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CNN Live Sunday

What Can the U.S. Do to Avoid Harming Civilians in Afghanistan?

Aired October 28, 2001 - 17:08   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: For some insight into how military planners handle the sensitive issue of civilian casualties, we are joined now by CNN military analyst General Wesley Clark, and he is with us today from London. General Clark, thank you for talking with us again from London. And you and I have talked about how it is a sad fact of war to have civilian casualties, but what you do to not have casualties? What does the military do to combat that on the field, and, as "Newsweek" reporter was saying, not to lose the PR war?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, first of all, you want to avoid civilian casualties, so you have the aerial photography of the area, and you mark every area that can't be struck and you call this a no-strike target. And so, there are no-strike zones all through Afghanistan. I'm sure every mosque, every school, every hospital that is known will be marked as no strike.

And then, for the targets that you find, you weaponeer the target to be able to strike it with the smallest possible weapon that will damage the target. You war-game the avenue approach of the aircraft, so that if the weapon goes long or short it doesn't hit the friendlies or hit a no-strike target. And you do your best with the rehearsals and the preparation of the pilots so that there are no human errors.

Nevertheless, there are errors that happen, inevitably.

KELLEY: General Clark, what about...

CLARK: Now, as far as the public...

KELLEY: You go right ahead.

CLARK: The public relations -- yeah, the public relations battle is another matter.

Now, it's very clear that the difference between what Osama bin Laden did on the 11th of September and his deliberate strike against civilians, in which he used civilians on the aircraft as weapons, in which he struck innocent civilians in New York and in the Pentagon, first is the accidental harm to the civilians here. There's is no moral equivalence in these acts, and that has to be made clear again and again and again.

Nevertheless, as long as there is bombing, as long as there is fighting, innocent civilians will be harmed by both sides. It's inevitable.

KELLEY: And certainly there are those that are quick to bring up and remind folks of the September 11th attack and the innocent civilians there.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, a speaker for the Northern Alliance, said perhaps there should be more coordination. And in a report we just had before you, one of the Afghans said that there should -- that we should know the line between enemies and friends. Can there be more coordination there? Because it's getting to a tough line now, because the Northern Alliance was complaining that the strikes weren't enough for them to make advances, so now you are getting into a tough time here where you get up to this line with the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, and probably a lot of civilians very close in.

CLARK: Well, of course, there could be more coordination. It's a matter of costs and risks. It's a question of how many forward air control parties the United States would want to put in to assist the Northern Alliance, where they would be positioned, the accuracy of the communications and information they are getting out of the Northern Alliance.

But the simple answer is yes, more can be done. It's also important that as the pilots gain familiarity with the area they will recognize the features on the ground more, and they themselves will be less prone to make errors. So, more probably will be done in coming days. I'm sure the United States military is working very, very hard to avoid any harm to innocent civilians or to any people behind the lines there.

KELLEY: General Wesley Clark, we appreciate your time and your information with us as usual. Thank you.

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