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CNN Live At Daybreak
America Strikes Back: Analysis of Battlefield Images
Aired October 12, 2001 - 07:37 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have someone in the know, Paula. Thank you.
Back here in Atlanta, we're going to look at the military front right now, another guy in the know, Major General Don SHEPPERD with us now to talk about the latest on the military action on the ground.
The reports we're getting - good morning, by the way - ...
MAJOR GENERAL DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: ... - reports we're getting is that heavy bombing just north of Kabul. We are told that that's a heavy concentration of Taliban troops. It would make sense anyway, right.
SHEPPERD: Yeah, not surprising at all. We've hit the big targets, the air defenses and this type of thing, started on the bases. Lots of terrorist camps in this area around here and the area of Jalalabad and Kabul.
HEMMER: You mentioned those terrorist camps. We have a satellite image we want to show our viewers right now. The satellite image that actually goes on this area of Jalalabad, that may tell us in a bit more detail, actually. This is not it.
SHEPPERD: Yeah.
HEMMER: But nonetheless, we can - if we can get that image, great. If not, we'll push on. Do we have it?
SHEPPERD: There we go.
HEMMER: There it is. Great.
SHEPPERD: Well, ...
HEMMER: Go ahead, General.
SHEPPERD: ... yeah. This is a - this is one image here. This is the -- that's an air-to-air missile site. But the, the one that I'm looking at up here is a terrorist camp. That is west of Jalalabad, and that area. It's a typical terrorist camp with bunkers where they store munitions, this type of thing, command-and-control facilities.
You have to go in there and target individual bombs on each of those aim points. We can now do it with one airplane, such as the B- 2. But it'd take a long time to take all these bunkers out. Not easy targets, Bill.
HEMMER: If we advance it one frame, we can show our viewers another location that goes in a bit more detail. What do you see here?
SHEPPERD: Well, I see tunnels. I see all kinds of opportunities to hide things, and again, to train people. Again, you've got to take each one of these things out. There have been civilian casualties reported in this area. Remember, these were reported by the Taliban. We in the news do not have access to confirm these.
If there are civilians in this area, it's unfortunate. We do not target them intentionally, but they are a fact of life in a war.
HEMMER: You know, and as we look at this, it recalls what the President said last night, referring back to Vietnam 30 years ago. And he said, and I'm going to quote now, "You can't fight a guerrilla war with conventional forces."
SHEPPERD: Yeah.
HEMMER: What comes after that, General?
SHEPPERD: Well, what they mean by that is, that we do not intend to put our people on the ground, and then walk them through the narrow valleys for the guerrillas to shoot at, such as the Soviets did during their war. We don't intend to do that.
And you have to root out, in a sustained campaign using air power and all of our assets, not go one-on-one against these people and play their game. We don't intend to do that, Bill.
HEMMER: Indications we get so far on day six, now. It is not as heavy as it has been. Does that indicate anything at all to you?
SHEPPERD: No, I think those -- we start going against the field in forces, we'll be very careful, because these are mobile, requires a lot more intelligence from space and on the ground. They're much harder targets, and we're being much more careful and deliberate than the fixed targets, which are fairly easy compared to the mobile targets.
HEMMER: Which may go exactly what the Pentagon told CNN yesterday, sources inside saying they were less concerned with air defenses, more concerned, they say with Taliban forces and leaders on the ground. That's the target.
SHEPPERD: Right. We are trying to alter the balance of power now, make the Taliban weaker so that the other forces in the area can become relatively stronger for the winter.
HEMMER: We'll see you next hour. SHEPPERD: Pleasure.
HEMMER: Thank you.
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