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American Morning

Battle for Gardez Rages On

Aired March 07, 2002 - 08:02   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: Up front this morning, in eastern Afghanistan, opposition forces are taking a severe pounding from B-52 bombers. Operation Anaconda continues as hundreds more American troops arrive in the region, along with 17 attack helicopters. Despite the recent casualties, and the intense resistance from the al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicts the outcome of the deadly battle is "reasonably assured." Those are his words.

CNN's Nic Robertson joins us from Gardez. He is close to the front lines. He has the very latest for us now -- good morning, Nic. What's going on there now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Paula. Right now, the situation is perhaps, from a military standpoint, worsening, because there is a storm blowing into the region, which is kicking up a lot of dust. And although we have been able to hear some of those aircraft flying overhead on the sorties against al Qaeda, what we haven't heard today are any helicopters, which of course, find it very, very difficult to fly in such dusty conditions.

We have talked with local Afghan commanders here, who have troops on the ground with the coalition and the forces. If the storm here wasn't so bad, you would be able to see the mountains behind me. That's where the battles are going on. He said that at the moment, the fight is going well. The morale is high. Their troops are on the ground. He said that the air campaign is going on full force. And he said that as far as he can see, the al Qaeda and Taliban are all surrounded at this time.

But what he did tell us was that in his estimation, there was a mistake made at the beginning of this campaign, and the mistake was that he feels the al Qaeda forces were underestimated in their strength.

He also told us something else a little surprising. That he said within the first two days of the campaign, the al Qaeda were able to get in reinforcements, people from outside the area, to reinforce their positions. Now, he says that at this time, his Afghan forces have fully cut off all of the roads into the area, and that it is no longer possible for al Qaeda to get reinforcements.

But from a military point of view on the ground here today, this storm is no doubt hampering at least re-supply efforts -- Paula. ZAHN: Nic, there is a report in "The Washington Times" this morning that suggests that there are military officers out there saying privately that the tactics that are being used in this battle are not correct, that ground troops shouldn't have been sent in so early. What is your reaction to that criticism?

ROBERTSON: Well, local commanders have said that they believe that they have -- this is local Afghan commanders, they believe that they have superiority on the ground over U.S. forces, because they say they are used to fighting in this terrain. They are knowledgeable about the terrain, and they say that they have been told by the Americans that the coalition forces wanted to bomb first before going in on the ground.

But the commanders here don't say that they think any mistakes have been made in that context. The mistakes they think have been underestimating al Qaeda, and also that al Qaeda may have had reinforcements. From their point of view, when we pushed them on the conditions on the front line, they won't give us the details of what is happening right now, but they do say that morale is high, and they expect the battle to be won here -- Paula.

ZAHN: I know you say there is quite a dust storm kicking up there. How strong would you say the winds are there?

ROBERTSON: Well, they are picking up and coming off the mountains. Earlier on, there was so much dust in the air when it started raining. The rain was actually falling as mud in this area. The wind perhaps at the moment is only 20 to 30 knots at this level, but higher up in the higher elevations where the battles are going on, probably much stronger -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right. Nic Robertson -- appreciate that update.

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