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CNN Live Saturday

Pentagon Authorizes Commando Raid in Afghanistan

Aired October 20, 2001 - 15:06   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And now the U.S. commando raid going on in Afghanistan. A senior Bush administration official calls it a significant new phase of Operation Enduring Freedom. CNN military affairs correspondent now, Jamie McIntyre, joining us from the Pentagon. What's the latest from there, Jamie?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we did get some new details now, from that commando raid, which is the first acknowledged ground action in Afghanistan by U.S. military forces, and also some new video released from the Pentagon showing the preparations and carrying out of this -- really the first U.S. Paratroop assault since the 1989 Panama Invasion.

More than 100 U.S. Army Rangers descended on an airfield near Kandahar in Taliban-controlled southern Afghanistan, jumping out of C- 130s. You can see in some of the infrared imagery taken from another plane flying overhead, an escort plane, more than 100 of these people, about 40 or so dropping out of each plane. You can see three of them here in this picture.

This is the first acknowledged U.S. ground operation in Afghanistan. It had two primary objectives -- to search and secure the airfield, and then raid one of the compounds of Taliban leader Muhammad Omar, one of the compounds that has not yet been bombed from the air.

The elite Commandos, we're told, received only light resistance. They basically gathered intelligence from the buildings, destroyed a small cache of weapons, but captured no prisoners. They also left behind a calling card, a sort of a photograph of the World Trade Center over the word "Freedom Endures." But again, they did not capture anyone at these locations.

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GENERAL RICHARD MYERS, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: We did not expect to find significant Taliban leadership at these locations. We, of course, were hoping we would, but we did not expect it and we did not find senior Taliban or al Qaeda leadership.

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MCINTYRE: Now, one of the messages that General Myers said should be taken from this is that the United States if capable at a time of its choosing conducting the kind of operations it wants to conduct. Myers insists that the mission was a success, that its objective primarily to gather intelligence was accomplished, and that intelligence is now being evaluated.

One thing the Pentagon would not say is how those 100 or so U.S. Army Rangers got out of Afghanistan after their mission was completed in several hours. But with that airfield secured, the planes that brought them in, those C-130s, could have landed and simply taken them back out -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Does it appear, of course, from what you're getting there, that this is the beginning of a larger mission? Could we see, indeed, more forces like this moving in?

MCINTYRE: Well, Pentagon sources indicate it's unlikely the United States will conduct any sort of operation in which it has to take and hold territory on the ground. That would complicate things immensely and also give the Taliban a target that they can retaliate against.

What you are likely to see -- and sometimes not see, because some of these missions won't be disclosed -- is more of this kind of in- and-out commando-style raid, hitting when intelligence indicates that there is something to hit. And sometimes, as I said, they'll be acknowledged, as they were today, along with a video illustration of what happened, and sometimes they won't talk about it at all.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jamie. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thank you, Jamie.

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