Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

U.S. Defense Secretary Returns From 10-Day Asia Trip

Aired June 17, 2002 - 14:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Over at the Pentagon today, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld talked about his recent trip to the Middle East and South Asia. He offered a new assessment on the state of al Qaeda. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us from the Pentagon with that. Hi there, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Well, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld is now back in the Pentagon having finished his 10-day trip to Europe, the Middle East, India and Pakistan. In meeting with reporters at midday here, he said there is no question but the al Qaeda are changing their tactics now since September 11, looking for targets that are easier to attack. Here's what the secretary had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: They are shifting their efforts of necessity. They've got less money. They've got fewer training camps in -- probably none in Afghanistan and fewer in the world. There's no question but that their lines of control and communication have been disrupted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Now, the secretary stopped short of saying that the al Qaeda were responsible for that bombing of the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan over the weekend. But he did say that the issue now, as he believes, the al Qaeda are looking for softer targets, places that are easier to attack now that the U.S. has beefed up security at airports, made it harder to get onboard airliners, provided more protection for military bases and beefed up security at embassies around the world.

He also said there is no question but the al Qaeda and their leadership have now dispersed, again, country to country around the world since September 11. And intelligence experts say that while the al Qaeda may find it very hard to pull off another attack of the scale of September 11 under the direct orders of Osama bin Laden, there's really no question that they still have lots of capability to cause a lot of trouble around the world -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Barbara Starr, from the Pentagon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com