TSR: "We took a very, very
small bite of a very big apple. There's simply not
enough troops here."
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Length: 4:09
LARGE (48.3 MB)
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SMALL (5.0 MB)
Michael joins John King at the Magic Wall to
explain where US troops are, where we need more
people, and who is in power on both the Afghan and
Pakistan sides of the border. (Although John
drives; Michael points but doesn't touch.)
WOLF
BLITZER: But let's bring in our chief national
correspondent, John King, and our war correspondent,
Michael Ware. They're here. They're over at the magic
map.
This is a very risky decision, John, for the
president of the United States right now.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is,
Wolf. And let's go through the terrain with Michael's
help.
You see the map of the region here. I'm going to pull
out a little bit to show you the principal regions
within Afghanistan. And as we pull out the map, we
will bring it back up here. I will show you several
different things and Michael can walk us through the
threat.
This is Afghanistan as it is. Let me stop it from
moving. Here's the state of play right now, if you
look at this now, about 70,000 U.S. troops, the other
flags representing the NATO countries. Obviously, in
this region, Michael, here, this is the greatest
threat. You see the Americans and the Brits carrying
most of the burden.
When the new troops go in, where is it most important
that they go?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here. You see far
too many U.S. flags here and not enough here. This is
the heart of the fight against the Taliban as it
stands.
KING: And let me shift as you talk. To illustrate
Michael's point, the darker the province, the higher
the Taliban threat.
WARE: Right.
As it stands right now, President Obama's surge,
so-called, his first phase targeted there, Helmand
Province, but it took just this small part of it. Yet
the Taliban use this whole area as one area of
operations.
So, we took a very, very small bite of a very big
apple. There's simply not enough troops here. And
here along the Pakistani border, the Taliban, al
Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban, as you bring them up
here, these are some of their sanctuaries in
Pakistan. They divide the border up just like the
allies do.
Down here, Mullah Omar and his Afghan Taliban are in
command. Up here, the Haqqani Network is in command.
Up here, you have Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Here,
Pakistani Taliban. So, you have a myriad of enemies.
But the focus of the fight right now is here in
Helmand and here in Kandahar. I was just in Kandahar
recently. It's the capital of the south, the
birthplace of the Taliban, the hometown of the Afghan
president. And it is under siege from the Taliban.
Indeed, there's areas of the city where police cannot
go. The Taliban surround it. And like I said, all of
this operates as one zone, according to the Taliban,
yet we do it bit by bit by bit.
KING: And one of the key questions, Michael, is here.
The United States can send in more troops, but
they're sending them in saying Mr. Karzai now must
meet benchmarks for training his forces, for building
government institutions.
If you look at the past record, you would come away
pessimistic that you could do this in the future.
WARE: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. It's going to take
a long time, if it ever happens, to have what the
White House is calling its reliable partner up in the
capital, Kabul.
What counts is not the capital, Kabul. I have often
joked -- I mean, I lived in Kandahar for a year. I
have often joked that when you leave the rest of
Afghanistan and go to Kabul, you should have to show
your passport, because it's almost like a different
country.
So, this is where the government is. But that's about
as much territory as it controls. If we go back to
the big map, John, down here, from Kabul down here in
Kandahar, Helmand, Kandahar, Zabol, the Russians
even, during the occupation, could never control
these areas.
Today, the Afghan government has troops in these
areas. The Americans have troops in these areas, but
you know who still really controls them? It's the
tribes, and it's the old warlords. They're the ones
that -- if in this district, the warlord says there
will be no Taliban, then there will be no Taliban.
They're the men America needs to reach out to.
KING: So, Wolf, an understatement there from Michael,
a good assessment of the threat, excuse me. And we
will watch this out as we use the map all night as we
explain the president's big decision to send in more
than 30,000 more troops now and also we can take a
look at where some of those new NATO forces will be
deployed as well.
BLITZER: It's going to be a fascinating night. And we
will explore every important aspect with all you
guys. Thanks very much.