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CNN Sunday Morning

Tommy Franks to Meet With Coalition Troops in Afghanistan

Aired August 25, 2002 - 07:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As we earlier reported, General Tommy Franks, the man leading the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan from his Tampa headquarters is in the war region today. He'll meet with thousands of U.S. and coalition troops at Bagram Air Base. CNN's Matthew Chance is there.
Matthew, we saw a bit of the general's speech, and he did finally address the allegations that the U.S. backed Northern Alliance suffocated some Taliban prisoners.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed this is an issue, Carol, that has been gathering quite a lot of momentum here in Afghanistan over recent weeks, and General Franks took the time to address it, saying that the issue should be investigated, that people should gather the facts about exactly what happened at Mazar-e Sharif. The allegation, of course, is that hundreds of Taliban prisoners were crammed into shipping containers, which were sealed air tight, thereby causing the suffocation of many hundreds of people. The question is, of course, to what extent, if at all, did U.S. forces have any awareness of what was going on? Could they have acted to prevent it? Or indeed, should the U.S. forces be culpable for the alleged crimes of their allies -- Carol.

LIN: It is a sticky situation, though, because the United States needed at the time the backing and the work of the Northern Alliance and is now in the process of backing and even paying local warlords to hunt down al Qaeda. So it's a tricky relationship that the United States has to have on the ground in order to achieve a nation-building goal in Afghanistan.

CHANCE: It's always been a tricky relationship from the moment that the United States forged that alliance with the Northern Alliance, as it was called back then. It was always well known that figures within the Northern Alliance had bloody hands, that they'd committed atrocities in the past, killings of their enemies, which were perhaps unlawful under international legislation. And you're right, too, there is a big challenge on the part of the United States. It has been challenged (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Afghanistan to try and hold together the various fractured, splinter groups, ethnic groups, tribal loyalties that currently underpinning the administration in Kabul. So it is a very volatile situation and one, obviously, the United States is very key to keep a grip of.

LIN: Matthew, did the general outline a timetable for how long the United States would be in Afghanistan and deeper, a deeper sense of commitment to how long the United States is going to be involved in nation-building there?

CHANCE: Well actually General Franks was specifically asked about how long U.S. troops would be expected to stay in Afghanistan. Would it be a few years? Would it be five years? He specifically said that he was not prepared at this stage to set a timeframe. He said he was here, that U.S. forces would be here to make sure that the people who are the reason for U.S. forces being here in the first place, by which, of course, he was referring to the Taliban and al Qaeda, to make sure that they never returned again. And so he said the -- to determine how long U.S. forces would be here, they would have to make sure that this situation, that situation never reemerged Carol.

LIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the general's schedule?

CHANCE: Well, the general is in the middle of a tour of central Asia. Right now he's been to several central Asian countries before arriving in Afghanistan. He's been briefed already by U.S. commanders on the ground about the situation here in Afghanistan. He's also received a briefing from commanders at the International Security, an assistance force, which is providing security in the Afghan capital, Kabul. He's now expected to fly out of Afghanistan and move onto another central Asian country to Uzbekistan (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They'll be meeting, obviously U.S. military figures and Uzbek leaders, as well, there Carol.

LIN: All right, thank you very much. Matthew Chance reporting live from Afghanistan.

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