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Afghanistan: Joint Chiefs Chairman Visits Troops

Aired February 20, 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: I'm Martin Savidge in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Coming up now, on LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Richard Myers, pays a visit here and meets with the troops. And I ask him how long will the war in Afghanistan go on. Also, in the Nevada desert, U.S. troops were on the alert and talking about a dirty nuke. What was that all about?

And Nic Robertson talks about the Hajj and talks to the people of Afghanistan about the U.S. military operation. You might be surprised with some of their answers. It all begins right here, right now, LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN.

ANNOUNCER: America's top general comes to Kandahar. He says the job's not done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: There's still a little bit more to do here in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Mixed reviews on the U.S. presence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "We are very happy with the Americans," this man says. "I would help them with my blood." This storekeeper against, saying the Americans shouldn't stay here any longer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: We'll gauge the view from the streets of Kandahar. Letters from the home front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Thank you for making our country safe. You are some of the bravest people in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: It makes me feel a little prouder. He makes them keep their head a little taller.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN, Martin Savidge.

SAVIDGE: Good evening to you. Thanks very much for joining us in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is just after 5:30 in the morning and we've got a lot of ground to cover in the next 30 minutes. We begin, though, with a visit of General Richard Myers. He's the chairman of the joint chiefs. He came here to Kandahar as part of a five-day trip to the region. This was his last stop. He met with U.S. troops to tell them thank you for the job and hard work they have been doing. He also was meeting with local and regional leaders to thank them for their support of "Operation Enduring Freedom."

I asked him about how long is the mission going to last for U.S. forces here in Afghanistan. How much more is there to be done? This is what the general had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: One of the things, you want to make sure you leave the best you can is a secure environment so the Afghan people can prosper, and that the society can get rid of the decades of conflict they've been subject to. And so, however long that takes, will be the right amount of time. I'm sorry, I just can't - this is a really hard thing to estimate at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Before arriving in Kandahar, the general was in Kabul, meeting with the interim leader, Hamid Karzai. There has been a lot of speculation that the Karzai government may be running into trouble and opposition. General Myers believes that the United States, in part, he'll hear, will leave behind a secure environment for the Afghani people.

In the meantime, to the commander in chief, a.k.a., the President of the United States, he is also finishing up a tour of Southeast Asia. Two hours ago, he boosted the moral of the U.S. troops guarding the world's most fortified border, the DMZ, separating North and South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those of you who are stationed here in Korea and members of the military throughout the world, spend every day training and testing and preparing for any mission that may come. That's your responsibility, and you're the best in the world.

And as your commander in chief, I have responsibilities to you...

(LAUGHTER)

BUSH: ... to give clear orders, to set clear objectives, and to make sure you have everything you need to do your job.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was also with U.S. forces. He made a quick trip to Utah and praised security troops that are standing by at the Winter Olympics. He later visited troops at Ellis Air Force Base in Nevada. While there, he hosted a town hall meeting for some 1,000 troops and their families. Rumsfeld says though he's uncertain about the length of the war on terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't know how long it'll take. I will say this, finding Omar and Osama bin Laden would be nice, but the network under -- in the al Qaeda organization, there are any number of people who could pick up for UBL and go on the next day and manage that network and continue to commit terrorist acts. So it' a mistake to personal personalize it and think of it in terms of just a single individual. It's a big task, but we're going to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Italian police said that they have uncovered a plot that may have been targeted against the U.S. embassy and actually much farther than just that. They have arrested four Moroccan men who had a map of Rome's water system. They also had a map with the U.S. embassy circled on it. Authorities also say the men were carrying what was described as a white powder containing a cyanide compound. Security remains tight at the embassy, but no new security measures have been unveiled so far.

