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CNN Sunday Morning
Taliban Regroups in Afghanistan
Aired September 14, 2003 - 09:33 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Defense officials from Pakistan and the U.S. begin four days of meetings in Washington today. They'll discuss expanding military cooperation and combating terrorism. Afghanistan has criticized Pakistan recently for allowing Taliban and al Qaeda guerrillas to launch attacks from Pakistani territory.
Some have said not enough troops and not enough money. Some have also said Afghanistan could be a blueprint of Iraq. 23 months after the fall of the Taliban they are regrouping. Did the U.S. take its eye off the ball, as one former administration official thinks? Our Christiane Amanpour has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A U.S. Patrol back from two days hunting in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: There were units up in the hills, looking for terrorists.
AMANPOUR: But they've returned empty handed after a brutal mission.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Walking uphill, got 50, 60 pounds on our backs. It's hard to breathe. Not used to the air yet.
AMANPOUR: And so it goes in America's war on terror. Two years after September 11, Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar are still at large. Some 9,000 U.S. soldiers are still trying to pursue them. And the remnants of their network.
CAPT. ERIC LOPEZ, U.S. ARMY: It's tough. It's a real cat and mouse game, figuring out where they're going to be, what they're going to do and trying to counter that.
AMANPOUR (on camera): The American forces call this the most evil place in Afghanistan. This is where they've taken the most casualties. They say the major threat comes from just seven kilometers beyond this wall, the Pakistan border. And at the same time the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar has started issuing threats against the American forces.
MAJ. PAUL WILLE, U.S. ARMY: Well, Mullah Omar can go ahead and urge all he wants to. But it's not going to do any good. AMANPOUR (voice-over): But this summer has seen an alarming upsurge of terrorist activity. The Taliban are regrouping in the hundreds. And almost daily they fight pitched battles with Afghan government forces. The death toll is rising rapidly. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan told us that Mullah Omar cannot win back much territory, but can cause severe trouble for American troops.
LT. GEN. JOHN VINES, U.S. ARMY: Does he have the capability of encouraging other people to do it? Of course he does. He moves furtively. He has what is known as good tradecraft.
AMANPOUR (on camera): What does that mean?
VINES: It means that he knows how to avoid exposure and being caught. He's very good.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): While Washington tries to play down the Taliban resurgence, insisting they are no more than a handful, General Vines estimate there's are hundreds of them, some affiliated with al Qaeda.
So why is this happening two years into the war on terror? Rand Beers left his terrorism beat with the Bush administration because he believes it took its eye off the ball when it started to focus on Iraq.
RAND BEERS, COUNTER TERRORISM EXPERT: We have given the Taliban and al Qaeda an opportunity to retrench and to start to come back. That should be a real warning call for everybody that there's a lot more still to be done in Afghanistan.
AMANPOUR: Indeed, senior U.S. military officials in Afghanistan told CNN the Bush administration has tried to fight the war on terror here on the cheap, not putting in enough soldiers and not spending enough money or effort to reconstruct the country. The Bush administration rejects those charges; nonetheless, it's belatedly acknowledging the need to prop up the new Afghan government by urgently diverting $1 billion to Afghanistan.
DAVID SEDNEY, U.S. EMBASSY, KABUL: We remember what happened on September 11th. That's why we came to Afghanistan, to get rid of the Taliban, al Qaeda, the terrorist state that was there. That's the fundamental reason why we're here. In terms of the additional resources, that's going to make us able to accomplish those goals better.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: What we covered so far is the preparation for battle.
AMANPOUR: Much of the funding will go towards getting the Afghan national army up and functioning. As yet, only 5,000 are trained. They hope to have 9,000 to 10,000 by next year. A senior U.S. diplomat told CNN that President Bush sees additional funding now as good business, enabling the U.S. to get out of Afghanistan quicker. But out where they're waging their struggle against the terrorists, a U.S. commander tells CNN talk among soldiers is that they'll be here at least another ten years.
