Suspected Taliban Gathering Spotted by U.S. Intelligence; NATO Commanders Say Need More Troops to Battle Insurgency; At Least 50 Reportedly Killed Across Afghanistan Today
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Lou. And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you tonight's top stories. Happening now, from the air over Afghanistan, images seem to show a high value Taliban target. Should U.S. commanders have ordered an attack? The war of words over the war on terror, are they going too far with the partisan bitter battle. I'll speak with two powerful congressmen, Republican Duncan Hunter and Democrat John Murtha. And a double-barrel verbal blast from Jimmy Carter -- tough talk from the former president to our Larry King about the vice president, Dick Cheney, and Senator Joe Lieberman. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Silently stalking its prey over Afghanistan a secret eye in the sky spots what appears to be an extraordinary target, but there is no attack. Did the U.S. military miss a chance to deliver a devastating blow to what's become a raging insurgency? There are new images, but no clear answers yet emerging from this fog of war. Anderson Cooper is standing by live in Afghanistan. Let's go to CNN's Brian Todd first with the latest on this story -- Brian.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a military official in Afghanistan tells me coalition commanders are looking into how one image in particular was released into the public domain. A picture of what was likely a very tempting target for coalition aircraft.</s>TODD (voice-over): In the sights, more than 100 suspected Taliban insurgents July of this year in southern Afghanistan. A coalition official in Afghanistan characterizes this only as intelligence imaginary. Will not discuss what type of vehicle took this picture first published by NBC News or whether that vehicle was armed. The coalition considered firing on this gathering, according to the spokesperson, but did not. A decision made the official says at least in part because they were gathering at a cemetery, likely a funeral for Taliban fighters killed by coalition troops earlier that day. A missed opportunity or a disaster averted? The coalition won't discuss rules of engagement, so we asked CNN analyst General Don Shepperd.</s>MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Generally speaking we try to avoid strikes -- the military tries to avoid strikes on mosques and on cemeteries because we know the sensitivity of those particularly in the Islamic religion and in all religions.</s>TODD: But Shepperd and other experts also say U.S. forces do sometimes target mosques or cemeteries after going up the chain of command if they know there are high-value targets there and if commanders believe collateral damage is acceptable under the circumstances or...</s>JAMES CARAFANO, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: somebody shooting at you from a church, you know a commander can protect his forces.</s>TODD: Still the coalition officials says U.S. forces do try to hold themselves to a higher morale standard than their enemy. The spokesperson cited a funeral this week for an assassinated governor in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber killed several people. Quote, "It's hard to condemn the enemy if we do the same kind of thing." Then there's the question of real-time accuracy.</s>SHEPPERD: When you're firing a missile from a predator drone or dropping bombs from an aircraft you can't really see what you're hitting on the ground. So although you're going to hit Taliban, you also are going to hit whoever is with or near the Taliban.</s>TODD: A military official in Afghanistan says the picture was quote, "inappropriately released to the media." Military officials at one point asked news organizations to pull it out of circulation. Then conceded the cat was out of the bag -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting. Thank you, Brian. On the ground in Afghanistan there is bitter fighting going on right now as ally troops try to counter a growing Taliban insurgency. CNN's Anderson Cooper is live for us from Kabul. Anderson, you spent some time with U.S. forces. You were embedded earlier. Tell our viewers what you saw, what you heard on the ground.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You know, Wolf, and it relates really to Brian Todd's last story, is that what U.S. troops and coalition troops are fighting here is a counterinsurgency and there is a real political component to that, as well as a military component. And so military actions at times really do have to take into account you know how it's going to impact on local people, how it's going to impact on their perceptions of the United States, on the government of Hamid Karzai. So even there may be a tempting target, if it has the potential for a lot of collateral damage, if it has the potential angering large members of people, often times coalition forces or the U.S. may pass on that target no matter how tempting it may be because in the wider war it may have a negative impact. The fighting here really is intense. You know there's a lot of debate, Wolf, about whether or not Iraq is the central front of the war on terror. There's really little debate about what is going on here in eastern Afghanistan and particularly in the south of Afghanistan where there are large number of Taliban forces massing and fighting against coalition and U.S. forces. This truly is ground zero for the war on terror here in Afghanistan. The U.S. forces that I was out with on a daily basis they can sometimes see, they can often hear foreign fighters, Taliban militants and there's a great concern over what's going to happen now that Pakistan has signed that cease-fire deal with Taliban militants. Over in Pakistan they've already seen an up-tick, across from south Wiziristan (ph), where Pakistan government signed a similar deal. U.S. intelligence sources I've talked to are very concerned that there's going to be an up-tick just across from north Wiziristan (ph) where U.S. forces are as well.