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American Morning

Pentagon Signals Shift in Battle Plan

Aired November 16, 2001 - 08:08   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 ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: On the war front, as Taliban strongholds fall, the U.S. is signaling a shift in its battle plan. The commander of U.S. forces in the region plans to meet with President Bush later today. Our own Bob Franken sets the stage for us. What is he expected to ask the president for today, Bob?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, this is the kind of thing that interests people. He won't be down in Crawford, Texas. They'll be talking over one of these very secure video lines.

But he has already pretty much made it clear that the focus has gone from the aerial bombing -- we've talked about this, Paula -- of the last several weeks to something more on the ground, more precise. What he called it, in his briefing yesterday -- he being General Tommy Franks, who is the commander in chief of the Central Command -- is saying more focused bombing, which translates into less, more precise. The problem is now with the confusion on the ground, it's really difficult to identify targets.

So instead of that focus, what we're already hearing is that, much to the secrecy earlier on, there were special forces already on the ground. There are going to be more on the ground. They have very specific missions, unconventional warfare, they are called. We have talked about the fact that they are setting up roadblocks. We've talked about the fact that they are going into the hills. They're going to have a very, very aggressive stance there, very serious business.

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GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Their rules of engagement are the standing rules of engagement that we use with all of our forces, when they are threatened, when property is threatened, when they come in contact with enemy forces identified as enemy, they destroy those -- they destroy those forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: So there's no fooling around there, and of course, that's to be expected in a situation like that. And of course, part of it is going to be the hunt for Taliban leadership, al Qaeda leadership and, of course, Paula, the hunt for Osama bin Laden. And officials here are not ruling out the possibility that he could have escaped the country. They say that it's entirely possible, given the porous borders around Afghanistan, that he could escape -- Paula.

ZAHN: But the administration continues to say, and I'm thinking particularly of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, that it's like finding a needle in a haystack. They're not setting great expectations here, right?

FRANKEN: Well, they still say we'll find him. That's the line, we'll find him, but it may not be in Afghanistan. It might be in another country.

ZAHN: All right. Bob Franken, thanks for that update.

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