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American Morning
Two Dozen Bombers Headed for Guam
Aired March 05, 2003 - 08:08 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: Two dozen long range U.S. bombers will go to the island of Guam. The deployment, according to the Pentagon, had been long planned as a way to beef up defenses in the region. But by sending the bombers, is the U.S. sending a powerful message to North Korea?
Let's check in with Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning -- good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, indeed, 24 bombers, 12 B-1 bombers, 12 B-52 bombers have now received their deployment orders and will be moving to the Pacific island of Guam.
Now, as we have said, this deployment order actually came before the weekend incident in which those Korean MIG fighters intercepted an Air Force reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan. This had been a long planned deployment. What this is really about is, indeed, sending a long-term message to North Korea. And that message from the Pentagon is don't think that the U.S. military is distracted by Iraq. The U.S. military was, is going to maintain a robust presence in the Pacific, officials say, and this is just part of it.
And, indeed, several dozen fighter aircraft have already been repositioned within the Pacific as forces have moved out to the Persian Gulf. These forces are coming in behind, all sending a message to North Korea, don't think we're distracted by Iraq. That's what the Pentagon says -- Paula.
ZAHN: There is some other news to talk about out of the Pentagon this morning. What can you tell us about that investigation into the deaths of two detainees who were in American custody in Afghanistan?
STARR: This is still a developing story, but there are some new, every disturbing bits of information. Military corners have now ruled that the deaths of these two detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan last December, their deaths were homicides. This is all part of a criminal investigation now being conducted by the military in Afghanistan, trying to determine what exactly happened to these two men.
Their death certificates have been -- now have homicide checked off, as the cause of death -- in the both of them, the death certificate says blunt force trauma was a contributing factor to their deaths. We expect the investigation to be wrapped up in the next several days to couple of weeks and the question on the table now is whether any U.S. military personnel will, in fact, be charged in the homicides of these two men.
We don't know the answer to that yet because what the investigation will determine is how and when that blunt force trauma was inflicted. Did it happen while they were being taken into custody, perhaps? Did they resist? Did it happen while they were in custody and under restraint or did it happen in some other fashion that we're not aware of?
Those answers coming in the next couple of weeks. But now both of them have been ruled a homicide.
ZAHN: Secretary Rumsfeld and General Franks have a busy day today. They're going to be at the White House. What are they going to be up to?
STARR: Very busy, indeed. Within the next hour General Franks and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will go to the Situation Room at the White House. We are told they will have a very detailed meeting with the president, going over the war plan once again, possibly the final meeting before the president makes a decision about whether to go to war against Iraq.
We are also told that Secretary Rumsfeld will stay behind and meet with the president in the Oval Office for some further discussions on this. And then after lunchtime here, we expect to see both the secretary and General Franks here in the briefing room to meet with the Pentagon press corps.
ZAHN: We've got five seconds left. A bunch of published reports this morning, Associated Press saying we're going to be at war next week.
Are you, is anybody saying that around the Pentagon?
STARR: You know, you get the sort of who knows answer. We're ready to go whenever the president tells us to, they say, sooner rather than later. But there's no real indications at this point. There still is that diplomatic and political string to play out. It will be a decision by the diplomats and politicians, the military says. They will just simply be ready to go when the president orders them.
ZAHN: Barbara Starr, keep us posted.
Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 5, 2003 - 08:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Two dozen long range U.S. bombers will go to the island of Guam. The deployment, according to the Pentagon, had been long planned as a way to beef up defenses in the region. But by sending the bombers, is the U.S. sending a powerful message to North Korea?
Let's check in with Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning -- good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, indeed, 24 bombers, 12 B-1 bombers, 12 B-52 bombers have now received their deployment orders and will be moving to the Pacific island of Guam.
Now, as we have said, this deployment order actually came before the weekend incident in which those Korean MIG fighters intercepted an Air Force reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan. This had been a long planned deployment. What this is really about is, indeed, sending a long-term message to North Korea. And that message from the Pentagon is don't think that the U.S. military is distracted by Iraq. The U.S. military was, is going to maintain a robust presence in the Pacific, officials say, and this is just part of it.
And, indeed, several dozen fighter aircraft have already been repositioned within the Pacific as forces have moved out to the Persian Gulf. These forces are coming in behind, all sending a message to North Korea, don't think we're distracted by Iraq. That's what the Pentagon says -- Paula.
ZAHN: There is some other news to talk about out of the Pentagon this morning. What can you tell us about that investigation into the deaths of two detainees who were in American custody in Afghanistan?
STARR: This is still a developing story, but there are some new, every disturbing bits of information. Military corners have now ruled that the deaths of these two detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan last December, their deaths were homicides. This is all part of a criminal investigation now being conducted by the military in Afghanistan, trying to determine what exactly happened to these two men.
Their death certificates have been -- now have homicide checked off, as the cause of death -- in the both of them, the death certificate says blunt force trauma was a contributing factor to their deaths. We expect the investigation to be wrapped up in the next several days to couple of weeks and the question on the table now is whether any U.S. military personnel will, in fact, be charged in the homicides of these two men.
We don't know the answer to that yet because what the investigation will determine is how and when that blunt force trauma was inflicted. Did it happen while they were being taken into custody, perhaps? Did they resist? Did it happen while they were in custody and under restraint or did it happen in some other fashion that we're not aware of?
Those answers coming in the next couple of weeks. But now both of them have been ruled a homicide.
ZAHN: Secretary Rumsfeld and General Franks have a busy day today. They're going to be at the White House. What are they going to be up to?
STARR: Very busy, indeed. Within the next hour General Franks and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will go to the Situation Room at the White House. We are told they will have a very detailed meeting with the president, going over the war plan once again, possibly the final meeting before the president makes a decision about whether to go to war against Iraq.
We are also told that Secretary Rumsfeld will stay behind and meet with the president in the Oval Office for some further discussions on this. And then after lunchtime here, we expect to see both the secretary and General Franks here in the briefing room to meet with the Pentagon press corps.
ZAHN: We've got five seconds left. A bunch of published reports this morning, Associated Press saying we're going to be at war next week.
Are you, is anybody saying that around the Pentagon?
STARR: You know, you get the sort of who knows answer. We're ready to go whenever the president tells us to, they say, sooner rather than later. But there's no real indications at this point. There still is that diplomatic and political string to play out. It will be a decision by the diplomats and politicians, the military says. They will just simply be ready to go when the president orders them.
ZAHN: Barbara Starr, keep us posted.
Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
