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CNN Live At Daybreak

America's New War: The Economic, Political and Geographical Elements to U.S. Retaliation on Terrorism

Aired September 19, 2001 - 08:49   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 ZAUN, CNN ANCHOR: We can now confirm the government is creating a task force to look into some of the money transactions that might be a part of something that led to these attacks in the United States last Tuesday.

Let's check in with John King right now.

John, actually, I heard you on the radio this morning talking about some of the pressure the United States is putting on the French government right now to discourage French businesses from doing any kind of business with states that sponsor terrorism?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Paula.

As we look in the short-term and consider what is the president considering for military options, how is efforts to build international coalition coming together, one of the things the administration is stressing to governments around the world, and especially the French, since the president was here in Washington last night, the French foreign minister also over at the State Department, is that if your government is truly committed to a long-term battle against terrorism, not just finding those responsible for last week's attacks, but a long-term fight against terrorism, then you must take steps in public to show that commitment.

There has been grumbling in recent years about French business dealing in Iran, which the United States said says sponsors terrorism, grumblings of late in recent months about increased business ties between French businesses and Iraq. Of course, the United States blames the government of Saddam Hussein for sponsoring terrorism and also has very strict sanctions in place since the end of the Persian Gulf War.

So as we plot military moves, also a diplomatic effort as well, the president telling President Chirac and other world leaders, if you are to stand with the United States you must back those promises with tangible deeds.

Now, the military planning obviously getting underway as well, even as they continue the recovery effort over at the Pentagon.

I want to turn now to my colleague Bob Franken over at the Pentagon for the latest. Bob, as we see the USS Roosevelt in Norfolk, Virginia preparing to go out to sea, to go overseas, also a great deal of activity calling up troops here at home, is there not?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, of course, part of the problem is that the nature of the military action that might be taken is not known, it could be something very surgical or it something more massive. But, of course, that is complicating the effort on the call-up of the reserves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Thousands of reservists have already been activated in New York, National Guard units mainly, taking on important backup responsibilities to help emergency officials overwhelmed by the World Trade Center calamity.

Almost half of the more than 2 1/2 million United States Armed Forces are National Guard and reservists, military part-timers; they live at home, mostly train in their hometowns, but always know that their lives can be disrupted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm scared, scared that I might get shot, you know? They I wouldn't get to go back home. I'm nervous about my family, because I know they won't be seeing me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emotionally, it's very difficult. We're -- we've done a lot of training. A lot of our folks (ph) have done this before, so we have a lot of experience behind us. So -- it's a really tough job, though.

(APPLAUSE)

FRANKEN: President Bush and his Pentagon officials have decide they need about 35 thousand for the job right away, for homeland defense, they say. The request came from the defense secretary, but the specifics are still being worked out.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It is purely going to be a decision as to how long we have to do various things and what specialties seem to be the most in short supply.

FRANKEN: They're still identifying those specialties and exactly where to get the specialists. But Pentagon sources tell CNN, units will be assigned to protecting the waterways, air defense, medical duties, transportation, and combat engineering, intelligence.

In New York, reserve military police are already helping beleaguered local police maintain order in the chaotic aftermath. Military chaplains performing pastoral duties alongside civilian clergy. Military reserve pilots are involved in the air defense. Military doctors and others from medical units are performing their specialized work.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FRANKEN: And here in the Washington area, military police are among the 400 National Guard's men and women who have been called up. Others are assigned to retrieving the victims of the Pentagon bombing.

And, John, in this building, the planning goes on for the larger, nationwide call-up, and they're still on the drawing board -- John

KING: Bob Franken at the Pentagon, thank you very much.

In a conversation I had earlier this morning with the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, he said it would be a mistake to assume the U.S. military operation, the military planning, would focus solely on Afghanistan and the camps of Osama bin Laden. He said this is an organization that stretches into dozens of countries. But certainly the primary focus right is on Afghanistan and the bin Laden organization.

I'm joined here in Washington by a man who can tell us a great deal about that country.

Selig Harrison, a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, also former South Asia bureau chief for the "Washington Post," author of "Out of Afghanistan: the Inside Story of the Soviet Withdraw."

Sir, you have heard all the discussion in recent days about perhaps sending in U.S. commandos, elite infantry units, to go looking and hunting for Mr. bin Laden and his associates. The right idea?

SELIG HARRISON, AUTHOR "OUT OF AFGHANISTAN": Well, I think we should be very clear that if we go ahead with these plans for military intervention in Afghanistan, we're not going to get a warm welcome from the Afghan population. Even though there has been a lot of opposition to the Taliban, if a foreign intervention occurs, everybody will rally around the flag. This is a proud mountain people. The British found that out, found that they don't like foreigners in their country. The Russians found it out. I'm afraid that we're also going to find it out.

There are all kinds of places to hide. They've had so much warning that all of the camps bin Laden has had there, I'm sure they're not there anymore.

If I were in the Special Forces going into Afghanistan, I want to make sure that my helicopter stayed there. I mean, they're going to take off from Pakistan and they're going to go into Afghanistan, as I understand it, and look for these hideouts. It's more than like looking for a needle in a haystack, it's just almost insane, in my opinion.

I think that they're going to have to go in and come out. Otherwise, they're going to get into a quagmire and we're going have an embarrassment, not a vindication of our honor.

The big problem in this whole situation is that Pakistan continues to support the Taliban regime, and as long as they do -- it doesn't matter whether they send a delegation to Kabul to talk to the Taliban and to urge them to hand over Osama bin Laden, what's important is that Pakistan has to stop all forms of support for the Taliban; it means sealing that border. They can give us use of their air strips, but if they're letting gasoline into the Taliban, it is not much help.

KING: So you are skeptical, you're skeptical. Pakistan has stepped-up, said publicly it will support the United States, sent in the delegation urging the Taliban to turn over Mr. bin Laden, you are skeptical that there is depth to the support?

HARRISON: That's right. I think it is kind of a charade. I think that Pakistan is going to try to get as much out of this as it can to strengthen itself against India and to keep continuing it's support of the Taliban. After all, the Taliban was not really created by Pakistan, but it couldn't have acquired its military capabilities without the kind of support it gets from Pakistan.

Pakistan has -- allows terrorist organizations to operate in its own country, one of them the Lash Tar Itaiba (ph), a very potent organization, has camps in Afghanistan, Pakistanis committed to Islam, who have camps in Afghanistan to help Osama bin Laden's men, help the Taliban to hunt down its enemies, a kind of a special forces of Pakistanis.

So, you know, unless we really use our leverage, economic leverage primarily, with Pakistan to get them to really stop support of the Taliban, we are just going to make things much worse by airstrike that will rally the people around the government. And the elements in Afghanistan, and there are considerable elements, we want to replace the Taliban, but they won't dare stick their heads up in a situation like this, where everybody's got to rally around the flag. It's a war. It's become a holy war.

The problem is that the Taliban has been able to depict itself as the defender of Islam, Osama bin Laden is a symbol of Islam, the United States role in Israel, supporting Israel against the -- in the Arab-Israel dispute is a very serious problem for the United States in combating the growth of terrorism among Islamic radicals.

KING: All right, Selig Harrison of the Woodrow Wilson Center, we thank you for your thoughts on the politics and the geography of the region this morning.

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