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CNN Live Saturday
NATO Takes Over Peacekeeping In Afghanistan
Aired August 09, 2003 - 18:25 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.
ARENA: NATO takes command of the peacekeeping force in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, but member countries are split on the mission their troops are taking on.
Ambassador William Taylor is the U.S. State Department's coordinator for Afghanistan. He is just back from that country. And he joins us from our Washington bureau.
Ambassador, thank you for joining us.
WILLIAM TAYLOR, AMB., STATE DEPT. COORDINATOR FOR AFGHANISTAN: Thank you, Kelli.
ARENA: Well, as we just said, you are just back from Afghanistan. Give us an update on the situation there?
TAYLOR: In Afghanistan, the security situation is a concern for us all. We are making progress, both on the security side and on the reconstruction side.
We're looking now to take a look how we can accelerate that progress. Part of the work that we're doing right now, as you indicated, has NATO coming in to help on the security side in Kabul.
ARENA: Well, define progress for us, sir?
TAYLOR: When we arrived, the situation you'll recall was very bad. On the humanitarian side, there was no reconstruction going on. The politics were terrible. The Taliban had just been defeated. Al Qaeda had been routed. And there was nothing going on in terms of reconstruction. We were able to work with a new government, the government of President Karzai. On the political side, he has been able to establish a coalition government.
That was not easy. He was able to pull into his government several factions that had been working together to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda. And so on the political side, we have made some progress - he's made some progress. We're glad to be able to support him.
On the reconstruction side, we've been doing some things that had to be done in order. The first was to being sure that people had enough to eat, to be sure that people had places to live, and be sure that medical service was available for the people of Afghanistan.
And on the humanitarian side, we have now moved past the crisis. The people are not in danger and are now moving forward in several of the areas that have improved their lives.
ARENA: As for U.S. troops, though, I mean their primary role remains hunting for al Qaeda operatives, first among them, Osama bin Laden, other Taliban extremists, rather than nation building, isn't that correct?
TAYLOR: Well, that was correct up until recently. You will recall the announcement the Secretary of Defense made when he was in Kabul not very long ago, that we've moved from the combat phase of this effort into the stabilization phase.
So while we still are focusing on tracking down the remnants of al Qaeda, and keeping Taliban down, and pushed out of the country, we are also now sending part of our military out to the regions of the country.
We have four teams, military teams that are around the country right now. We're going to have eight soon. And these teams are focused on improving security and providing reconstruction to these regions.
ARENA: Some debate over whether a larger security force is necessary. Where do you stand?
TAYLOR: I think what we need to do is move into the regions of Afghanistan with more military forces. We are in the process of doing that. We are putting, as I mentioned, eight teams that are comprised of both the civil military, as well as military protection forces, out into these areas where the physical security of the people of Afghanistan has been questioned, has been challenged by people who have not been focused on, have not been responsive to President Karzai's government.
So we are moving with military and civilian people out into the regions to extend the influence of the central government out there to improve security and to begin the serious work on reconstruction.
ARENA: Some Americans may wonder with the upcoming anniversary of the September 11th attacks, when they look at the war on terror, you still have Osama bin Laden on his first in command, Ayman al- Zawahiri, out on the loose, intelligence indicating that they could still be along that Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Some Americans may think, well, what is it that -- why has that task not yet been completed?
TAYLOR: The task that we're facing right now, the most important thing we're doing in Afghanistan right now is to build up a capacity for this government -- and it is a good government -- to control its borders, and to control the country so that never again terrorists could use that country and those regions of Afghanistan to support terrorism and to attack the United States, and to attack the rest of the world. That's the most important thing we can do.
ARENA: All right. Ambassador William Taylor, thank you so much for joining us.
TAYLOR: Thank you very much, Kelli.
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 August 9, 2003 - 18:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARENA: NATO takes command of the peacekeeping force in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, but member countries are split on the mission their troops are taking on.
Ambassador William Taylor is the U.S. State Department's coordinator for Afghanistan. He is just back from that country. And he joins us from our Washington bureau.
Ambassador, thank you for joining us.
WILLIAM TAYLOR, AMB., STATE DEPT. COORDINATOR FOR AFGHANISTAN: Thank you, Kelli.
ARENA: Well, as we just said, you are just back from Afghanistan. Give us an update on the situation there?
TAYLOR: In Afghanistan, the security situation is a concern for us all. We are making progress, both on the security side and on the reconstruction side.
We're looking now to take a look how we can accelerate that progress. Part of the work that we're doing right now, as you indicated, has NATO coming in to help on the security side in Kabul.
ARENA: Well, define progress for us, sir?
TAYLOR: When we arrived, the situation you'll recall was very bad. On the humanitarian side, there was no reconstruction going on. The politics were terrible. The Taliban had just been defeated. Al Qaeda had been routed. And there was nothing going on in terms of reconstruction. We were able to work with a new government, the government of President Karzai. On the political side, he has been able to establish a coalition government.
That was not easy. He was able to pull into his government several factions that had been working together to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda. And so on the political side, we have made some progress - he's made some progress. We're glad to be able to support him.
On the reconstruction side, we've been doing some things that had to be done in order. The first was to being sure that people had enough to eat, to be sure that people had places to live, and be sure that medical service was available for the people of Afghanistan.
And on the humanitarian side, we have now moved past the crisis. The people are not in danger and are now moving forward in several of the areas that have improved their lives.
ARENA: As for U.S. troops, though, I mean their primary role remains hunting for al Qaeda operatives, first among them, Osama bin Laden, other Taliban extremists, rather than nation building, isn't that correct?
TAYLOR: Well, that was correct up until recently. You will recall the announcement the Secretary of Defense made when he was in Kabul not very long ago, that we've moved from the combat phase of this effort into the stabilization phase.
So while we still are focusing on tracking down the remnants of al Qaeda, and keeping Taliban down, and pushed out of the country, we are also now sending part of our military out to the regions of the country.
We have four teams, military teams that are around the country right now. We're going to have eight soon. And these teams are focused on improving security and providing reconstruction to these regions.
ARENA: Some debate over whether a larger security force is necessary. Where do you stand?
TAYLOR: I think what we need to do is move into the regions of Afghanistan with more military forces. We are in the process of doing that. We are putting, as I mentioned, eight teams that are comprised of both the civil military, as well as military protection forces, out into these areas where the physical security of the people of Afghanistan has been questioned, has been challenged by people who have not been focused on, have not been responsive to President Karzai's government.
So we are moving with military and civilian people out into the regions to extend the influence of the central government out there to improve security and to begin the serious work on reconstruction.
ARENA: Some Americans may wonder with the upcoming anniversary of the September 11th attacks, when they look at the war on terror, you still have Osama bin Laden on his first in command, Ayman al- Zawahiri, out on the loose, intelligence indicating that they could still be along that Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Some Americans may think, well, what is it that -- why has that task not yet been completed?
TAYLOR: The task that we're facing right now, the most important thing we're doing in Afghanistan right now is to build up a capacity for this government -- and it is a good government -- to control its borders, and to control the country so that never again terrorists could use that country and those regions of Afghanistan to support terrorism and to attack the United States, and to attack the rest of the world. That's the most important thing we can do.
ARENA: All right. Ambassador William Taylor, thank you so much for joining us.
TAYLOR: Thank you very much, Kelli.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