Back in the United States and in the Nevada desert, U.S. forces were on alert and they were talking about a dirty nuclear device. Was it a terrorist attack, or was it more likely, a carefully orchestrated drill. We are joined by CNN's national correspondent Frank Buckley who fills us in --Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Marty, we are in front of what earlier day played the role of a nuclear processing facility that was taken over by terrorists who threatened to detonate a so-called dirty bomb that would release radiation into the air and also to detonate a crude nuclear device that they said they could fashion inside this nuclear processing facility.

On hand for the demonstration, Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge who was here to see the training facilities here for counterterrorism. He watched as an assault team moved in and the bombs went off.

Ridge was here at the invitation of the Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who hopes to turn the Nevada test site into what he calls the National Center For Combating Terrorism. It is already used as a counterterrorism training area. Some 3,000 first responders are trained here every year, but Reid wants to expand it to call it The National Center, and we asked Governor Ridge about that immediately after the demonstration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: I'm impressed with the fact that this is the only facility that has as many dimensions to as I saw here. And I want to use all of the different - I mean I think it's in our country's best interests to figure out a way to use all of these here, which may mean we enhance some now and some later. Whether we have a National Center or whether we call it that or not, that's in a name. I'm more interested in function.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCKLEY: Director Ridge indicating, however, that this facility -- he does see it playing some sort of a role in an integrated national plan that will involve counterterrorism training. All officials here indicating that such training is necessary, that an increase is necessary. They say less than one percent of the nation's first responders are trained in this sort of an integrated fashion - Marty.

SAVIDGE: Frank Buckley, thanks very much. He's reporting to us live from Nevada.

Now, we want to update you on a story you may remember we first brought you to in the early part of this month. It had to do with the CIA aircraft and a predator missile and what was said to be targeted, top leaders of the al Qaeda. Well, the U.S. is still standing behind its version of events that took place there, the American missile attack that happened in eastern Afghanistan. U.S. officials say that they are confident that it was a good target, a legitimate target, that among those killed were top leaders of the al Qaeda forces. However, they are continuing to deny reports that have circulated in the media here that those that were actually killed we merely Afghan peasants.

There is also a controversy that is brewing right here in Kandahar, right here at this Air Force base. The controversy has to do with thousands of people who want to make the pilgrimage or the Hajj to Mecca. They would like to use this airport, but they cannot because it is a military base. CNN's Nic Robertson has more now on that controversy and also, about what people are saying on the streets of Afghanistan about the U.S. military mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): With surprising patience, would-be pilgrims collect their refunded travel money, $1,500 each, an investment for most of years of savings, and much hope they were about to perform their biggest religious duty. Outside, villagers reject their money; angry they've missed the trip to Mecca.

"We were told you can go, and we sold our land," says Abdullah. "I came and spent money on pictures for the Hajj and now, I'm very upset."

"We are angry with our government," Abdul adds. "And with the Americans, too," says this mullah, questioning how the U.S. forces can stop them flying from Kandahar airport. They say they've had no explanation why they can't fly from Kandahar. Although the word among local officials is that, the airport, now under U.S. military control, is not technically ready for civilian aircraft.

In the field, where more than 5,000 camped in hope of making the trip to Mecca, only disillusioned stragglers like Mohammad are left.

"I haven't seen anything good yet that the Americans have done," he says.

(on-camera): That the would-be pilgrims should focus their anger on the Americans is perhaps understandable given the circumstances. However, to better gauge the mood of Afghans towards the U.S. forces based here, it is necessary to ask more people more questions, and the market is a good place to start.

(voice-over): Attitudes here appear more positive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing, no guns, nothing here. So we are happy from Americans.

"We are very happy with the Americans," this man says. "I would help them with my blood."

But with the camera out of sight and on the other side of the road...

(on-camera): But why don't you like Americans?

(voice-over): I get a different reaction until, that is, he sees my microphone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you -- you still microphone.

ROBERTSON (on-camera): Yeah, I know.

(voice-over): Then he seems to tell me what he thinks I would like to hear. To test the theory, we send Muy Bulla (ph), our Afghan producer off with a camera to see if he can better gauge the mood. Roughly, an even split. This man, for the American forces. This storekeeper, against, saying the Americans shouldn't stay here any longer.

