Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Target: Terrorism - British Special Forces

Aired October 02, 2001 - 07:51   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: And as we've been reporting over the last couple of days, American and British special forces are already in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon, conducting reconnaissance operations.

And CNN's Kyra Phillips is in Atlanta with a look at Britain's highly secretive and highly respected unit -- good morning, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned the Taliban, arguing that they had no or had their chance to hand over Osama bin Laden. Well, that has not happened and Mr. Blair has made it clear the Taliban leaders will now face military strikes. And that could mean the SAS, Special Air Service, one of the best known special operations groups in the world and they may attack. And part of that service is the SP team -- special projects is what that stands for. And it specializes in counter-terrorism.

The SAS motto is who dares when and as you will see now, its track record proves this mantra. This counter-revolutionary warfare squadron conducted desert raids against General Rommel. You'll remember he was one of Hitler's top military strategists during WWII.

The SAS demonstrated its counter-terrorist capability in response to hijackings and kidnappings when it took part in the infamous Iranian embassy raid in London. It was also the first spec ops group to recapture territory from Argentina during the 1982 Falklands War and the most recent operation that Americans will probably recall is when the SAS sabotaged Iraqi communication lines and identified Iraqi targets for air strikes during the Gulf War.

All soldiers are rotating through different troupes during their service with the SAS, thus ensuring that each man has at least two areas in which he is highly skilled. The four troupes include air, boat, mobility and mountain, and the mountain troupe will be crucial in an operation in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. This troupe specializes in mountain climbing, high altitude operations and related skills. The SAS prides itself on training and helping friendly nations and organizations with security problems.

And, of course, we're going to continue to follow the various special operations details, unclassified, of course, Miles and Paula, as we continue to get them. MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you very much, Kyra. We appreciate that.

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