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American Morning

Army Specialists Sent to Interrogate Detainees

Aired January 03, 2002 - 09:03   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get to the war in Afghanistan as the search for Mullah Omar is stepped up now. The U.S. turns up the pressure on the growing number of detainees in Kandahar, and that is where we find our Bill Hemmer. He has got the latest.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Leon. Welcome, again, good evening from Kandahar. Here's what we are hearing from the Special Forces on the ground here at Kandahar. They do indicate to us here that there are groups apparently working in groups of 12 in the Northern Helmand province possibly searching out for the Taliban finder -- founder, rather, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

It has been rumored and speculated, although not proven at this point, that he may be hiding right now, taking refuge in the town of Baghran, that's in Northern Helmand province, and also the governor of Kandahar indicates that if, indeed, he is there, he may be surrounded by as many as 1,500 loyal Taliban fighters. They have been given a deadline to give up and surrender, but at this point, it does not appear that there is any substantial movement on that front.

Also, the Special Forces here indicate that they believe that more Special Forces should be put in the hunt right now for Mullah Mohammed Omar. Some fear that he may escape the net as some suspect Osama bin Laden may have done in the Tora Bora region in Eastern Afghanistan.

On another front now, Leon, you mention the detainees here. Right now, 225 in Kandahar. 25 more brought in last night. All picked up along that Afghan-Pakistan border. We've been led to believe a couple of days ago sources indicate as many as 150 detainees being held in Pakistan. All anticipated at some point to come here.

This latest batch from that, again 25 there, and what we are learning right now, again on a daily basis, a little bit more about these detainees that are brought in blue jumpers. They are shackled, they are bound over their head, and again, they are kept in a facility that is kept well away from us here at the airport.

We now know that apparently they run the gamut when it comes to countries around the world. One source indicates that he has heard various languages, not just Arabic and Pashto (ph), the local languages here, but he talks about things like Russian and German and French being spoken there. He says, in his words, there are a lot of "cats and dogs" inside that detention facility along with that detainee facility. We also know the Army, now, has brought in a group to help investigate these matters here.

Specifically with the possibility of evidence that may link some of these detainees to terrorist activity or terrorist plans targeted against U.S. interests and U.S. citizens around the world. Again, that's why they're here. It is possible to gather some evidence, investigate it here, and then later, if there is prosecution in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that evidence in that case would be used at that point.

A little more, Leon, now, on this Marine mission we talked about two nights ago. Apparently, there was modest amount of intelligence gathered here at a compound about 60 miles northwest, and again, one Marine indicates that he's not sure if Osama bin Laden was ever inside this particular compound, but again, they point to the strong possibility that this was an al Qaeda target, and not a Taliban target, which took many of us by surprise here, knowing that the region in which they were searching.

Also the Marines tipped their hat today to a fellow Marine. Corporal C.T. Chandler (ph). He was wounded back in early December. Wounded by stepping on land mine here. He is now recovering in a Washington hospital. There is a firing range at the end of the runway here, at the south end in fact. They honored him today by dedicating that firing range in his name, in the name of Corporal C.T. Chandler, again, recovering in Washington, and for the Marines who are thinking of him today, certainly they send out their best wishes.

Little more (ph) than a couple hours ago, also here in Afghanistan, as if this country could use any more news, there were apparently some earthquakes in the northern half of country. We didn't feel it here, but our crew in Kabul certainly did. They asked us about it, but no effect here in southern Afghanistan. The word we get right now, no injuries, no damage to be reported from those earthquakes earlier today -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal, that's good news. All right, Bill Hemmer, you've been keeping some long hours, so we'll let you go get some rest right now. Check back with you later on.

Well, as we just heard, Special Forces are trying to close in on Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden right now. With the hunt shifting from Tora Bora, does this mean a capture may be near at hand? Well, joining us now is CNN's military analyst, retired General Wesley Clark to give us some insight on that. Good morning, sir. Glad to have you back with us today.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Leon.

HARRIS: All right. What do you make of this tightening of the circle or is there a tightening of the circle around Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar that we can speak of?

CLARK: We can't be sure that the circle is tightening, but we can know that we're responding to intelligence information, and so, whenever we get the information we have got ways of going out, sometimes it's with aircraft dropping bombs, sometimes it's with Marines going out and checking things out. It may be with Special Forces working with local people on the ground. And that's the appropriate thing to do at this point. So, I think what you can say is that Mullah Omar is going to run out of options.

HARRIS: Speaking of intelligence, what are you hearing about any intelligence being gained from these detainees that have been held there by the Marines for weeks now, and these new numbers coming in from Bill's report this morning as well? Are you hearing at all about any usable intelligence coming in from them?

CLARK: Well, the intelligence is useful in a broader sense, but not so much in the narrow sense. In other words, beyond Afghanistan, when we're looking at taking apart the network, then that information is going to be critical for us, but if we're looking for hot pursuit of Mullah Omar and al Qaeda on the ground, it's much less useful.

HARRIS: Earlier this morning, we talked about the prospect of the al Qaeda members that may still be there in-country, may have broken up, dispersed in smaller groups around the country. What particular challenges does that present for the forces, and in your mind, does this mean we could be looking at a years-long process in possibly having troops there on the ground for years?

CLARK: I think we are looking at a long-term process. I wouldn't want to a put a specific time frame, but it would be a normal thing to expect that these groups as they exfiltrate at Tora Bora or wherever they were trying to fight, they broke up into smaller groups. They are going to try to reform to some extent. They are going try to get central direction, and they are going to try to continue to prosecute their war, and so there is going to be a continuing challenge on this that we are going to have to be alert to. We are going to have to assist the government of Afghanistan, but really it's up to the local people to report these pockets of al Qaeda and then help us bring resources against them.

HARRIS: All right. General Wesley Clark, we thank you very much for your analysis, as usual. Take care.

CLARK: Thanks.

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