Meetings between U.S. troops and Afghans are rare, only a few soldiers, like these Army Special Operations Forces, deal directly with the local population, and so few bombs of understanding are being forged.

Through years of turmoil, many here have learned to guard their innermost thoughts. Intellectuals privately suspect improved dialogue will extend the honeymoon U.S. troops are enjoying here.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Kandahar, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Next, making the sacred pilgrimage. Millions of Muslims are converging on Mecca.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many come to the Holy City in their twilight years, no matter how disabled they are. Some have saved pennies their entire lives to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roses are red, violets are blue, take good care of yourself because everyone wants you to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: ... letters from little ones back home, boosting moral a half a world away. LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN is back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am really happy because I have a chance to come here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's unbelievable. This is my first time I've come to Saudi Arabia and the pilgrimage and I love it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have come to be greeted assembly of man on earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Some two million Muslim pilgrims from across the world are converging on the Holy City of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. It's one of the five pillars of Islam, to make the to Mecca.

SAVIDGE: Welcome back. The Hajj is one of the pillars the Islamic faith, but it is a pilgrimage that not everyone is able to make. CNN's -- excuse me, CNN's Zain Verjee joins us now live from Mecca with more on that. Excuse me, Zain.

VERJEE: That's no problem at all, Martin. Yes, behind me is the Ka'aba. It the black tube-like structure you see behind me. It's in the center of the Grand Mosque. The black cloth that drapes it has some gold trimmings and gold embroidery on which - with the Koran have been sown into that.

There are people circling the Ka'aba right now. This is an extremely important ritual for Muslims here to complete and it's actually considered a very last minute thing they're doing because day is a very key day. From dusk to dawn, Muslims will are going to be standing at the Plain of Arafat, where they will be praying for the forgiveness, the purity of their souls. Now, many or people thought here who are circling the Ka'aba right now, are probably from Afghanistan. Nic had mentioned the kind of problems that they've been having.

Many people are so moved when they come here. It's such an emotional experience for them to see the Ka'aba, to be near the Ka'aba, to touch the Ka'aba, and they want as much as they can get of it. So that's why you're still seeing some people, but by later today, they'll be out on the Plain of Arafat, praying for the most important day of the Hajj. Basically, without praying today, you haven't done the Hajj.

So, what is the Hajj anyway? Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice-over): This is the Hajj, a massive gathering of people at the spiritual center of the Muslim world. The Hajj is considered one of the pillars of Islam, and the peak of the Muslim spiritual life. It's a tough physical and spiritual journey and many pilgrims spend years preparing for it, mentally and financially. So everyone here is committed to performing all of the rituals precisely.

Many of the rituals of the Hajj recall the events and practices of the life of Abraham, or Prophet Ibrahim and his wife and son. The prophet, Mohammad, performed the same rituals as well.

Every Muslim is expected to make the Hajj pilgrimage at least once in their lives if they're in good health and have the cash. It's believed that after the rituals of the Hajj are completed, all sins are forgiven and the pilgrim continues with life on a clean bill of spiritual health.

This year's Hajj has brought people from about a 160 different countries together in Mecca. With different languages, different cultures but at the Hajj, there's a display of unity and humility.

(on camera): There are a lot of rituals to be performed at the pilgrimage. It's a very intense experience. And really, it's very tough to be a pilgrim, but even tougher if you're over 70.

(voice-over): No matter how much it hurts, this old man's walking stick leads him down a street in Mecca, through tedious traffic and packs of people. The sun beats down. Not far now, he can see his destination, the grand mosque in Mecca. He is a little out of breath, a tiring walk, but he's almost there.

He's making his pilgrimage to Mecca, something every Muslim is expected to do at least once. Many come to the Holy City in their twilight years, no matter how disabled they are. Some have saved pennies their entire lives to be here.

