unit and a team of chemical-detection experts. Run us through your understanding of what other noncombat help might be provided.

GRANGE: Paula, this is extremely important. You know, when you look at 250,000, 300,000 coalition forces there now, let's say the British and the U.S., you know most of those forces are not fighters. It's usually one to four, one to five fighters to support troops, and they're very critical. So these other countries that supply medical support, communications, chemical, biological, radiological detection and decontamination, resupply, driving trucks, all of those things are critical to the effort. And you can't look at the battle that's going to take place in Iraq itself. It has to be tied into other operations like the war on terrorism, and if Japan supports the war on terrorism, the Spanish provide ships on the war on terrorism, that's a key part in supporting this war, because you can't take it separate. They overlap. They're both critical to the success.

ZAHN: General, we appreciate your educating us this morning. I think it's the first day where we've had a clear idea of how some of the pieces of this puzzle are fitting together. Always good to have your input. Thanks.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

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