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CNN Live Sunday

Donald Rumsfeld Visits Afghanistan

Aired December 16, 2001 - 18:01   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld today became the highest-ranking U.S. official to meet face-to-face with Afghanistan's incoming interim leader Hamid Karzai. But U.S. troops were first on Rumsfeld's agenda during his brief visit in Afghanistan. CNN military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports.

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JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his first visit to the front lines, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told troops at a base near Afghanistan their air strikes have proven decisive in the battle of Tora Bora.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There was one instance where a cave or a tunnel ended up with a plume, an explosion, that covered something like two kilometers, which suggests that they were doing much more than baking cookies in there.

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld also credited the withering cannon fire delivered by AC-130 gunships, coordinated by U.S. special forces on the ground, for driving the al Qaeda forces out of their last stronghold.

CAPTAIN JASON, U.S. AIR FORCE AC-130 PILOT: It's very precise, very precise. We can put firepower where it needs to be when it needs to be there.

QUESTION: Are you getting good instruction from the ground?

JASON: Absolutely.

MCINTYRE: And a second stop at the decrepit Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld met with Hamid Karzai, the man set to become President of Afghanistan's interim government December 22nd.

Karzai thanked the United States for helping to liberate his country, and afterwards Rumsfeld shared with the soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division the optimistic assessment of Afghan commanders, who say al Qaeda forces have been routed in Tora Bora.

RUMSFELD: There is at the present time not a fierce battle taking place. There are people who are attempting to escape and are being run down. MCINTYRE: At both bases, U.S. troops asked the visiting Pentagon Chief when they might be going home. It's a question Rumsfeld can't answer definitively.

RUMSFELD: And there is no way to know how long it's going to take to find Omar and to find Osama bin Laden and to find the senior al Qaeda leadership and to see that they're punished.

MCINTYRE: Despite the spartan conditions, morale among the U.S. troops is sky high, largely because they believe they're defending America against a direct attack.

SERGEANT 1ST CLASS PERRY. U.S. ARMY: I think it's a great opportunity. Soldiers know when we got called to arms, means they ante up and kick in like me. This is an outstanding opportunity to do what we get paid to do.

CAPTAIN HOLLY, U.S. ARMY: With Christmas coming up, it's actually surprising. You'd think the morale, you know, would kind of get a little down but everyone joined together as a group and, you know, they're kind of looking forward to spending Christmas here, doing something.

MCINTYRE: While heaping praise on the troops, Rumsfeld also warned them their mission is far from over. When one soldier asked if Saddam Hussein might be their next target, Rumsfeld laughed, paused, and said "if I want to talk about Iraq, I'll bring it up."

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

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