Four brothers from Bangladesh made it here together. Mohammed is from Afghanistan. It took him more than 70 years before his feet touched the soil of the Holy City. His sons saved up enough cash to send him. He says he's not afraid of the crowds, and it's not hard for him to do the rituals, but it took Mohammed two days to circle the Ka'aba.

He's moved to tears just talking about it. The same reaction from Isha. She's 80 and almost deaf. She traveled here from Egypt.

"God is great," she says.

Isha says she refuses to use a wheelchair to get around, and insists on doing the pilgrimage on foot. Her son helps her.

Circling the Ka'aba's top, because of the sheer volume of people, so some old pilgrims sit in these green boxes, and are carried around.

(on-camera): With this many people, such hot weather, and the demanding prayer schedule, if you're over 70, the chances of being hurt are high.

(voice-over): Sometimes old pilgrims just can't do it. Many die in Mecca, but most say they are willing to die trying.

(on camera): Thursday, again, a key day for the Hajj pilgrimage. About 200 people will be chanting this on the Plain of Arafat, "La Bakek (ph), alavuma (ph), La Bakek (ph)." "God, I am here at your will."

Zain Verjee, CNN, Mecca.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Zain, thank you very much, reporting live from Mecca. Coming up, it'll be mail call on LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN, the letters that you send to the soldiers here. Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: For much more on the Hajj, including an overview of Islam, key facts and a gallery of pilgrimages from around the world, head to our Web site, CNN.com. The AOL keyword is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Mail call, for a U.S. soldier, it is just as important today as it ever has been. They look forward to getting any sort of mail, electronic or otherwise. Here's a piece we call, "Dear Soldier."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Have you ever written to a soldier, not someone you know in the military, someone you don't, one of those "Dear Soldier" letters, mailed to some far-off person in uniform in harm's way. And have you ever wondered if they get it, if they read it, did it matter? Here's what we have seen.

Outside one of the command tents is posted a letter from a boy known only as Tommy. It reads "Dear Hero, thank you for making our country safe. You are you some of the bravest people in the world. Because of you the children of today will live tomorrow."

Every soldier, every officer entering here has seen it.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: It makes them move out a little quicker. It makes them feel a little prouder. It makes them keep their head a little taller and say, hey, what I'm doing here is important and I'm doing the right thing.

SAVIDGE: Letters, cards, notes, banners. They hang everywhere in the terminal headquarters. Most are from children, where the age where words are few, but full of meaning and also, backed up with pictures.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Roses are red, violets are blue, Osama bin Laden stinks like poo.

(LAUGHTER)

SAVIDGE: We came across these soldiers opening Valentine's Day cards. The fact that Valentine's Day has been and gone doesn't matter.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: To Service Person, Roses are red, violets are blue, take care of yourself because everyone wants you to.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I want to thank you and your troops for what you are doing in Afghanistan, for protecting us.

SAVIDGE: Do the soldiers write back, yes, definitely, yes, like to the boy who asked one, why do you risk your life for me?

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: And I just wrote him back a couple of days ago and told him that, you know, I have a little boy that's five, and I just wanted to make sure that those guys have the same chances, you know, as I had when I was a kid and I don't want, you know, to let people like these terrorists come into our country and just ruin that way of life.

SAVIDGE: The soldiers take the letters to their tents. They take them to heart.

So back to where I started, the answer is yes. The cards, the photos, the posters matter. They matter more than I can ever tell and more than you will ever know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Something else arrived in the mail recently, something that is a big morale boost for the soldiers, Girl Scout cookies. It's also a morale boost for me as well.

Tomorrow night, we're going to have another special treat for you, the DPV, the Desert Patrol Vehicle, the racecar of the desert, armed to the teeth. We'll take you for a test drive.

That's all we have for right now from LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN. Coming up for domestic viewers, "THE POINT," for international viewers, our regular programming continues. We'll see you tomorrow night LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN.

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