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CNN Live Today
Discussion With Consultant for U.S. Government on Terror Tactics And Bomb Making
Aired August 22, 2002 - 12:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Tony Villa is a consultant for the U.S. government on terror tactics and bomb making. He joins us from Washington with his take on the Al Qaeda claims and their capabilities.
Good to see you, Tony.
TONY VILLA, COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Good to see you, too. Thank you for having me on the show, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Thanks for being here. When you saw the tapes, how alarmed were you about this easy step-by-step process?
VILLA: As you can imagine, the review of the tape was rather riveting. It speaks volumes to the progress that Al Qaeda has made in their explosive development program. In addition, it clearly illustrates the level of sophistication and measures that they went to develop this program and their organizational capabilities, which clearly raises cause for concern.
WHITFIELD: Well, as I mentioned, in the intro, it is been widely reported for years now that there are instructions of how people can make their own bombs using their own household products, and sometimes those instructions are as accessible as on the Internet. So how are you seeing this videotape as any different, or perhaps more dangerous or, you know, or comparable to what we see on the Internet?
VILLA: Well, the fact that think, trying to develop -- trying to develop an explosive program isn't that riveting of a revelation. The compelling point is the fact that they -- the type of explosives they try to manufacture or have manufactured appears to be TNT, which is a very powerful explosive, a high energy material with a strong (UNINTELLIGIBLE) effect.
In addition, the fact they have been able to manufacture their own blasting caps also adds cause for concern. But the most disturbing point is the fact that majority of the materials, little if any, raise any type of suspicion or alerts, or would alert the authorities that something at hand until after the fact. So that only exacerbates the situation.
WHITFIELD: So would not, saying if anyone who had certain materials that are revealed on this tape were to say, go through airport security, or go to any other kind of secure site, you are saying that the professionals of security, the personnel there, would not be able to kind of put these items together and see that we may have TNT in the making here, or a detonator in the making, they're just that common materials?
VILLA: No, that's not what I'm saying. Clearly, there is technology available that would detect various materials. What I'm saying is that this opens the door to a broad range of possibilities and a myriad of potential scenarios. Again, like I said, there are some technologies, but those technologies, as anything else, have counter measures that need to be looked at. They have -- there's a degree of research ongoing to enhance those capabilities, and in addition, there's a number of government-sponsored organizations and programs to continue that process.
WHITFIELD: When you looked at the tape, did you recognize that these were ingredients that can be transferred from country to country, or were these even ingredients that you could find typically in just about any country?
VILLA: Yes, the -- as I said before, the materials are very easily attainable. They are off the shelf. They have raised very little alarm, so the -- raises the bar in terms of suspicion. They are easily attainable, and subsequently it provides the terrorist with -- and the bomber, the opportunity to maintain his anonymity and also operate covertly and elusively.
WHITFIELD: All right, Tony Villa, thank you very much, a consultant for the U.S. government on terror tactics and bomb making. Thank you for joining us.
VILLA: Thank for having me. It's a pleasure.
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