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CNN Saturday Morning News

Members of Congress Visit Guantanamo Bay

Aired January 26, 2002 - 07:04   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's head back to Guantanamo Bay, where there's been concern about the treatment of detainees from the war in Afghanistan. Some members of Congress wanted a firsthand look, and so they traveled to the U.S. detention facility in Cuba.

CNN's Bob Franken has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Because you're elected representatives," the general said to the members of Congress, "you will get in there. Not everyone gets in there." And as the cameras watched from the customary 200 yards away, 25 members of the House and Senate got a close-up look at Camp X-Ray and the prison conditions that have caused such a worldwide controversy.

SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: We are giving very good treatment to these people. Quite frankly, I personally think better than they deserve. We're dealing with terrorists here.

FRANKEN: That was a variation on the reaction from each of the members. They spent about an hour inside walking very close to the cells, but they had no conversations with the detainees, who had no earthly idea who these people were. There was a nonstop briefing, and at one point the group walked past an inmate who has become one of the most infamous.

REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (R), FLORIDA: They pointed out who was the one who said that he is committed to killing an American, and I think it really sent chills in our delegation, and as we passed through his detention cell, I think we practiced our evil eye on him.

FRANKEN: Several members of the congressional delegation told CNN that detainee was the Australian national.

The tour also included a look at the new interrogation sheds, where investigators will pursue one of the main objectives here.

REP. STEVE BUYER (R), INDIANA: It is the primary purpose is for military utility, to gather information for national security so we can understand the network of the terrorists to save lives.

FRANKEN (on camera): This tour was organized by the Department of Defense under the assumption that members of Congress would be receptive to the contention that the United States has nothing to be ashamed of here.

Clearly, that was a correct assumption.

Bob Franken, CNN, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Joining us now with more about the detainees and the ongoing battle in Afghanistan is our military analyst, retired major general Don Shepperd, joining us from Washington this morning. Good to have you with us again, General Shepperd.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Morning, Miles.

O'BRIEN: I guess we'll talk about Guantanamo in just a minute, but I am curious about this raid we heard about this past week involving special operations, supposedly 27 high-ranking members of either the Taliban or al Qaeda, depending on -- I guess apparently it was Taliban, initially thought to be al Qaeda, arrested. And then a cache of weapons.

There's a point to be made here about whether this is over or not.

SHEPPERD: Yes, it's a real indication of how unstable this country is. This -- Hazar Kanam (ph) was the name of the area, 35 miles north of Kandahar, the base that we've -- you know, our high- security base down there. And here we are with a large number of Taliban and a large concentration of weaponry in a real -- it was first described as a firefight, and then later a real battle, 15 killed, 26 detainees moved down to Kandahar, giving them a total of about 297 in the country now.

But this is just an example of how things are unstable. The people that used to live in the area have fled to the hills. They've gone to the caves where things are stored, they are regrouping, and we're going to live with this for a long time.

O'BRIEN: So when you say a long time, that means U.S. forces, in some manner, in some size, on the ground in Afghanistan for quite some time.

SHEPPERD: Yes, we're going to be going after these pockets once we identify from intelligence where they are. We'll go after them in raids for sure. At the same time as the interim government tries to spread security across the nation, the international security assistance force is going to get itself in trouble and going to need military help.

And we'll be there to help them. I predict we're going to be there for quite a while assisting in both ways.

O'BRIEN: Why the division? Why the U.S. role being involved in these potential missions, these raids to mop up the Taliban and al Qaeda, and then a separate peacekeeping force? Why doesn't the U.S. participate directly in that as well?

SHEPPERD: Well, the idea behind the peacekeeping force is basically nation building, and it's something we've said that we won't do with our military because our military is stretched too thin and has much to do all over the world in many, many other places. So the idea is to turn the nation building and the spreading security across the country over to the international community and do it slowly, and then use us as the military backbone when it's needed and to go against the remaining al Qaeda and Taliban.

O'BRIEN: All right. All this talk about Guantanamo and the treatment of the prisoners, it seems to me that there were some images that were broadcast all over the world which have led people to draw conclusions. What conclusions, if any, can we draw from those images, and do you have the sense that they're being treated according to Geneva protocols?

SHEPPERD: Yes, I do have the sense they're being treated well, according to Geneva protocols, better than they'd be treated anywhere else as prisoners. The pictures that got out early on that caused the controversy had them blindfolded and shackled. And the reason -- and mask on. The reason they had mask on was because of TB. The reason they were blindfolded is, they had a large number of them in a small area, and you don't want them to be able to see where each other is to give each other support or perhaps cause an uprising.

We're taking every precaution. But these people are being treated well. They're not being tortured. But we are after the information that they have, and when we get it, then we'll take the follow-on steps, whatever those are.

O'BRIEN: Major General Don Shepperd, our military analyst, we'll see you a little bit later. We'll be talking about aircraft carriers a little later this morning. Thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.

SHEPPERD: Sure.

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