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Afghanistan: Was Firefight Real; Bush: No Apologies

Aired February 18, 2002 - 20:00   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush doesn't make any apologies for his axis of evil. Also, a fight over a firefight - Afghan authorities here say last week's firefight on base wasn't real, even though two U.S. soldiers were wounded. We'll tell you who's firing blanks. And then, we'll take you in the air over a tormented and troubled Afghanistan. The view from a helicopter gunner's site. It all begins right here, right now. LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN.

ANNOUNCER: Black hawk up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): As we leave the base, the pilot orders the gunners to lock and load. This may be a photo shoot, but in Afghanistan, you never know if someone's going to shoot back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: We'll take flight with the 101st Airborne. In the line of fire...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA RESSA, CNN JAKARTA BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): When soldiers here see men with guns, they fire. Otherwise, they say, they run the risk of being ambushed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: U.S. Special Forces enter a hot zone in the Philippines.

Thanking an ally and sending a message to the rest of the world on American resolve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They should make no mistake about it -- that we will defend our interests and I will defend the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN, Martin Savidge. SAVIDGE: Good evening from Afghanistan where it is just after 5:30 in the morning and Canadian forces in full force here on the ground, joining their U.S. counterparts out on the perimeter. Behind me, one of their vehicles known as a coyote. We'll have more on that coming up later in the program.

But first, we begin with a fight over a firefight. Afghan authorities here in the Kandahar area are disputing last week's firefight on base that left two U.S. soldiers wounded. The Afghan authorities they it was not a real firefight. They claim it may have been Afghan friendly forces that opened fire by mistake, or that it was U.S. forces firing on themselves. A U.S. commander on base says that remark is beyond any sort of belief.

Meanwhile, now, we move on to helicopter operations. Almost every day, every night, helicopters are flying from the base here at Kandahar, heading out over the terrain of Afghanistan. They are sometimes troubled and problematic flights. It is not as peaceful as it seems from the air. We joined them for a ride in what we call black hawk up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The U.S. black hawk helicopters at Kandahar airport carry out a number of operations, ops they call them -- combat support ops, medical ops, Special Forces ops, today, media ops. It's chance to learn how the coladcheros (ph), as the unit is called, do their job. It's also, an opportunity to see Afghanistan from the air. The unit's chaplain says it has another purpose, "to familiarize us with the only way out if the base is attacked."

That's him handing out the airsick bags. He's a careful man.

Father Paul wants me to have a feel for what the helicopter crews have to put up with, by dressing me in his flight gear. I have trouble with the body armor. He offers another form of protection.

FATHER PAUL: One of the last things we do when we turn off the camera...

SAVIDGE: ... is pray, something the father didn't think appropriate to show, then we're off. At the helicopter, the crew tells us about everything that could go wrong, but seldom does.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: If we have to make an emergency landing, we're all going to stay on board the aircraft until the blades stop turning.

SAVIDGE: Finally, helmeted, belted and visored down, we're good to go. As we leave the base, the pilot orders the gunners to lock and load. This may be a photo shoot, but in Afghanistan, you never know if someone's going to shoot back.

As an extra security measure, we fly fast and low, over 120 miles an hour, 80 feet off the ground. It makes the chopper a fleeting target as we roar over baron Afghan fields. Soon, civilization, the birthplace of the Taliban spreads out beneath our feet, next, off to the mountains that jut up like jagged teeth. Down below, the pilot says is a former terrorist training camp. Much of the landscape looks tormented by drought. Irrigation ditches scare the earth. Occasionally, you see patches of green in the distance.

We roar over a shrunken river bordered by a majestic sea of sand, the color of clay flowerpots. The dunes march on for miles.

The chopper crews give us a taste of what it's like to try to land in the Afghan dust. This is the view from inside. Here's how it looks from the air.

Then we get a feel of what's called tactical flying. The helicopter goes even faster and lower; barely clearing mountain peeks before plunging down the other side. As we turn for home, the crew spies another local hazard, nestled in the valley are hundreds of unexploded bombs left behind by the Soviet Army when they were here.

