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CNN Saturday Morning News

Pentagon Refuses Comment on Possible Drone Flight Over Kabul

Aired October 06, 2001 - 08:01   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We are still gathering, at this time, reaction from the Pentagon and elsewhere to the reports about what we saw today over the skies of Kabul. With more from Washington, John King tracking that. John, good morning again.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again to you, Bill. Very little. Officials at the Pentagon saying "no comment." White House officials for now not saying anything in addition as well. As we see those pictures coming from our affiliate Al Jezeera TV out of Kabul, obviously a slow-flying, visible aircraft there, you can see.

We do know, just from past military campaigns, fighter jets tend to fly in teams, and they would operate at a much quicker pace than we see this plane circling about. We also know from Pentagon sources and other Administration officials, there are a number -- that tail you see there we believe to be a surface-to-air missile fired up from the ground, up at that plane circling overhead.

Pentagon officials also have told us there are a number of U.S. unmanned reconnaissance planes deployed to the region, and there have been reports in recent days of the Taliban reinforcing positions outside of the city, moving military assets out.

The Pentagon has said consistently, one of the key questions it wants to answer before any U.S. military campaign, and perhaps before any humanitarian air drops of food and medical supplies into the region, would be just where are the Taliban anti-aircraft sites?

We see this firing out of Kabul this morning. Speculation is dangerous in this business, so we'll try to steer away from it. But we do know the United States has had reconnaissance planes in the region, unmanned reconnaissance planes. They tend to fly alone. Fighter jets would fly in teams.

The Pentagon now only saying "no comment." We do know, of course, that two weeks ago a U.S. reconnaissance "went missing" is the Pentagon term. The Taliban says it shot that plane down -- Bill.

HEMMER: And, John, also just to follow up on that. Two weeks ago, if you remember, the Pentagon had no comment at that point, and this kind of follows along the same line they have had at the Pentagon since the very start, that they will remain tight-lipped, as tight as they feel necessary, to keep their operations quiet. KING: That is right. They want to say very little, if anything at all, about operational details. And that not only portends just to the use of reconnaissance planes or any flights over the region. If you go now to the various military Web sites, the Norfolk Naval Air Station, Naval Base, used to tell you where its carriers were in the world, at least generally. You could go to the Web site.

All that taken down. The Pentagon operating under a great cloak of secrecy here for a number of reasons. They say not only are they planning possible -- what the Defense Secretary said "inevitable" military strikes -- in recent days. But they also say, because of the terrorist threat of this, the very unusual threat of this, they don't want any suspected terrorist organizations knowing just where U.S. military assets are deployed at any given moment.

Bill, I also want to quickly just say, on the other thing we have been covering this morning, White House officials saying there will be no negotiations and no discussions, repeating a line from the President, with the Taliban. The Taliban offering overnight to release those Western aid workers if the United States would stop its quote/unquote "war propaganda."

Remember, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson was planning a trip or considering a trip to the region about a week ago, the White House asked him not to go for just this reason. It believed that it would result in the Taliban trying to enter into negotiations, linking the cases of those aid workers to the military buildup. The White House saying it will not be drawn into such discussions.

HEMMER: Also, John, at the same point you were talking with Kathleen Koch last hour at the Pentagon. Donald Rumsfeld is back from his five-country stop. Much reaction to the visit, A, and the second part of that question would be: Are there any other trips at this point planned overseas, from high-ranking officials either within the Pentagon or elsewhere?

KING: No trips that we know of planned. Secretary Rumsfeld's trip being credited within the Administration for advancing the diplomatic coalition and the military coalition very significantly.

A dramatic headline out of Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, has now agreed to allow U.S. troops to be deployed there. At least the public line is, those troops only for humanitarian missions, search and rescue operations. But for the first time, you will have U.S. military troops welcomed into a former Soviet republic. That a public statement.

