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American Morning
Possible Taliban Surrender in Spin Boldak Very Significant
Aired November 27, 2001 - 09:22 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: U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan are setting up a forward base near Kandahar. Others are on the main road between that remaining Taliban stronghold and the Pakistan border. Let's go back to the CNN Center. Miles is standing by with more on the Marines' mission. Take it away, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Paula. Now that the situation has moved from north to south in Afghanistan, the strategy has changed quite a bit, and we're going to talk about a few of the locations that are in play right now, and bring in our military affairs analyst General Don Shepperd, Retired Major General with the U.S. Air Force. Good to see you again, sir.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. First of all, let's go to the map and let's talk about Spin Boldak this morning. Spin Boldak is a border town right on the Pakistani border. It's about 80 miles southeast of Kandahar. Was until this morning our time a Taliban stronghold. Now we hear to the contrary that the commander there has surrendered, according to Nic Robertson, who is on the ground there. I am curious, with an 80-mile stretch between these two locations, how significant that -- we should interpret that move there, General Shepperd.
SHEPPERD: Well, there's really only two towns between Kandahar and the Pakistan border. With Spin Boldak being on the corner there. Basically, Taliban troops need a place to operate from. They need a city for food and forage and that type of thing. So, anytime you take one of the cities of only two on that road down there, you've really accomplished something. It's a blocking mechanism is what it amounts to. And it is significant, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk again about Kandahar if we could, and the U.S. Marine presence there. The fact we may have upward of 1,000 on the ground there -- What happens next? We've talked about how the Marines get there. How will their mission change the face of the war in Afghanistan?
SHEPPERD: Okay, well the secretary of defense was asked the same question yesterday at the Pentagon briefing, and he termed it that we have established a forward base, and from that forward base we can bring in more forces, we can take part in Kandahar operations. We can do interdiction missions out of there. We can assist Special Forces, and, of course, we can also go for bin Laden and the al Qaeda. Those are my words, not his, but it captures what they can do.
O'BRIEN: And as we look at some of the tape of the Marines in action, one key point to bring out here, which I think people should be aware of, is that a Marine Expeditionary Unit, or a M.U.E., as look at them applying some camouflage here, is really self-contained operation all the way from pistols to tanks, from fighter jets to helicopters, able to sustain itself for 30 days. That obviously changes -- it gives -- put it this way -- gives the commanders a lot of capability, a lot of tools in the toolbox, if you will.
SHEPPERD: It does indeed. Remember, these are quick reaction forces that are now in country. Before, if General Franks wanted to do anything, he had a long flight from the ships -- for instance, the Kitty Hawk -- into the country to support the Special Forces that were in country. Now he's got a base close by that can do it, and he's got tough guys in that -- he's got tough guys on the ground with the Marines. Of note, you don't see the Special Forces. They're the quiet professionals. They don't even want to be talked about. But they're just as tough and they've been there a long time.
O'BRIEN: All right, and while we speak of that, and we speak about U.S. forces on the ground, let's go up north, take a quick look at the map, and we'll get, folks, close to Mazar-e-Sharif. And in this area, up here kind of off the top of the screen of the map here, ongoing rebellion at a prison there involving the Taliban, what -- what brings me to the special operations issue is if fact there was some U.S. bombs that were brought in -- that were called in by special operations, apparently went astray. How -- this could be ongoing concern as there's more and more need for close air support in the future here.
SHEPPERD: Close air support is very dangerous. It requires very close coordination. Especially in fast fluid-moving situations -- where you're working close to troops. You got to sort the good guys from the bad guys. You got to make sure you don't hit your own troops. It's always a problem. The latest information is a JDAM (ph) hit short for still an unknown reason. Don't know if there is a mistake in the coordinates, or mistake -- or a malfunction of the weapon.
O'BRIEN: All right. General Don Shepperd, Military Analyst, Retired U.S. Air Force. Thanks as always for your insights. And as there are more forces on the ground, involving U.S. presence on the ground, the concern about that calling in close air support and possibly so-called friendly-fire casualties becomes greater. Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks, Miles.
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