</s>BLITZER: Anderson, have you had a chance to speak with any U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, who earlier had served in Iraq for some comparisons on what they're thinking now in Afghanistan as opposed to what they felt and feared in Iraq?</s>COOPER: Absolutely. I've talked to a number of soldiers who served in Iraq, some officers who served in Iraq as well. Just about every one of them said to me that what they're seeing here on a daily basis and take in mind, these are soldiers serving on -- in eastern Afghanistan right along the border, which is the most intense zone for U.S. forces. They were saying what they're seeing on a daily basis is worse than what they were seeing in Iraq. They have more engagement with the enemy, more contact with the enemy. One officer I talked to said you know that he had contact with the enemy three times when he was in Iraq. Here he surpassed that within the first two weeks of taking command of his soldiers on the Pakistan border. It's very intense fighting. There's a real sense of mission. A real sense of who the enemy is. It seems very clear to these soldiers. And they are seeing a lot of incoming rockets. I mean the forward operating base I was just on, they've got more incoming rockets than any other base in all of Afghanistan and they have fired more rockets at the enemy, nearly doubled the amount than any other base has fired as well -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Anderson thanks very much. Be careful over there. Anderson is going to have a lot more coming up 10:00 p.m. Eastern. "ANDERSON COOPER 360", two hours of programming from the scene in Afghanistan. You're going to want to see that tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Do the allies though have enough troops to do the job in Afghanistan? Let's turn to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr -- Barbara.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, even as the fighting continues against the Taliban, NATO today failed to reach an agreement on sending more troops to Afghanistan.</s>STARR (voice-over): Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province is just one place where fierce fighting has erupted in recent weeks between Taliban fighters and NATO troops. And it's all beginning to sound like Iraq.</s>STARR: NATO announced that 173 Afghans have been killed this year in suicide bombings, a tactic not seen in the past. Dozens of British and Canadian troops have been killed in the last five weeks and new questions about whether NATO's security force, ICEF (ph), has enough troops.</s>JAMES APPATHURAI, NATO SPOKESMAN: There's no denying that they're stretched. And that more forces would allow all of the ICEF (ph) mission to achieve its objections more quickly and at lower risks.</s>STARR: But in Brussels a NATO meeting called Wednesday to ask member countries to send 2,500 more troops failed to win any new pledges.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm not expecting it.</s>STARR: NATO will try to agree on more troops by the end of the month. Commanders say they also need more C-130 transport planes and attack helicopters. There are currently about 20,000 NATO forces across the country and perhaps up to 7,000 active insurgents.</s>STARR: For now, many NATO countries say they are simply tapped out with other commitments and don't have the troops available. But the U.S. says NATO made the commitment and has the responsibility to live up to it -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon thanks very much. Let's check in with Jack. He's in New York. He's got "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, the only Republican who voted against the Iraq war might help his party remain in control of the U.S. Senate. Moderate Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chaffee has been a frequent critic of the Bush administration on everything from the war in Iraq to tax cuts to the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Alito, but his win over a conservative challenger in yesterday's Rhode Island primary means the Republicans might be able to hold on to a Senate seat. It's one of six seats the Democrats have to win in November if they want to have a majority in the Senate. National Republicans spent more than a million dollars on TV ads against Chaffee's opponent and they sent volunteers to Rhode Island to campaign. Even the first lady made an appearance on Chaffee's behalf, which means that Laura Bush was campaigning for a guy who didn't even vote for her husband in the last election. So here's the question. What does Senator Lincoln Chaffee's win mean for the Republican Party? E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Jack, thank you, Jack Cafferty with "The Cafferty File". Coming up, former President Jimmy Carter, find out why he's lost confidence in Senator Joe Lieberman and doesn't want him re- elected. Also the political war over the war in Iraq, Democrats call for Don Rumsfeld's resignation while Republicans accuse Democrats of protecting terrorists. Coming up, right here on THE SITUATION ROOM Congressman John Murtha and Congressman Duncan Hunter. And racial politics, a segregated survivor loses big sponsors and gains the attention -- get this -- of white supremacists. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.