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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Insights into Humanitarian Food Drops in Afghanistan

Aired October 08, 2001 - 08:40   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look first of all at the C-17. The C-17 is the newest cargo aircraft in the U.S. Air Force fleet. Look at the basic stats for you as we take a look at our big board here and give you a sense of what that aircraft can do. It has a maximum payload 172,000 pounds, flies at about 518 miles an hour, just began service in 1993, and has a crew of three, lots of capability on this, lots of short-field capability, rough-terrain capability.

Let's take a look at a hypothetical routing from Ramstein Air Force Base where these C-17s are based into Afghanistan. We don't know the route, so some of this is slightly hypothetical, but we will assume they launched from Ramstein. We're showing one C-17 here as we told you just a few moments ago. It was a flight of two. Perhaps, over the Black Sea, Azerbaijan, perhaps Uzbekistan, and then down into Afghanistan. We have been told that a lot of these food drops might have occurred actually over the border into Pakistan, where some refugees are, some of the most in need. Now these drops occur that not with parachutes. The boxes are sent out the rear door of the C- 17, and then there is a pullstring on them. The meals sort of break apart and fall down to the ground, and then the refugees on the ground who need the meals will pick them up from there.

Let's give you a sense what these meals are made of. It's a humanitarian daily ration, and we'll give you sort of the menu, if you will. This is what it looks like, that is all the stuff that is in there, and what's important for you to know is what's inside of course. it is thermostabilized, fancy term for something that can last long in heat. As a matter of fact, it is good for three years at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a meal ready to eat, although we are told it is much tastier if heated up, either put hot water or in a pot. It has about 2,200 calories, no animal products, cognizant of dietary restrictions based on religion and other customs, just few dairy products. No alcohol. Even the wipes which come with it to clean up afterwards do not have an alcohol base. Each of them about $2, and there are several refugees, it is hoped, who our availing themselves of them as we speak.

Let's turn to CNN's Frank Sesno who's in Washington. He has been talking to people who focus a lots in this issue of food and aide and some of the practical considerations, as well as geopolitical considerations of this, Frank. I guess it's not unprecedented for bombs to come first and then food to come after it. FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as a matter of fact, in this particular conflict, and we have heard it a number of times, Miles, from people, is that this is going to be -- this is going to play on a number of levels. You have heard it, military, economic, diplomatic, and let's add humanitarian. Because what the food is all about, is first and foremost, it is an effort to stave off starvation. There are a about a million and half people in Afghanistan. They have had not only war for years, but a terrible, about a million and half people it is said by relief officials internationally are in danger of dying from starvation within the next several months. So first there is that.

Second of course there is battle for the hearts and minds, of people both inside Afghanistan, and it is seen and felt throughout the Islamic world as well. We have heard from a number of officials both in the United States and elsewhere, that this is not a war against Islam. What better way, relief officials say, to demonstrate that than to be dropping food at the same time that you are dropping bombs in a place that needs it.

Finally, there is an effort with the food, a very clear effort, to undermine the Taliban government. If a government cannot feed its own people, folks will say, what legitimacy do they have? It gets to the very fundamentals about survival, so what officials tell me, Miles, is that they are dropping this food very deliberately, both where it's needed, and in a in a fashion to shape the battlefield.

O'BRIEN: Now it is interesting, one of the things that is coming along with these food drops are some windup radios to give people there on the ground information, Voice of America, for example, which will give them a sense that this food is coming. I presume the concern is that the food might not get to a lot of the refugees, and that might, in a subtle way, undermine the Taliban regime.

SESNO: A couple of interesting things about these radios. Some of them will be dropped, and I'm told some of them will be driven in, as the overland routes develop open and open up, tens of thousands of radios, said one U.S. official. Now whether in fact and when they in fact arrive remains to be seen, because it hasn't started yet, but what I'm told these radios will do is it will allow many of the Afghans, and I'm told that many, many of them, maybe three quarters them, the Afghan males in particular, are known to listen to the Voice of America, BBC. I'm not exactly sure how you determine that. I don't think there are Nielsens inside Afghanistan, but the point is, is to get to the Afghan citizenry some of the message, and yes, some of the propaganda.

Yesterday, as a matter of fact, even as the bombs were falling, Andrew Natsios who is head of USAID, was doing an interview with the Voice of America. Among the things he was saying, was telling Afghanistan, food is on the way from the United States, stay in your villages, stay away from the fighting.

O'BRIEN: Frank, one quick question. We are out of time, but I'm going to sneak one more question in. One of the issues here, neighboring countries and the flow of refugees. Presumably some countries, maybe even countries like Iran, would be in approval of these food drops to stave off a refugee crisis which might spill over into their borders.

SESNO: Very interesting, Miles. I am told by very high-ranking U.S. officials, that there are very, very positive signs from Iran, especially with respect to refugees and food. They are allowing transshipment of U.S. food through their territory, the Iranians are. They don't want refugee camps, I'm told, the Iranians, because they don't want breeding grounds for disease and death, and future radicals and future terrorists.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Frank Sesno in Washington thank you very much for some insights into the nuances of these food drops. Humanitarian effort, but also an effort as part of the overall campaign, geopolitical campaign, to win hearts and minds of the people of Afghanistan.

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