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CNN Live Saturday

White House Sends Mixed Diplomatic Messages

Aired November 24, 2001 - 17:08   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.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN ANCHOR: It sometimes seems like confusing news coming from the frontlines in Afghanistan. And it's also a mixed bag on the diplomatic front.

CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace has more on the difficult times ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The White House calls the peaceful surrender of hundreds of Taliban soldiers a positive development, but says the U.S. still has a long way to go in Afghanistan. And in his weekly radio address, President Bush warns for the third time this week that difficult steps lie ahead.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The fight we have begun will not be quickly or easily finished. Our enemies hide and plot in many nations. They are devious and ruthless.

WALLACE: White House officials say the President wants to keep reminding Americans, just as he did in Fort Campbell, Kentucky that despite the military successes so far, hunting down Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda operatives won't be easy.

BUSH: Our enemies hide in sophisticated cave complexes, located in some of the most mountainous and rugged territory.

WALLACE: Another potential challenge, the surrender of foreign fighters, including Arabs. Chechens and Pakistanis. The U.S. has made it clear it does not want these soldiers to be allowed to flee.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Any idea that those people should be let loose on any basis at all to leave that country and to go bring terror to other countries and destabilize other countries is unacceptable.

WALLACE: But Pakistan, a key U.S. ally, has expressed concern about the fate of Pakistanis fighting alongside the Taliban. The Northern Alliance claims that Pakistan has air lifted some of its nationals out of Konduz, but the Pentagon categorically rejects those reports.

Still, the U.S. faces a delicate balancing act. It needs Pakistan's help for intelligence information and does a place to position troops to search for bin Laden. So it must sensitive to the country's concerns.

TERESITA SCHAFFER, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC & INT'L STUDIES: The whole issue is a reminder that, on this issue, we've got some difference with Pakistan and that the kinds of issues that where we have differences with Pakistan are going to come up more frequently as time goes on.

WALLACE: And as time goes on, holding the coalition together will get more difficult, especially as Mr. Bush warns the battle will extend beyond Afghanistan.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, near Camp David, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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