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U.S. Nets 14 Suspected Taliban Members in Afghanistan
Aired August 25, 2003 - 14:35 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In northern Baghdad, U.S. forces have captured seven men suspected of helping conduct raids on U.S. troops since May 1. Sixty-one of the 138 Americans killed while keeping the peace have died in hostile fire. Now some lawmakers wonder if it's time to send even more U.S. troops to help stabilize Iraq. But the Bush administration says more troops are not the answer.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now. But before we talk about Iraq, Jamie, there are some new developments in Afghanistan?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. U.S. special operations forces along with local forces backed by U.S. air power killed what they believe was 14 members of the resistance. But as you said, the venue was not Iraq, it was Afghanistan.
Members of the Taliban in this raid, so-called "Operation Warrior Sweep," an indication that combat operations are continuing in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. U.S. A-10 Attack Planes along with F-16s and Marine Harrier jets all took part in the operation in southeastern Afghanistan. Again the U.S. believes that at least 14 suspected Taliban were killed.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today talked about the length of time it takes to root out this kind of resistance, making a historical reference in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in San Antonio, Texas to the Werewolves, the Nazi resistance in World War II. And he said it just takes time to root out this resistance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We still face determined adversaries. We've seen in Iraq and Afghanistan the dead enders are still with us, those remnants of the defeated regimes who go on fighting long after their cause is lost.
There is some today who are surprised that there is still pockets of resistance in Iraq and they suggest that this represents some sort of a failure on the part of the coalition, but this is not the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: There are also some today who suggest that the United States should have more troops on the ground in Iraq to go after the members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party and to also seal the borders and protect critical Iraqi infrastructure.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld rejects that argument as well saying that the number of troops in Iraq is the number that U.S. commanders believe should be there and that's what really is needed is better Iraqi intelligence and more Iraqis themselves providing police and security operations in the country.
And to that end, the United States is trying to accelerate the training of Iraqi local police. In fact, taking advantage of a facility in Hungary that was used to train Iraqi freedom fighters before the war to train the new Iraqi police force and try to get more of those Iraqis on the street taking care of the security situation -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre form the Pentagon, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 25, 2003 - 14:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In northern Baghdad, U.S. forces have captured seven men suspected of helping conduct raids on U.S. troops since May 1. Sixty-one of the 138 Americans killed while keeping the peace have died in hostile fire. Now some lawmakers wonder if it's time to send even more U.S. troops to help stabilize Iraq. But the Bush administration says more troops are not the answer.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now. But before we talk about Iraq, Jamie, there are some new developments in Afghanistan?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. U.S. special operations forces along with local forces backed by U.S. air power killed what they believe was 14 members of the resistance. But as you said, the venue was not Iraq, it was Afghanistan.
Members of the Taliban in this raid, so-called "Operation Warrior Sweep," an indication that combat operations are continuing in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. U.S. A-10 Attack Planes along with F-16s and Marine Harrier jets all took part in the operation in southeastern Afghanistan. Again the U.S. believes that at least 14 suspected Taliban were killed.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today talked about the length of time it takes to root out this kind of resistance, making a historical reference in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in San Antonio, Texas to the Werewolves, the Nazi resistance in World War II. And he said it just takes time to root out this resistance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We still face determined adversaries. We've seen in Iraq and Afghanistan the dead enders are still with us, those remnants of the defeated regimes who go on fighting long after their cause is lost.
There is some today who are surprised that there is still pockets of resistance in Iraq and they suggest that this represents some sort of a failure on the part of the coalition, but this is not the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: There are also some today who suggest that the United States should have more troops on the ground in Iraq to go after the members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party and to also seal the borders and protect critical Iraqi infrastructure.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld rejects that argument as well saying that the number of troops in Iraq is the number that U.S. commanders believe should be there and that's what really is needed is better Iraqi intelligence and more Iraqis themselves providing police and security operations in the country.
And to that end, the United States is trying to accelerate the training of Iraqi local police. In fact, taking advantage of a facility in Hungary that was used to train Iraqi freedom fighters before the war to train the new Iraqi police force and try to get more of those Iraqis on the street taking care of the security situation -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre form the Pentagon, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
