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American Morning

Joint Operations In Kandahar May Go to Army

Aired December 28, 2001 - 08:31   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the U.S. military operation in Kandahar, Afghanistan. A transition of power, apparently under way there. The U.S. Marines have been in control of prisoners and the airport there, but the Army is now moving in.

CNN's Bill Hemmer has been following the apparent change of the baton -- passing of the baton. Bill Hemmer there live, on what is now evening in Kandahar. Hello, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey Miles. Sun went down and a beautiful sunset again tonight. It's absolutely remarkable when you get out in the desert here in southern Afghanistan, how incredible that sun is going over the hill.

Listen, you talked about the Army coming in here, and certainly we do anticipate, possibly in about 3 weeks's time a much more complete transition and hand over. It is only partial at this time, and based on what we can tell, there's only a few personnel on the ground here. But, nonetheless, it points out one key component in the U.S. Military. How different branches have come together to work and cooperate here on the ground. Whether it's the Marines, the Air Force, the Navy, or the Army. Again, many times, their function goes right along with each other, and synchronization is a key component.

Let's talk more about the Army, and their current role right here. Lieutenant Colonel Rob Nelson is our guest right now, and chiefly, the lieutenant colonel is responsible for the detention center, about detainees being held here. Good evening to you, sir. Good to have you with us.

LT. COL. ROB NELSON, U.S. ARMY: Great.

HEMMER: You were telling me a rather interesting story. You worked in Kosovo, when it came to prisoners and detainees. How do you -- how do you compare the two, knowing that the environments here and the situation is so vastly different?

NELSON: In Kosovo, the detention facility was rather established. It was built up. The type of prisoners we had were basically criminals at the time. They didn't have a justice system in place. Here we have a different type of detainee. So, we have to deal with them in a different way. We obviously provide the same security and custody methods that we normally do with any type of detainee. HEMMER: You mentioned the facility, quite built up in Kosovo. You had basically here to start from scratch. Is that right?

NELSON: Correct. The entire environment was built through a joint effort between the Marines, the Army, the SeaBees. They worked in -- by hand to build this facility up to provide custody for these detainees.

HEMMER: Yeah, many times we've talked about safety and security. I'm sure you experienced it in Kosovo. What could you take, in terms of lessons there and brought them here to implement a safe environment?

NELSON: The key thing was to make sure that our force is protected. We use whatever available means we can to secure them, to make sure that we can protect our force -- any means available.

HEMMER: Yeah, right, and with your role in the U.S. Army, we have been led to believe, in several weeks's time that there will be larger numbers of the U.S. Army here on the ground, after the Marines make an, in a sense, the beach head -- clear things out and get it more established. Can you add more on that involvement, eventually, of the U.S. Army?

NELSON: Currently we're working jointly with the Marines. We're operating the facility together. At later date, I have no knowledge of that. How it would expand, but right now, we're working together and it's a joint effort.

HEMMER: How is it working?

NELSON: It's great. The great Americans, the sons and daughters back home could be proud of their children to do great job. And they're great soldiers and Marines.

HEMMER: Lieutenant Colonel Rob Nelson, thanks for taking time. A member of the U.S. Army. Appreciate it, okay? Happy New Year to you.

NELSON: Thank you.

HEMMER: Miles, we'll continue to watch things from here in Kandahar. Another report coming up in a moment -- a matter of moments. We'll have it for you then back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks so much, Bill, appreciate that.

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