The time we spent with these U.S. forces just happened to be the bloodiest week in Afghanistan since the Taliban fell 23 months ago. Christiane Amanpour, eastern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 September 14, 2003 - 09:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Defense officials from Pakistan and the U.S. begin four days of meetings in Washington today. They'll discuss expanding military cooperation and combating terrorism. Afghanistan has criticized Pakistan recently for allowing Taliban and al Qaeda guerrillas to launch attacks from Pakistani territory.
Some have said not enough troops and not enough money. Some have also said Afghanistan could be a blueprint of Iraq. 23 months after the fall of the Taliban they are regrouping. Did the U.S. take its eye off the ball, as one former administration official thinks? Our Christiane Amanpour has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A U.S. Patrol back from two days hunting in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: There were units up in the hills, looking for terrorists.
AMANPOUR: But they've returned empty handed after a brutal mission.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Walking uphill, got 50, 60 pounds on our backs. It's hard to breathe. Not used to the air yet.
AMANPOUR: And so it goes in America's war on terror. Two years after September 11, Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar are still at large. Some 9,000 U.S. soldiers are still trying to pursue them. And the remnants of their network.
CAPT. ERIC LOPEZ, U.S. ARMY: It's tough. It's a real cat and mouse game, figuring out where they're going to be, what they're going to do and trying to counter that.
AMANPOUR (on camera): The American forces call this the most evil place in Afghanistan. This is where they've taken the most casualties. They say the major threat comes from just seven kilometers beyond this wall, the Pakistan border. And at the same time the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar has started issuing threats against the American forces.
MAJ. PAUL WILLE, U.S. ARMY: Well, Mullah Omar can go ahead and urge all he wants to. But it's not going to do any good. AMANPOUR (voice-over): But this summer has seen an alarming upsurge of terrorist activity. The Taliban are regrouping in the hundreds. And almost daily they fight pitched battles with Afghan government forces. The death toll is rising rapidly. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan told us that Mullah Omar cannot win back much territory, but can cause severe trouble for American troops.
LT. GEN. JOHN VINES, U.S. ARMY: Does he have the capability of encouraging other people to do it? Of course he does. He moves furtively. He has what is known as good tradecraft.
AMANPOUR (on camera): What does that mean?
VINES: It means that he knows how to avoid exposure and being caught. He's very good.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): While Washington tries to play down the Taliban resurgence, insisting they are no more than a handful, General Vines estimate there's are hundreds of them, some affiliated with al Qaeda.
So why is this happening two years into the war on terror? Rand Beers left his terrorism beat with the Bush administration because he believes it took its eye off the ball when it started to focus on Iraq.
RAND BEERS, COUNTER TERRORISM EXPERT: We have given the Taliban and al Qaeda an opportunity to retrench and to start to come back. That should be a real warning call for everybody that there's a lot more still to be done in Afghanistan.
AMANPOUR: Indeed, senior U.S. military officials in Afghanistan told CNN the Bush administration has tried to fight the war on terror here on the cheap, not putting in enough soldiers and not spending enough money or effort to reconstruct the country. The Bush administration rejects those charges; nonetheless, it's belatedly acknowledging the need to prop up the new Afghan government by urgently diverting $1 billion to Afghanistan.
DAVID SEDNEY, U.S. EMBASSY, KABUL: We remember what happened on September 11th. That's why we came to Afghanistan, to get rid of the Taliban, al Qaeda, the terrorist state that was there. That's the fundamental reason why we're here. In terms of the additional resources, that's going to make us able to accomplish those goals better.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: What we covered so far is the preparation for battle.
AMANPOUR: Much of the funding will go towards getting the Afghan national army up and functioning. As yet, only 5,000 are trained. They hope to have 9,000 to 10,000 by next year. A senior U.S. diplomat told CNN that President Bush sees additional funding now as good business, enabling the U.S. to get out of Afghanistan quicker. But out where they're waging their struggle against the terrorists, a U.S. commander tells CNN talk among soldiers is that they'll be here at least another ten years.
The time we spent with these U.S. forces just happened to be the bloodiest week in Afghanistan since the Taliban fell 23 months ago. Christiane Amanpour, eastern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
