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American Morning

Al Qaeda in Kuwait?

Aired October 10, 2002 - 07:16   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In Kuwait today, three U.S. Marines were injured, one seriously, during a training exercise. The injuries could have been the result of an accidental mine explosion. That's according to the U.S. Embassy officials. Terrorism is not suspected.
But this, after U.S. troops in Kuwait returned fire yesterday, after being confronted by armed civilians. It is the second such confrontation in as many days.

U.S. officials are linking the first attack to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's clear from the nature of the attack that it's a terrorist act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: The first attack took place off the Kuwaiti coast on Failaka Island, and the head of Kuwait's main mosque is now under investigation for allegedly assisting the gunmen in getting onto the island.

Joining us now from Oakbrook, Illinois to examine these developments, retired U.S. Army Major-General David Grange, CNN's military analyst.

Good morning -- welcome back.

DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning. How are you?

ZAHN: I'm fine, thanks.

Let's talk a little bit about what the Pentagon is saying and not saying. I guess at this hour, they say they don't know if it is the leadership of al Qaeda that ordered the first attack, or whether this group acted on their own.

But, Kuwaiti officials are now telling CNN that they believe the attack may have been the -- quote -- "first response to taped messages from al Qaeda leaders that have come to light in recent days."

If that is true, what are the implications for our troops?

GRANGE: Well, I believe that there's going to be heightened security, obviously, throughout the region. It's a very dangerous place for soldiers, Marines, airmen, to train, to prepare for a possible war, and additional measures would have to be taken and should be taken right now for operational security and for protecting the force.

ZAHN: Do you think there is a growing al Qaeda presence in Kuwait?

GRANGE: I think it's always been there, and I think that this may not be from the taped messages. It could be.

I believe that it's decentralized orders that have been given out, because it takes awhile to set up any kind of an operation. For instance, to get a false permission, a pass to get onto the island itself, a palatka (ph) as an example, to coordinate to get the vehicle, to learn a little bit of where the U.S. military is training, case it and then do the attack.

ZAHN: It's not an easy thing to get on an island, and yet, CNN was told that there is a belief that the imam of the Grand Mosque in Kuwait may have actually assisted these al Qaeda members, if that's what they turn out to be, in getting onto the island.

GRANGE: I'm sure that there is some type of support apparatus somewhere in Kuwait to make that happen, yes.

ZAHN: So, what can anybody do about that?

GRANGE: Well, just continue to investigate the situation with the Kuwaiti government, with both our intelligence personnel and theirs, and obviously condone it, continue to put the pressure on their government to help hunt these people down.

And I think the Kuwaiti government would do that. They're going to have some sympathizers, obviously, but I think that they're behind the United States on this.

ZAHN: And how else does the U.S. government make sure these exercises are more secure?

GRANGE: Well, you have two different levels of security when you're training in an area like this, and I've had the opportunity to train there. You have the local government where you're training to provide outside security in coordination with your own people. And then, you have the inner security of your own forces.

So, if you're doing training that involves blank fire -- like possibly the Marines on Failaka Island fighting in an urban setting because of the type of training, it's very dangerous for live ammunition -- you would have to have some type of live ammunition on the perimeter.

ZAHN: We believe, actually, there might be some urban assault exercises going on. What exactly would they entail? You just talked about, obviously, the use of blanks. How are the exercises conducted?

GRANGE: Well, the exercises are conducted -- it could be blank, it could be live fire. And depending on the training quality of the troops, the level of proficiency, you go from blank fire to live fire in graduated levels. But, I would say in this, it was probably blank fire, because maybe the ricochets, the close proximity of the buildings to maybe some other civilian structures, of other workers on the island, depending on where it was set up.

On Udairi Range, where the other three Marines were believed to be wounded by the mine, that's almost entirely live fire, because of the large, open space.

ZAHN: So, as the military figures out how to react to these latest attacks, how does this impact military planning for a potential attack on Iraq?

GRANGE: Well, you have to continue to train. The military doesn't know when they're going to get the order to go, if, in fact, they get it. So, you constantly continue to train to keep a sharp edge in preparedness for when the order comes down, because usually what happens, the ones that end up doing the fighting are the last to get the word that, hey, we're really going. So, you have to continue to train all of the time.

ZAHN: We appreciate your joining us with your perspective this morning. General Grange, always good to see you.

