CNN MORNINGS WITH PAULA ZAHN November 26, 2001
Bin Laden Might Be in Jalalabad
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about Osama bin Laden for a moment. Of course we don't know where Osama bin Laden is. If we did, a lot of problems would be solved, wouldn't they? But "The New York Times" over the weekend and this morning is reporting that Osama bin Laden might be hiding in an area in and around Jalalabad.
As a matter of fact, about 40 miles southwest of Jalalabad at a camp called Tora Bora (ph). Let's take a look at an animation that will get you into that location there and give you a sense of the kind of rugged terrain we're talking about. This is right along the Khyber Pass - -we've been telling you about it.
There's the capital of Kabul and as you move towards Jalalabad, which is very close to the Pakistani border, which is right along here and go about 40 miles to the southwest, on the other side of this mountain range you'll find this Tora Bora camp. Let's take a look at some images which we have captured from the globalsecurity.org Web site, its actual satellite imagery taken in 1999 of the Tora Bora camp.
Some of these camps used to train terrorists - al Qaeda terrorists and as you can see here, there are clearly delineated tunnel entrances there - very sophisticated tunnels. Let's bring in our military affairs analyst General Don Shepherd, retired U.S. Air Force to talk a little bit about knowing what we know now; what the U.S. might be able to do in this case.
General Shepherd, we're told that the road to Tora Bora, it's one way in and one way out. I guess that can be good and bad for U.S. forces.
GEN. DON SHEPHERD, RETIRED U.S. AIR FORCE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It can be good and bad for U.S. forces Miles, but also it provides some problems for Osama bin Laden if indeed he is there. And again, you and I don't know if he's there. If we did, we'd turn him in for the $25 million and split it, I'm sure.
The area there is difficult terrain. It's across from Jalalabad, across the area called the White Mountain, supposedly heavily wooded. One way in that provides Osama bin Laden an ability to watch the people coming in. But he needs multiple exit strategy, if you will, places to go.
Now it also simplifies if there's only one way in, one way out, it simplifies the ability to bottling him up with U.S. and coalition military forces. Now this is a difficult area, very complex tunnel complexes. We know a lot about them from the Soviets. We're getting more information from captured prisoners and other people in the area.
And he's going to have a big entourage around him. He's going to stand out. The key is to find out where he is exactly, block him up, surround him, and then go get him.
O'BRIEN: All right as we're talking here General Shepherd, I'm going to take you down to Kandahar, which is another location where many suspect Osama bin Laden might be. As a matter of fact, his official biographer is doubtful he is in and around the Jalalabad area in as much as the coalition forces, the allies, the U.S. controlling that particular area - the Northern Alliance.
Let me just, as we look at this graphic describing this intricate nature of some of these tunnels, perhaps what is most interesting to many of us this morning is the fact that many of these tunnels were buterous and improved during the Soviet occupation of the '80s in essence financed by the CIA. This - these tunnels are the kinds of tunnels a person could stay in for quite some time. Aren't they?
SHEPHERD: Indeed, he could stay in there a long time, but remember a couple of other things he's got going against him. He's got no vacancy signs posted in a lot of nations that used to be places that he could go. Also the country is being gradually taken over by the - by the Northern Alliance and the Pashtun tribes now down in the Kandahar area.
Soon he may have an entire nation of 25 million people looking for him as opposed just the U.S. special forces. So these complex tunnel complexes, when we find them, it's going to be hard to dig him out, but it's getting easier and easier where we can concentrate our sensors, concentrate our ...
SHEPHERD: ... our human intelligence to find where he is.
O'BRIEN: General Shepherd, I apologize, but we have run up against a hard break warning here, so we're going to have to pause it to break. Thank you very much as always for your insights. We appreciate it. We'll be back with more in just a bit.
