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CNN Sunday Morning

Latest From Afghanistan

Aired December 30, 2001 - 09:01   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Now we are going to go live to CNN's Bill Hemmer in Kandahar with more details on the POW situation and that agreement on multi-national peacekeepers. Hello again, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Marty, hello again and good evening. Under a full moon tonight here in Kandahar, we're just hearing now the first of many anticipated landings and takeoffs of cargo planes again tonight.

Last evening we had 34 come through the airport. Here tonight, there's no telling how many. But again the parade has begun of the fleet of cargo planes landing here.

We're also getting word, Marty, on one of the rare mishaps we have heard from the U.S. Marines. Apparently, late Saturday afternoon on a mission somewhere in southern Afghanistan, the Super Stallion, the CH-53 that's been an absolute workhorse for the marines here in southern Afghanistan, apparently suffered a hard landing somewhere in the region.

We're told that the crew of four is safe, no serious injuries, no casualties on board. In fact, the crew is back here at the airport. We spotted them a few hours ago; however, that aircraft, that helicopter has not yet been recovered. We do anticipate that the marines here, they indicate they'll try and get that out tonight or possibly into the morning hours on Monday.

Now back to the issue of detainees, the number now 139, after another 14 were brought in last night. Today we are told a short-term medical facility was set up inside the detention facility. We're told that a number of these detainees suffer from lifelong illnesses. In the words of one marine, some of these men have never seen a doctor in their entire lifetime. But again, the number 139 here in Kandahar.

Ironically the same number, 139, we are told through sources here at the airport, 139 detainees are now being held in Pakistan, neighboring here to the east, that are being processed right now and eventually they'll be brought here, probably in the next couple of day or week's time to be processed again here and then questioned and interrogated as to what they may or may not know about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Again, that outstanding issue still has not been answered here, apparently according to the sources here. They also say the process sometimes and the progress can be slow and plodding. They say they're working through translators. That can always be a difficult task. But again, the work continues now almost on a 24-hour basis. Again, there's always the possibility more detainees will come in later tonight.

Let's talk more about these issues now, and bring in from Washington Major General Don Shepherd, retired from the U.S. Air Force with us again today. Good evening from Kandahar. Good morning to you in Washington, General. I want to touch first on this helicopter incident. It has been a rare thing for the marines here, and frankly for that matter for the U.S. military when you consider how many flights are gone every day, how many (UNINTELLIGIBLE) are flown.

But again, general, as you know through previous combat operations, these things do happen.

MAJ. GEN. DONALD SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Bill, losses are part of combat but they're also part of training and daily operations. You can never relax in a military operation and particularly in helicopters, many of which operate at night in the sandy area around Kandahar.

You get a situation where you're landing and you kick up dust and you lose basically orientation. It becomes very, very difficult. You lose all depth perception with the night vision system in the dust, and you just have to be very, very careful, but not unusual that these things happen. Fortunately, our loss rates these days are very low, due to good equipment and well-trained crews.

HEMMER: And again as you mentioned, it's a good thing the crew is safe, no casualties after this mishap. Now, general, let's talk about the news that John Vause was reporting last hour out of Kabul.

Apparently the interim government here in Afghanistan has reached a deal with the U.N. to bring in peacekeepers, not a whole lot of detail given out just yet. But what would you anticipate in terms of numbers, both in the north and in the south, and how long before they could be on the ground here and be effective in Afghanistan, general?

SHEPPERD: Well, Bill, if you're talking about the peacekeepers themselves, they're going to be growing from a cadre of 3,000, perhaps to as much as 8,000, and spread gradually all over the country. If you're talking about the combat troops that are being brought in from the 101st Airborne Division, basically it's an air mobile division.

It will move rapidly into the Kandahar area in the matter -- you could be there in the matter of a week to two weeks with all of its equipment, if you will, setting up operations, very heavy on the helicopter support and able to go on search and destroy missions for remaining al Qaeda cells, for Mullah Omar down in that area, and do any of the things that General Franks wishes them to do. It gives him great flexibility with much heavier forces that are capable of staying for a much longer time with more firepower than the marine expeditionary units that have been there seizing the objective originally, Bill. HEMMER: General, certainly logistics have to be an absolute struggle at this point, trying to get them in here, but we will see that unfold in the coming weeks ahead.

I want to talk about what the President had to say in Crawford on Friday. He said the U.S. military will be in Afghanistan for some time. In your estimation, how many will come here and how long is a long time, General?

SHEPPERD: Well, I think a long time for U.S. forces would be two years, and that is the period of time that the interim government is going to take to establish itself until there's a national election, reportedly two years from now.

I think you can see significant involvement of U.S. forces for up to that entire two-year period, and when I say significant involvement, I'm talking about a deployment of an entire division.

Now initially, the division again will be going out on the missions that are pertinent to the search for the remaining al Qaeda cells. After that, they will be lending support to the international security assistance force, that is the U.N., the force that's established under the U.N. Charter 7, basically that establishes a police force and security throughout the nation for the next two years as that nation is coming up to speed and basically reconstructing itself as a viable country with an economy.

I think the U.S. forces could be in there for major portions of that two years. The numbers will dwindle as they go on and as other nations come in, but we'll be involved. We don't want to see Afghanistan go back to a basket case like it was before, Bill.

HEMMER: And if you look at Bosnia, a case in point in Bosnia, U.S. forces still on the ground there so many years later after the peace accord was reached back in 1995 now in 2001, looking at 2002 straight ahead.

General, just about 30 seconds left, and I know I'm moving you around to different areas. As you gauge the different news reports regarding the situation with India and Pakistan, what at this point concerns you the most about that current conflict?

SHEPPERD: Bill, it's very dangerous. Any time you deploy forces, the law of unintended consequences takes over. The troops are out there. They are going to defend themselves, and when they start shooting, it can escalate very rapidly. The major danger is they both have nuclear weapons. They both have air forces and missiles. This can spin out of control. We must deescalate it. We must deescalate it quickly. Lots of effort going on there now, Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Major, thank you. Major General Don Shepherd, live in D.C. Don, always good to talk with you and many thanks. And before we go back to Atlanta, I want to show you a scene we caught earlier today, several hours ago. It is Sunday, here in Kandahar, just like it is back in the U.S. Church services were carried out. Catholic services were held first. Protestant services followed that. A number of marines chose to participate today, and we are told the theme today certainly was to keep their colleagues, their men and women in mind as the campaign in the U.S. War on Terrorism continues overseas, and again those prayers and thoughts were put out again today in the airport terminal here in Kandahar.

More next hour, but for now back to Atlanta. Here's more news, and again Kyra Phillips. Kyra, back to you.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks Bill Hemmer.

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