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CNN Saturday Morning News
Control of Kandahar Airport Shifted From Marines to Army
Aired January 19, 2002 - 11:01 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The latest military takeover in Afghanistan is a peaceful one. Today the U.S. Army took control of Kandahar Airport from the American Marines.
CNN's Ben Wedeman with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a simple ceremony, the U.S. Army takes control of Kandahar Airport from the Marines, raising the banner of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
For the Army, it's time to dig in. These soldiers are adjusting their sights, settling in to their Spartan new surroundings, and personalizing their foxholes for what could well be an open-ended stay in a potentially dangerous environment.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I'm not concerned at all for my safety. I trust my friends and my fellow soldiers. We're all going to come home safe.
WEDEMAN: The handover didn't make much difference to Sergeant Jacqueline Green's day, spent filling sandbags and talking about what she misses in her new home.
SERGEANT JACQUELINE GREEN, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION: My bed and my bathroom.
WEDEMAN: As the Marines leave, more supplies arrive for the Army. Predictably some Marines complained that the Army was late in taking over. The Army admits there have been delays.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: The aircraft is running a little bit slow. We got some people that we still need on ground to make the transfer complete.
WEDEMAN: For these Marines after a month in the trenches, it's time to go back to their ships in the Indian Ocean and take one last playful jab at their replacements.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: We did all the work, and hopefully they'll come in here and they won't lose the place.
WEDEMAN (on camera): The Marines came here to secure Kandahar Airport, the army to hold it, and it looks like that's what they'll be doing for a long time.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now while the army digs in at Kandahar Airport, other U.S. troops in Afghanistan are pressing the search for terrorists, their documents and, of course, their leader Osama bin Laden.
For the latest on the war effort and the hunt for bin Laden, we turn it now to the Pentagon and CNN's Jonathan Aiken.
Jonathan, good morning.
JONATHAN AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. Day 105 for the U.S. and its activities in Afghanistan. We're told it's been a pretty quiet 24 hours, the Central Command telling us there's been no bombing in the past day, and the U.S. continuing to look for what the Pentagon calls "targets of opportunity."
In a master of understatement (sic) from Central Command told us this morning that the United States has planes available if, in fact, they're needed.
There was quite a buzz here in the building yesterday to that CNN interview that Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf gave with CNN's Tom Mintier in which he suggested that Osama bin Laden may already be dead from kidney disease. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Tommy Franks, says he's not buying that and he says the hunt for the al Qaeda leader continues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, COMMANDER CENTRAL COMMAND: Right now, I honestly don't know where he is. When I think all of us say that we don't know where bin Laden is, I think that's a true statement. We really don't know where he is, whether he's in Afghanistan or whether he may have left.
But we know this: The world is not a large enough place for him to hide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AIKEN: Activity here stateside is coming from the other coast, from the West Coast this morning. A lot of anticipation on the piers in San Diego, California. It will be quite a homecoming in store today in San Diego for the crew and families of those on board the USS Princeton and the USS Antietam, both these ships attached to the USS Carl Vinson carrier battle group.
Both the Princeton and the Antietam coming in for home port and break after six months deployment in the region. The Vinson itself will be coming back to its home port in Bremerton, Washington though it won't do that today. Just one other thing to pass along from here, Miles, we're getting word of more help from NATO allies. Poland is sending a contingent of 275 personnel to Afghanistan by the middle or end of next month. We're told this group will include experts in military engineering and chemical and biological weapons, as well as some elite members of the Polish Army's Commando Force. Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Jonathan Aiken at the Pentagon, thank you very much.
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