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CNN Live Sunday

Eastern Alliance Reports Taking Tora Bora

Aired December 16, 2001 - 17:04   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, we want to talk military strategy with someone who knows about combat firsthand. Retired General David Grange joins us from Chicago. Good evening to you, general.

GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good evening.

SAVIDGE: What do you make of the latest now from Tora Bora?

GRANGE: Well, I believe it may be a little early to say victory. They may have kicked the al Qaeda off of Tora Bora itself, that main terrain feature, but I believe that there is numerous fighters still around the area, or they may have ex-filtrated, you know, toward Pakistan or south to another cave complex, somewhere in that rugged terrain, which is fairly easy to hide.

SAVIDGE: So, assuming that his forces may be on the run, perhaps Osama is as well, how easy is it to go after them and follow them?

GRANGE: Well, I don't believe it's easy, but it's doable. And with the surveillance devices both airborne and on the ground I'm sure that are being used, as well as the information we're getting from the locals, like the Eastern Alliance, we will get some information for the international coalition to continue to track these people down, put pressure on them, and kill or capture them. But obviously, because there are several key individuals still missing, and the estimates of those who have been killed or captured are well below what was estimated to be there to begin with, leads you to believe that some have broke out from encirclement.

SAVIDGE: And if in fact they are on their way to, say, Pakistan, should there be confidence in the American people that he will be grabbed as he reaches the border?

GRANGE: Not necessarily, even though we are getting support from the president of Pakistan to help man the border, to block any ex- filtration of al Qaeda forces or any hard-core Taliban supporting them that are left, they can still slip through in all possibility in some areas, so I think some can very well get through. And again, you don't know who is truly in support of some of these people.

SAVIDGE: And how can the American people not feel a sense of defeat, despite the military success at Tora Bora, that in fact perhaps Osama got away? GRANGE: Well, first of all, we should feel very well, along with the international community, that we have broken al Qaeda as an operational unit in Afghanistan. Though there's probably still cells and remnants of formations here and there throughout the countryside to include Pakistan.

Also, the same with the Taliban. They say we have defeated the Taliban, but there's still, again, some warlords with some pretty substantial forces north of Kandahar, northwest, along the roads, there's a lot of bandits on the roads. So, a lot of these former Taliban forces are still Taliban fighters, though they are not a massive unit. And so, we should feel good that we broke their unity of command, but they still have some operational elements, and we just have to be prepared to not think this is over tonight or tomorrow, that this is going to continue to go for a while.

SAVIDGE: And does that make it a dangerous situation, to believe if it's not over, the mop-up could still be dangerous, though?

GRANGE: Well, the mop-up, the consolidation phase usually takes a while in an operation. And the key thing is there just to hang in there and to keep the pressure on, to continue to break as much of this as we can up, so it doesn't influence the rest of the world.

SAVIDGE: We'll keep an eye on it. Thanks to you, retired General David Grange joining us from Chicago.

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