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American Morning
U.S. Calls Anaconda A Success
Aired March 19, 2002 - 09:02 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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: "Up Front" this morning: Operation Anaconda is over, and as U.S. troops begin pulling out of the region, they are declaring it a success. 1,000 American soldiers fought on the ground during the more than two weeks that that mission was unfolding. Eight Americans died in the fighting against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters believed, at one point, to number some 1,000.
Also being pulled out, CNN's Martin Savidge, who joins us from Bagram with one last live report, and I mentioned it a minute ago, Marty, in the lead-in, I want you thoughts on the end of Operation Anaconda, but I mentioned that you're concluding what I think is one of the most remarkable pieces of broadcast journalism that I can remember in a good long while, 80 days in Afghanistan.
Tell us about the end of Anaconda, but more importantly, let's move on to your recollections, your thoughts, your feelings as you wind this thing up.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you, Jack. You are going to give me a big head, I won't fit on the airplane. Operation Anaconda came to end this morning when the last of several hundred coalition -- that would be Canadian and U.S. forces, were airlifted out of the area of the lower Shah-e-Kot valley. We got the official word from the man who has been in charge of the operation from the very beginning, and that is General Buster (ph) Hagenbeck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. F.L. HAGENBECK, SPOKESMAN, U.S. ARMY: Operation Anaconda is over. It ended last night, and this morning, when we exfiltrated the remaining Canadian and U.S. forces who were exploiting the valleys -- Objective Remington and south of the Shah-e-Kot valley. The world is a safer place than it was on the 2nd of March when we inserted several thousand coalition forces, including soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines that put their lives on the line to confront al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: We want to show you these images that came from the final hours of Operation Anaconda. CNN's David Albrighten (ph), our photographer, was out there for the very end. Of course, CNN was there at the very beginning and also the middle, but these were the final hours, and it was still very difficult for the soldiers out there.
Ironically, they are working in the same area where Operation Anaconda almost began, a place called Ginger (ph) Pass, the site of some very heavy, very brutal and bloody fighting in the first couple of days. They are still seeking out and destroying al Qaeda, Taliban compounds. They are finding bunkers up there, caves, mortar positions, blowing up caches of weapons, and yes, still finding some fighters up there. They had at least one fire fight in which an al Qaeda or Taliban fighter was killed. They found the bodies of several others.
They have learned lessons from this operation, military leaders admit that. They know that the Taliban now are well trained, and also have good equipment, almost as good as the coalition's, but they also know that they're not 10-foot tall, that they can be beaten, and beaten on their own turf. Of course, lessons are learned by both groups in an operation like this. The Taliban and al Qaeda no doubt have learned their own. The next operation, when it comes, is going to be decidedly different, for both sides -- Jack
CAFFERTY: Marty, 80 days on assignment in Afghanistan in a combat and military situation that few of us in this country ever imagined that we'd be seeing. Highlights, lowlights as you get ready to board the plane home?
SAVIDGE: Well, I guess the last three weeks would be the microcosm, obviously, the buildup to Operation Anaconda and then actually being on it. We were embedded. This idea of embedding journalists is almost a throwback to World War II. There was some done in Vietnam, but -- where the journalist goes along into the fight and has access to everything that the soldier has, and what I mean by intelligence reports, the briefings before the event occurs, and then going in.
And I guess the most frightening part for me had to be going into the hot LZs in the CH-47. You are essentially packed in there like sardines. Everybody has got a weapon, except me. And it is a flying gas tank, and you realize that just one bullet in the wrong place, and there won't be much of me left, so -- and the other thing is that there is no way out. As a journalist usually on the periphery, you plan your escape route. You have a vehicle ready to go when things get too hot.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
SAVIDGE: There was no eject button that I could push when things got a little bit too hot -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: What is the first thing you are going to do when you get home, or maybe the first meal you are looking forward to having?
SAVIDGE: Well, the first thing I am going to do is I am going to wrap my arms around my wife and my children and hold on to them for about a good solid hour, and then I think I am going to sit down to a steak dinner and I am not going to go camping for about 15 years. CAFFERTY: Let me say on behalf of your colleagues at CNN and the people watching us -- I guess, around the world, you have been a remarkable presence for all of us as we have watched this war against terrorism, the first chapter of it, unfold. In exchange for all this high praise I'm heaping on you, I want to lock you in to an invitation to come to New York at some point when you get back, not right away, and join us here in the studios on "American Morning" and we'll sit down and look at some of your home movies. How is that?
SAVIDGE: All right, Jack, I'll take you up on it. Thank you very much. That is very kind.
CAFFERTY: Thank you for all the extraordinary work. Martin Savidge in Afghanistan.
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