Administration officials also that privately they've received more words of support from the government of Saudi Arabia. There has been a debate back and forth about whether the Saudis would allow its facilities, especially the high-tech Prince Sultan Airbase, which has a top state-of-the-line command and control center, whether the Saudis would allow that to be used for offensive U.S. military actions back in the region.

The Saudis have said No. U.S. officials say privately the Saudis have promised full cooperation. The Defense Secretary acknowledging some things here won't be said in public, because of the delicate diplomacy in each of the individual nations, as part of the coalition.

But Administration officials saying "mission accomplished" as the Defense Secretary is now back in Washington, due to update the President this morning on his trip, when the President's National Security Council meets by teleconference a bit later this morning.

HEMMER: Got it. OK, John. Be back in touch shortly. Here now is Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go live now to Islamabad, Pakistan, where Nic Robertson is standing by. Nic, have you found out any additional information to the anti-aircraft guns firing at this aircraft that we've been seeing all morning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, the Foreign Ministry confirming that they've fired from three separate locations from the city of Kabul at an aircraft that they described as being an American plane.

Now, the reason that they said that it was an American aircraft, and they said it wasn't one of theirs, and they said they didn't believe that it belonged to the Northern Alliance, their opposition, who are based some 50 miles north of the city there.

Now, an independent witness in the city, who contacted CNN, said that he saw a surface to missile being fired at the aircraft by the Taliban from Taliban positions. However, the Taliban Defense Ministry deny that. They say that they only fired from guns, anti-aircraft gun positions, three locations in the city.

So the Taliban say they deny firing a surface-to-air missile. However, they do say that this aircraft didn't fire on them, and didn't drop any bombs on them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, Nic, moving to another topic that you've been covering, and that is the Taliban saying that they will release the eight Western aid workers, if the U.S. stops issuing threats. Does this mean the Taliban is not saying that they will trade aid workers for no attacks from the U.S.?

ROBERTSON: No. What the Taliban is saying here is that, if the United States, as they say, stops their propaganda, that they say is frightening the Afghan people. They say the American propaganda, as a campaign against the Afghan people, is frightening the Afghan people. And what the Taliban say is, if this propaganda campaign against the people, threatening them with attack, is stopped, then they'll release the eight aid workers.

What the Taliban said is that they say that they're ready to be attacked themselves. They say the government is ready to be attacked. There is really a battle for the hearts and minds going on right now, of the Afghans, of course. The United States, President Bush announcing a very big aid, amount of money for aid to go to Afghanistan for the Afghan people, and the Taliban leadership has been struggling to, A, keep the people under control, and B, keep them inside the country.

They have been telling people through the national radio in recent weeks that people shouldn't leave, that they're not under threat, and that they should stay in Afghanistan. So clearly, the Taliban here are trying to push their position to their people, to try and convince their own people that the people are safe and they shouldn't leave.

And this, if the Taliban are able to do that, then this will enable them to manage and control the country much more effectively and much more easily -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nic, that's right. You mentioned the humanitarian aid. Three hundred and twenty million dollars from the Bush Administration. You would think that would put the Afghan people at ease. Are they intimidated by the U.S. right now? Is that the general mood?

ROBERTSON: There's a fear. There's an absolute fear that they could be attacked, and that people in Afghanistan really don't know where exactly those attacks will be located. They figure that they'll be in the cities. That's why they've moved out to the villages. Some people with enough money left the country.

So there is a fear that the attack could go beyond just the government, just the Taliban. There's a lack of understanding that they would not be the targets of any attacks. But people, we are told these days, in the last few days, people are now coming back to the cities.

People have told us, called in to CNN from Afghanistan, they're our local staff there and said that they are seeing families coming back to the cities, returning. So that level of fear is decreasing at this time. In fact, food supplies in the city, we understand, prices have been going down. That's another encouraging factor for people to return to those cities.

But there is not a lot of information inside Afghanistan about what would be the potential targets, should Afghanistan be attacked.

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson live from Islamabad, Pakistan. Thank you so much.

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