2002 - Military Briefing: Secretary of Defense Rumseld & Gen Richard Myers, 04Mar02 Pt. 6 of 14 Continued... Myers: “I might be, but I don't think I'm the right one to tell people that. That's - the last thing you want me to do is to second-guess General Franks & his folks, and I won't do that. In this case, I think it's totally inappropriate. I think the plan they have - like I said, we were briefed on this - I was briefed on it over -- about two weeks ago. It was a sound plan. It combined ground operations w/ air operations - I think appropriately so. And --
Q: “Can you help us better understand what role U.S. ground troops have been fulfilling in this campaign since Friday?
Myers: “Sure. They're trying to root out the al Qaeda & the other fighters in this.
Q: “Certainly. But what exactly -- are they going cave to cave? Are they doing --?
Myers: They are --
Q: -- very short-range fighting, longer-range fighting? What exactly are they doing?
01:09:15 Myers: “Well, I think we'll leave that - General Franks is on at 3:00, & he'll talk a little bit more about the tactical situation. And I personally feel more comfortable if he would do it. He's the one responsible for executing the operations.
Q: “General Myers, you said early on that the al Qaeda fighters had basically two choices: to stay & fight or to run. If they chose to run, are you confident there are enough U.S. forces on the ground to cut off their escape routes? And was that part of the original plan that was briefed to you in Bagram -- to ensure that there were enough forces on the ground?
Myers: “Yes. And it's not just U.S. forces. It's - Afghan forces play a large role in that, as well - not only on the assault itself, but to contain them - and coalition forces were a big part of that, as well.
01:09:54 Q: “General, you talked about U.S. & allied forces hit some resistance. Can you expand on that a little bit? There were stories over the weekend that there was a retreat by U.S. & allied forces -- a withdrawal -- and also that the attacks stalled. Can you sort of --
01:10:09 Myers: “I think that the secretary covered that pretty well when he talked about one of the Afghan pushes where they lost most of their transportation, so they had to regroup, get refitted & went right back in.
Q: “So the only time that was, you would say, a stall was --
Myers: “Well again, it's a tactical situation that's evolving & we're not going to know all of that detail. Only the folks that are on the ground will know. But that's the only time that I've heard anything with --
Rumsfeld: “The fact -- the fact that people are not moving may not mean that things have stalled. You may be using airpower to deal w/ concentrations of al Qaeda while ground forces maintain position. So I think that the word "stall" is a little like "quagmire," & it may be premature. (Laughter.) Continued...
Wars; Fighting; Military Propaganda; Threats; Strategy;
NOTE: Any continuous 13 minutes of press conference sold at per reel rate.
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2002 - Military Briefing: Secretary of Defense Rumseld & Gen Richard Myers, 04Mar02 Pt. 6 of 14 Continued... Myers: “I might be, but I don't think I'm the right one to tell people that. That's - the last thing you want me to do is to second-guess General Franks & his folks, and I won't do that. In this case, I think it's totally inappropriate. I think the plan they have - like I said, we were briefed on this - I was briefed on it over -- about two weeks ago. It was a sound plan. It combined ground operations w/ air operations - I think appropriately so. And -- Q: “Can you help us better understand what role U.S. ground troops have been fulfilling in this campaign since Friday? Myers: “Sure. They're trying to root out the al Qaeda & the other fighters in this. Q: “Certainly. But what exactly -- are they going cave to cave? Are they doing --? Myers: They are -- Q: -- very short-range fighting, longer-range fighting? What exactly are they doing? 01:09:15 Myers: “Well, I think we'll leave that - General Franks is on at 3:00, & he'll talk a little bit more about the tactical situation. And I personally feel more comfortable if he would do it. He's the one responsible for executing the operations. Q: “General Myers, you said early on that the al Qaeda fighters had basically two choices: to stay & fight or to run. If they chose to run, are you confident there are enough U.S. forces on the ground to cut off their escape routes? And was that part of the original plan that was briefed to you in Bagram -- to ensure that there were enough forces on the ground? Myers: “Yes. And it's not just U.S. forces. It's - Afghan forces play a large role in that, as well - not only on the assault itself, but to contain them - and coalition forces were a big part of that, as well. 01:09:54 Q: “General, you talked about U.S. & allied forces hit some resistance. Can you expand on that a little bit? There were stories over the weekend that there was a retreat by U.S. & allied forces -- a withdrawal -- and also that the attacks stalled. Can you sort of -- 01:10:09 Myers: “I think that the secretary covered that pretty well when he talked about one of the Afghan pushes where they lost most of their transportation, so they had to regroup, get refitted & went right back in. Q: “So the only time that was, you would say, a stall was -- Myers: “Well again, it's a tactical situation that's evolving & we're not going to know all of that detail. Only the folks that are on the ground will know. But that's the only time that I've heard anything with -- Rumsfeld: “The fact -- the fact that people are not moving may not mean that things have stalled. You may be using airpower to deal w/ concentrations of al Qaeda while ground forces maintain position. So I think that the word "stall" is a little like "quagmire," & it may be premature. (Laughter.) Continued... Wars; Fighting; Military Propaganda; Threats; Strategy; NOTE: Any continuous 13 minutes of press conference sold at per reel rate.