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Shepperd: Protests affect troop morale 'not at all'Military analyst: Media strike good balance covering tactics
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)— While some diplomats argue for more time for U.N. inspections in Iraq and anti-war demonstrators march around the world, more U.S. troops are en route to the Persian Gulf region. CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd spoke with CNN anchor Arthel Neville about how the politics and demonstrations affect military strategy, and whether the media reveal too much about war plans. NEVILLE: How long can the United States keep more than 150,000 troops in the region operational? SHEPPERD: We can stay there as long as necessary. We've been in Korea 50 years, we've been in Europe since World War II, so we can stay. There's a couple of things about it, though. One of them is it's very, very expensive to do what we're doing, so it's not likely we will sit there and do nothing. And the other thing is that the troops cannot stay up on the point forever. So if you leave those troops there, and you left them, for instance, until the fall or middle of next year, it would be a problem. You'd have to rotate the troops out, and that would make it even more expensive. NEVILLE: I know you were a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. From that perspective, how do those anti-war demonstrations affect troop morale? SHEPPERD: The answer may you surprise you. The answer is: not at all. You're very, very busy. You're very busy getting ready, trying to help your buddies, trying to keep yourself and your equipment up over there in a really rough atmosphere in the desert. I was in Vietnam during the height of the war protests, and they were almost not even an element of discussion. There is one difference between today and those days, and that is that people are much better informed, and you do get to see television and you do get feedback. Where in those days, our feedback was very, very late. You got it from magazines and that type of thing. But this won't affect the morale of the troops. They're ready to do what they're told when they're told, and they're well-trained. So we'll be ready. NEVILLE: All the talk about military strategy on television makes some people nervous because they feel it's too much information. How do you know how much to share? SHEPPERD: Some of it is blinding flashes of the obvious. Others are very closely held in secret plans. For instance, we military analysts who do this on TV are not given classified information. We know generally how to protect information because of our years in the military, so it's probably a good way to spread the word. And we're very, very careful. CNN has been extremely careful. They've asked me many times, as well as the other military analysts, "Should we be careful about putting this on?" What you don't want to reveal is where you're going to attack and when you're going to attack. What you're going to do is almost obvious to an enemy anywhere. So we're very, very careful about that, and I think we strike a good balance. NEVILLE: Clearly this time the United States and its allies will be going after [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein. What will be different this time around? SHEPPERD: A great deal will be different this time. The war will likely start with a massive air campaign that will also be restrained. You're not going to see us going in there destroying infrastructure that has to be rebuilt or that creates a humanitarian crisis. We're going after leadership targets, air defense targets, weapons of mass destruction, command-and-control facilities. But you're going to see an almost simultaneous movement of ground forces this time because we can. The Iraqi army is not a raid in Kuwait or just across the border from us, they are basically back in the Baghdad area, so the arrangement of forces is much different. It allows us to move much more quickly and simultaneously on the ground and in the air than during the Gulf War. NEVILLE: But apparently Saddam is banking on U.S. and allied troops going into Baghdad, with his troops circled around the capital. SHEPPERD: Of course, it's our worst nightmare to go in there and have to fight house-to-house and see the destruction of downtown Baghdad on television. He knows that. He probably will try to draw us into it. I fully suspect both sides will have surprises for each other. On the other hand, the outcome of this is not in doubt. If we go in militarily, Saddam is going out.
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