Minutes later, we're back at the base and back on the ground. Thanks to a good crew and a priest with good connections.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: From Kandahar here, we move north to the capital of Kabul where a U.S. general is now on the ground and his mission is to try to turn the guerrilla fighters of Afghanistan into an Army. According to the U.S. embassy, Major General Charles Campbell of the U.S. Central Command is there to try to help set up a training program that will work on turning this guerrilla force into a National Army of Afghanistan. U.S. soldiers are expected to arrive here in Afghanistan to begin that training program next month.

Now, across the Pacific, to the islands of the Philippines, and there U.S. forces are once more on the ground in the southern Philippines. Monday, they have ventured into an area that is very close to a Muslim extremist group. The soldiers are there taking part in war games, but they are going to be using very real ammunition, and that is causing controversy in the Philippines. CNN's Maria Ressa has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RESSA (voice-over): Residents around this Philippine base say they've never seen helicopters this large, used to take the first of the 160 U.S. Special Forces to Basilan. There, they will take part in war games, using live bullets against a real enemy, the al Qaeda link, Abu Sayyaf.

Six hundred sixty U.S. troops will take part in the six-month exercise, crack commando units unable to speak talk openly to their families and friends about exactly where they are or what they're doing. Major Larry Redmon missed his first wedding anniversary and expects to miss the birth of his first son. MAJOR LARRY REDMON, U.S. GREEN BERET: This wouldn't be the first time that American troops have been faced with dangerous situations, but we're going to be with our Philippine counterparts, and I'm confident they'll take care of us.

RESSA: But that's not so easy on Basilan. This is the terrain, a guerilla war in foliage so thick you can't see three feet in front of you. When soldiers here see men with guns, they fire. Otherwise, they say, they run the risk of being ambushed.

These Filipino Marines thought they attacked the Abu Sayyaf. The group turned out to be civilian volunteers armed by the military.

Twenty-six-year-old Monching Konstansio (ph) was killed in friendly fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I can't expect what they've done. We're going to hunt them down, kill them all. All of them killed my...

(AUDIO GAP)

RESSA: ... but American troops may be stepping into more than they bargained for.

(on-camera): According to the Philippine constitution, U.S. troops can only fire in self-defense. That may be necessary. Their very presence could shift the nature of conflict on the island, making them the targets of the many armed groups there.

Maria Ressa, CNN, Zamboanga City, the Philippines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Now, we move across the Atlantic Ocean to the state of California and Vice President Dick Cheney who was in that state rallying the troops at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in California. He took time to honor the nine Marines that died in air crashes in Afghanistan and Pakistan when they were here. He defended President Bush's axis of evil remarks, and justified the expanded war on terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our next objective is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. The attacks of September 11 were devastating, but the destruction would have been far worse if the terrorists had used weapons of mass destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Meanwhile, President Bush' axis of evil remarks that he made are now likely to be the backdrop for his three nation Asian tour that began with a visit in Tokyo, Japan. CNN's John King is traveling with the president. He joins us live - John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And Martin, one goal of the Bush team, the president himself and his top aides try to calm down allies, including the Japanese and the South Koreans who have voiced alarm at his use of the term "axis of evil," including Iran, Iraq and also North Korea in that term. Mr. Bush traveling, trying to reassure the allies that diplomacy is his first option in those cases, but there are many questions. The allies want know just what the president has in mind as the war on terrorism expands beyond Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUSH: We're fighting evil.

KING (voice-over): The U.S. president saluted Japan's support in the war on terrorism and he brushed aside criticism from France and others who say he appears too eager for a showdown with Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

BUSH: They should make no mistake about it -- that we will defend our interests, and I will defend the American people.

KING: But there was a noticeable change of tone. Mr. Bush stressed diplomacy is his first option and he did not repeat the phrase "axis of evil." Those words were viewed by many in Japan as too provocative and Prime Minister Koizumi made clear his goal is normalized relations with North Korea. But he also said he took no offense to his guest's tough talk.