GRANGE: You, too. Thank you.

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






Aired October 10, 2002 - 07:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In Kuwait today, three U.S. Marines were injured, one seriously, during a training exercise. The injuries could have been the result of an accidental mine explosion. That's according to the U.S. Embassy officials. Terrorism is not suspected.
But this, after U.S. troops in Kuwait returned fire yesterday, after being confronted by armed civilians. It is the second such confrontation in as many days.

U.S. officials are linking the first attack to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's clear from the nature of the attack that it's a terrorist act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: The first attack took place off the Kuwaiti coast on Failaka Island, and the head of Kuwait's main mosque is now under investigation for allegedly assisting the gunmen in getting onto the island.

Joining us now from Oakbrook, Illinois to examine these developments, retired U.S. Army Major-General David Grange, CNN's military analyst.

Good morning -- welcome back.

DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning. How are you?

ZAHN: I'm fine, thanks.

Let's talk a little bit about what the Pentagon is saying and not saying. I guess at this hour, they say they don't know if it is the leadership of al Qaeda that ordered the first attack, or whether this group acted on their own.

But, Kuwaiti officials are now telling CNN that they believe the attack may have been the -- quote -- "first response to taped messages from al Qaeda leaders that have come to light in recent days."

If that is true, what are the implications for our troops?

GRANGE: Well, I believe that there's going to be heightened security, obviously, throughout the region. It's a very dangerous place for soldiers, Marines, airmen, to train, to prepare for a possible war, and additional measures would have to be taken and should be taken right now for operational security and for protecting the force.

ZAHN: Do you think there is a growing al Qaeda presence in Kuwait?

GRANGE: I think it's always been there, and I think that this may not be from the taped messages. It could be.

I believe that it's decentralized orders that have been given out, because it takes awhile to set up any kind of an operation. For instance, to get a false permission, a pass to get onto the island itself, a palatka (ph) as an example, to coordinate to get the vehicle, to learn a little bit of where the U.S. military is training, case it and then do the attack.

ZAHN: It's not an easy thing to get on an island, and yet, CNN was told that there is a belief that the imam of the Grand Mosque in Kuwait may have actually assisted these al Qaeda members, if that's what they turn out to be, in getting onto the island.

GRANGE: I'm sure that there is some type of support apparatus somewhere in Kuwait to make that happen, yes.

ZAHN: So, what can anybody do about that?

GRANGE: Well, just continue to investigate the situation with the Kuwaiti government, with both our intelligence personnel and theirs, and obviously condone it, continue to put the pressure on their government to help hunt these people down.

And I think the Kuwaiti government would do that. They're going to have some sympathizers, obviously, but I think that they're behind the United States on this.

ZAHN: And how else does the U.S. government make sure these exercises are more secure?

GRANGE: Well, you have two different levels of security when you're training in an area like this, and I've had the opportunity to train there. You have the local government where you're training to provide outside security in coordination with your own people. And then, you have the inner security of your own forces.

So, if you're doing training that involves blank fire -- like possibly the Marines on Failaka Island fighting in an urban setting because of the type of training, it's very dangerous for live ammunition -- you would have to have some type of live ammunition on the perimeter.

ZAHN: We believe, actually, there might be some urban assault exercises going on. What exactly would they entail? You just talked about, obviously, the use of blanks. How are the exercises conducted?

GRANGE: Well, the exercises are conducted -- it could be blank, it could be live fire. And depending on the training quality of the troops, the level of proficiency, you go from blank fire to live fire in graduated levels. But, I would say in this, it was probably blank fire, because maybe the ricochets, the close proximity of the buildings to maybe some other civilian structures, of other workers on the island, depending on where it was set up.

On Udairi Range, where the other three Marines were believed to be wounded by the mine, that's almost entirely live fire, because of the large, open space.

ZAHN: So, as the military figures out how to react to these latest attacks, how does this impact military planning for a potential attack on Iraq?

GRANGE: Well, you have to continue to train. The military doesn't know when they're going to get the order to go, if, in fact, they get it. So, you constantly continue to train to keep a sharp edge in preparedness for when the order comes down, because usually what happens, the ones that end up doing the fighting are the last to get the word that, hey, we're really going. So, you have to continue to train all of the time.

ZAHN: We appreciate your joining us with your perspective this morning. General Grange, always good to see you.

GRANGE: You, too. Thank you.

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