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CNN Live Sunday

U.S. Military Exercise Starts in Qatar Tomorrow

Aired December 08, 2002 - 18:48   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As you know by now, there is a massive military exercise that is going to be undertaken in Doha, Qatar. It could be a preview of any war with Iraq to come. And it usually -- when we talk about these stories, it -- we talk about the people that you see on the ground. The tanks, the troops, the armored personnel. But CNN's Anderson Cooper is live in Doha, Qatar right now with more on this. And Anderson, you actually know more about the people we don't normally see. The Special Forces.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is right, Carol. You know, all along the Bush administration has been saying that in order to fight and to win this war on terror, we need new strategies, new methods, and yes, even new bases.

So much reliance has been put on the U.S. Special Forces in the past year. In Afghanistan, they have played a major role. We have just learned from Bob Woodward's book, that CIA para-military forces were the first on the ground in Afghanistan. U.S. Special Forces, some very highly secret units, as well as the Green Berets, are there now -- still there, training a new national Afghan army, hunting for terrorists in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, in Yemen, in the Philippines. And in places both in the spotlight and in the shadows. Place we don't even know about at this point. And they have been looking for new bases.

Obviously the U.S. presence here in Qatar is relatively new. That is part of the new strategy. There is also a new base in a country many Americans don't know much about. A country that is a former French colony called Djibouti, and it is now home to about a thousand U.S. Military personnel. Retired Air Force Major General George Harrison takes a look at Djibouti for us now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE HARRISON, (RET) U.S. AIR FORCE: As a matter of fact, Djibouti is an interesting part of the world. It is a very small colony, or a very small nation, about half a million people, located north of Somalia, east of Ethiopia, and south of Eritrea. It is a former French colony that was established in about 1977. The important strategic fact about Djibouti is that it sits south of the Red Sea just west of the Gulf of Aden, and guards the approaches to the Gulf of Aden and provides assured access from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

As you know, all of these areas, including the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, are areas where we might need to operate aircraft carriers. In addition to that, Yemen has been a hot bed of al Qaeda activity, and we have had significant problems in that area for several years. So staging forces from Djibouti provides access to the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula as well as guarding some access.

And we have seen reports over the years -- over the last few months we have seen reports that Special Forces have been operating in and out of the territory of Djibouti, and we believe that a task force, including the USS Mount Whitney, has been operating for the last month in the vicinity of Djibouti. Clearly this important area provides us access across the area and provides us more flexibility as we put together the very complex operation to enforce the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction sanctions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, as General Harrison mentioned, Djibouti was a former French colony, and it is used to having foreign forces on their soil, even after it became an independent country. France stationed a large number of its troops there, and now those troops have been joined by U.S. Special Forces and others -- Carol.

LIN: A good view of the region. Thank you very much, Anderson.

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 December 8, 2002 - 18:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As you know by now, there is a massive military exercise that is going to be undertaken in Doha, Qatar. It could be a preview of any war with Iraq to come. And it usually -- when we talk about these stories, it -- we talk about the people that you see on the ground. The tanks, the troops, the armored personnel. But CNN's Anderson Cooper is live in Doha, Qatar right now with more on this. And Anderson, you actually know more about the people we don't normally see. The Special Forces.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is right, Carol. You know, all along the Bush administration has been saying that in order to fight and to win this war on terror, we need new strategies, new methods, and yes, even new bases.

So much reliance has been put on the U.S. Special Forces in the past year. In Afghanistan, they have played a major role. We have just learned from Bob Woodward's book, that CIA para-military forces were the first on the ground in Afghanistan. U.S. Special Forces, some very highly secret units, as well as the Green Berets, are there now -- still there, training a new national Afghan army, hunting for terrorists in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, in Yemen, in the Philippines. And in places both in the spotlight and in the shadows. Place we don't even know about at this point. And they have been looking for new bases.

Obviously the U.S. presence here in Qatar is relatively new. That is part of the new strategy. There is also a new base in a country many Americans don't know much about. A country that is a former French colony called Djibouti, and it is now home to about a thousand U.S. Military personnel. Retired Air Force Major General George Harrison takes a look at Djibouti for us now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE HARRISON, (RET) U.S. AIR FORCE: As a matter of fact, Djibouti is an interesting part of the world. It is a very small colony, or a very small nation, about half a million people, located north of Somalia, east of Ethiopia, and south of Eritrea. It is a former French colony that was established in about 1977. The important strategic fact about Djibouti is that it sits south of the Red Sea just west of the Gulf of Aden, and guards the approaches to the Gulf of Aden and provides assured access from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

As you know, all of these areas, including the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, are areas where we might need to operate aircraft carriers. In addition to that, Yemen has been a hot bed of al Qaeda activity, and we have had significant problems in that area for several years. So staging forces from Djibouti provides access to the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula as well as guarding some access.

And we have seen reports over the years -- over the last few months we have seen reports that Special Forces have been operating in and out of the territory of Djibouti, and we believe that a task force, including the USS Mount Whitney, has been operating for the last month in the vicinity of Djibouti. Clearly this important area provides us access across the area and provides us more flexibility as we put together the very complex operation to enforce the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction sanctions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, as General Harrison mentioned, Djibouti was a former French colony, and it is used to having foreign forces on their soil, even after it became an independent country. France stationed a large number of its troops there, and now those troops have been joined by U.S. Special Forces and others -- Carol.

LIN: A good view of the region. Thank you very much, Anderson.

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