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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview with General George Harrison

Aired July 26, 2003 - 07:03   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: With the Marines heading to Liberia, as you just heard, U.S. troops may once again be in harm's way. But military leaders are looking for some guarantees before the troops arrive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Whatever we do, that we have a very clear mission, we understand the mission we're asked to do, that we have an idea of when the mission's going to be over, in other words, when can we come out of the mission, and that we have sufficient force to deal with the security situation.

COLLINS: Joining us now for a look at the mission ahead, we turn to General George Harrison. And I want to talk to you, General Harrison, if we could, about that very comment that...

GEN. GEORGE HARRISON (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: Sure.

COLLINS: ... we're hearing from General Myers. What do we mean by a clear mission? I mean, what is all of that that the military does, as far as setting up an objective before they go into a potential conflict like this?

HARRISON: Well, I think General Myers is clearly saying what we need to do is think about the problem before we go in, think about where we're going to go, what we're going to do, what's the limits of the operation are going to be.

As you recall, in Somalia, which is -- a lot of people are calling this a parallel -- calling a parallel to this operation, in Somalia we shifted our mission from assisting humanitarian assistance to a kind of a law enforcement thing, chasing down Aidid. And that's the thing that got us into the problem in Mogadishu. We want...

COLLINS: Do you see that happening in this crisis?

HARRISON: If we don't clearly specify, lay out our objectives, make sure that the military commanders who move into the area understand what the limits of their power and authority are, so that they can clearly move in, and even though a mission might be tempting, that they don't move into it unprepared and without the right kinds of support, so that we don't get into a quagmire with huge American casualties, that we truly assist the people, which is the objective. COLLINS: So then when we look at what this sort of military mission might be, what are we talking about as far as what we would see? You had talked to me about logistics, really.

HARRISON: Well, I think so. Secretary Powell said a couple of days ago that we'd see a lot more contractors, for instance, in this operation (UNINTELLIGIBLE) case to me that we'll be doing background kinds of things, providing a secure base, providing logistic support, helping the West African troops, with who I understand are imminent, about to come in, helping them as they execute the real mission, we'll provide mobility support for them, supplies, water, materiel, all those kinds of things.

And that's a far more appropriate mission, it seems to me, for U.S. forces, who, in fact, we'll look different.

COLLINS: But how does the military not get roped into, for lack of a better word, this law enforcement role? When you're there, when you're providing the support, when you're seeing what's going on -- we're looking at some video now, we know about what happened yesterday -- how do they not get sucked into all of that?

HARRISON: Well, I think the commanders have to understand what it is they're about, what it is they're doing, understand that they don't have a primary move out into the cities and enforce the law role, but have a primary support to the folks who are doing that role. And that's what General Myers is talking about when he says we need a clear mission.

COLLINS: So tell me a little bit about the difference, then, as far as what this is -- mission would be versus Iraq and Afghanistan, perhaps two missions that clearly people are much more familiar with right now.

HARRISON: Well, in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course, coalition forces, led by the United States, intended to overthrow a regime and intended to change the government, intended to work the politics at a national level. Here, we'll be working, I think, at a more local level in trying to relieve the human suffering while a government emerges in Liberia that replaces the Taylor government.

COLLINS: What if he doesn't go?

HARRISON: Well, I think he will go. I think he clearly has to go. You know, he's been indicted for war crimes. He's an overall pretty bad guy, and he really has to go for this thing to work.

COLLINS: Possible ties to al Qaeda that we were talking about before.

All right, General George Harrison, thanks so much for your input on all of this.

HARRISON: Pleasure, as always.

COLLINS: We appreciate it. 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 July 26, 2003 - 07:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: With the Marines heading to Liberia, as you just heard, U.S. troops may once again be in harm's way. But military leaders are looking for some guarantees before the troops arrive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Whatever we do, that we have a very clear mission, we understand the mission we're asked to do, that we have an idea of when the mission's going to be over, in other words, when can we come out of the mission, and that we have sufficient force to deal with the security situation.

COLLINS: Joining us now for a look at the mission ahead, we turn to General George Harrison. And I want to talk to you, General Harrison, if we could, about that very comment that...

GEN. GEORGE HARRISON (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: Sure.

COLLINS: ... we're hearing from General Myers. What do we mean by a clear mission? I mean, what is all of that that the military does, as far as setting up an objective before they go into a potential conflict like this?

HARRISON: Well, I think General Myers is clearly saying what we need to do is think about the problem before we go in, think about where we're going to go, what we're going to do, what's the limits of the operation are going to be.

As you recall, in Somalia, which is -- a lot of people are calling this a parallel -- calling a parallel to this operation, in Somalia we shifted our mission from assisting humanitarian assistance to a kind of a law enforcement thing, chasing down Aidid. And that's the thing that got us into the problem in Mogadishu. We want...

COLLINS: Do you see that happening in this crisis?

HARRISON: If we don't clearly specify, lay out our objectives, make sure that the military commanders who move into the area understand what the limits of their power and authority are, so that they can clearly move in, and even though a mission might be tempting, that they don't move into it unprepared and without the right kinds of support, so that we don't get into a quagmire with huge American casualties, that we truly assist the people, which is the objective. COLLINS: So then when we look at what this sort of military mission might be, what are we talking about as far as what we would see? You had talked to me about logistics, really.

HARRISON: Well, I think so. Secretary Powell said a couple of days ago that we'd see a lot more contractors, for instance, in this operation (UNINTELLIGIBLE) case to me that we'll be doing background kinds of things, providing a secure base, providing logistic support, helping the West African troops, with who I understand are imminent, about to come in, helping them as they execute the real mission, we'll provide mobility support for them, supplies, water, materiel, all those kinds of things.

And that's a far more appropriate mission, it seems to me, for U.S. forces, who, in fact, we'll look different.

COLLINS: But how does the military not get roped into, for lack of a better word, this law enforcement role? When you're there, when you're providing the support, when you're seeing what's going on -- we're looking at some video now, we know about what happened yesterday -- how do they not get sucked into all of that?

HARRISON: Well, I think the commanders have to understand what it is they're about, what it is they're doing, understand that they don't have a primary move out into the cities and enforce the law role, but have a primary support to the folks who are doing that role. And that's what General Myers is talking about when he says we need a clear mission.

COLLINS: So tell me a little bit about the difference, then, as far as what this is -- mission would be versus Iraq and Afghanistan, perhaps two missions that clearly people are much more familiar with right now.

HARRISON: Well, in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course, coalition forces, led by the United States, intended to overthrow a regime and intended to change the government, intended to work the politics at a national level. Here, we'll be working, I think, at a more local level in trying to relieve the human suffering while a government emerges in Liberia that replaces the Taylor government.

COLLINS: What if he doesn't go?

HARRISON: Well, I think he will go. I think he clearly has to go. You know, he's been indicted for war crimes. He's an overall pretty bad guy, and he really has to go for this thing to work.

COLLINS: Possible ties to al Qaeda that we were talking about before.

All right, General George Harrison, thanks so much for your input on all of this.

HARRISON: Pleasure, as always.

COLLINS: We appreciate it. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com