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American Morning

America's New War: Planning for War Abroad, Defense at Home

Aired September 19, 2001 - 09:17   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.
PAULA ZAUN, CNN ANCHOR: Time now to refocus in on some of the efforts underway to prepare the United States for war.

For that we go to John King, who is standing by with a man who knows a lot about, that.

Hi, again, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Paula.

As we have conversations with senior government officials, they increasingly stress that this will be a fundamentally different campaign -- the president uses the word "war" -- than any of the American people are used to.

Earlier this morning we at CNN had a conversation with the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, that is a point he echoed. He said it would be wrong for the American people, wrong for anyone around the world, to assume that the military planning underway focuses solely on Afghanistan and the camps of the lead suspect, Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have a lot of evidence about a number of countries harboring terrorist that are working across the globe. And if you think about it, the Al Qaeda network probably has activities in some 50 or 60 countries, not just in Europe or the Middle East, but even in Asia and certainly in the United States of America. So the evidence is very clear that a number of states are doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now the secretary discussing there efforts looking at military options overseas. We know the USS Roosevelt leaving port in Virginia later today to go overseas, but also a great deal of military planning here at home.

And to help us understand some of that I'm joined by Lieutenant General Thomas Plewes, chief of Army Reserve.

Sir, the president has authorized the call-up of up to 35 thousand members of the Reserve, about 10 thousand of those from your outfit, the Army. LT. GEN. THOMAS J. PLEWES, CHIEF, ARMY RESERVE: From the Army, that's correct.

KING: Where will they come from around the country, and what will they be doing specifically?

PLEWES: Well, we're working on plans right now. We aren't sure quite sure exactly where we are going to be going. But I think that we kind of know what kind of things we're going to be doing, and that has happened over the last week or so.

Certainly, one of the key areas we're going to support is the recovery effort. There are about five thousand members of the National Guard and about 600 members of the Army Reserve up in New York and down here at the Pentagon supporting the recovery effort.

As that goes on in time, the temporary status that we have for those soldiers will change into a more permanent status and we'll put them on mobilization orders.

The next thing we're looking at is homeland defense. This is a very new thing for us, and the kind of security we're going to have to have to protect our people, our installations, and our cities, is going to be stepped-up. There will be a rule for the National Guard and the Army Reserve, and we are sorting that out now. We see a rule for more of our military policemen, for engineer organizations, and for some of our intelligent specialist. And, as you may know, the Army Reserve is the Army specialists in chemical and biological warfare, and we have those units that we're preparing and we're thinking about how we could use them to best advantage.

KING: Do you think the American people understand the cultural shift there, this term "homeland defense" suddenly on our radar screen, the call up of the Reserves? We're used to, as we walk down the street to get a cup of coffee, perhaps to running into a policemen, perhaps to passing a firefighter or a fire station. Will Americans more and more pass men and women wearing military uniforms as they go about their daily business?

PLEWES: Well, I think until we decide how we're going to do homeland defense, certainly, the only force that is immediately available are National Guard and Army Reservist out there in communities. And so I think that they will see more of us. You know, we'll mostly be on federal installations and doing those kinds of things. We'll be More involved with communities that have a responsibility for first response.

We've been talking about homeland defense for a long time and thinking about how we would do this. Now there's a new immediacy to it.

KING: This initial call-up of 35 thousand, yet everyone in the government talking about a sustained campaign that could take years. What does that mean for the Reserve and the National Guard? And what is the universe available to the president, should he decide the Pentagon needs more help? PLEWES: Well, there's about a half million soldiers between the Army National and the Army Reserve, so a 10 thousand call-up isn't going to be felt, except in those kinds of organizations I talked to you about.

But we're used to these kind of sustained campaigns. We've been in Bosnia and Kosovo now for six years, and over 16 thousand members of the Army Reserve have participated in that. I think we're ready for a sustained campaign. We're ready to support the country in any way we can. And now we're just thinking about how best to do that, and also to minimize the fact that our Reservist are going to be away from their homes and families. We want to, if you can, spread the task around.

KING: General Thomas Plewes, chief of Army Reserve, we thank you for your -- sharing your thoughts with us this morning here, as the military planning intensifies both overseas and here at home in the United States.

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