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CNN Live Today
Al Jazeera Says It's Received Signed Copy From Bin Laden Praising Attacks on Marines
Aired October 14, 2002 - 11:30 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Now from that act of local terror there in the D.C. area, now a chilling message said to be coming from Osama bin Laden and this, in regards to another terror -- or a couple of other terror incidents, we should say.
The Arab Language Network Al Jazeera says that it has received a signed copy of a statement for the Al Qaeda leader that praises the attacks on U.S. Marines in Kuwait and the bombing of a French tanker off Yemen. Now the statement says, and we quote here, "The heroic operation in Kuwait proves the level of danger that threatens U.S. forces in Islamic countries. The priority in this war, at this stage, must be against the infidels, the Americans and the Jews, who have not stopped their injustice," end quote there.
Now officials have not confirmed whether this statement is, in fact, from Osama bin Laden. But we do know this much, it comes after two taped messages, one purportedly from bin Laden and the other said to be from bin Laden's top lieutenant.
Our National Security Correspondent David Ensor is tracking this story for us now. He joins us with the very latest.
David, what have you been able to make of all this?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon U.S. officials have obviously got this letter and have been looking at it closely. It was on a Web site thought to be associated with Al Qaeda. It has an autograph that purports to be that of Osama bin Laden.
Officials pointing out that it's just as easy to put a dead man's autograph on a Web site as it is a living man. So, they say they cannot say whether or not this letter is you authentically from Osama bin Laden or not. They may never be able to do so. At the same time they are looking at it closely, and there are some technical means by which they may be able to get closer to the truth in that matter.
Now the threat level, in general, is higher than usual, officials say. It's causing some officials to be somewhat edgy at this time. At the same time, they say it's not at a significantly higher level than normal. Not at the level, for example, that it was just prior to 9/11 or just prior to the U.S.S Cole attack.
On Bali, a military official is telling CNN's Barbara Starr that, as he put it, "It looks like Al Qaeda, it walks like Al Qaeda, and it smells like Al Qaeda," so the suspicion is, very much, that the attack in Bali that killed so many Australians and others who were on vacation on that island in Indonesia, that that attack -- the assumption by officials here in Washington is that it was probably Jemaah Ismaliyah, the group associated with Al Qaeda that is an Indonesian terrorist group, but again, they don't have the proof on that either.
So, a sense of unease, Leon, about the letter, about the higher level of chatter in the system. Intelligence officials obviously listen in on certain individuals they think are associated with Al Qaeda and they talk to their human intelligence sources -- unease that something else may happen, but it's not a really significantly higher level than normal.
Leon.
HARRIS: Understood. David Ensor reporting live from Washington. And David, as you brought up the incidents in Bali, the explosion there, and right now the death toll standing at 187 and expected to go higher, as hundreds are still missing.
Moments ago we were able to listen in as British Prime Minister Tony Blair came out of his residence to offer his condolences to the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have, yet again, evidence of the appalling depths to which these extremists will sink. They're not worried, in the least, about the numbers of people they kill, about the total innocence of the people they kill. They're not interested in the destruction and devastation that they wreak upon whole communities and families who have lost their loved ones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now, let's continue with more on that topic right now and talk some more about the suspicions of terror links to the Bali bombings. Harvard University's Dr. James Walsh is an expert in the field and he joins us from Boston with his analysis this morning.
Good morning, doctor.
JAMES WALSH, TERRORISM EXPERT: Good morning, Leon.
HARRIS: Let's start off with a report that's come in, and sort of -- and has been a bit hidden with all the other details that have come out. It's been talked about, as you might have just heard there from our David Ensor, that many believe that there was an Al Qaeda link with this blast in Bali. They believe it's Jemaah Ismaliyah is the group there that is said to be linked with Al Qaeda. But the leader of that group has come out and said that they did not perpetrate this bombing. What do you make of that?
WALSH: Well, I'm not surprised that Mr. Bashir denies responsibility. He has been brought in for questioning on a couple of occasions now, because that group Jemaah Islamiyah has been associated or suspected of sponsoring other attacks in the region.
They are a group of operatives that were arrested in Singapore not long ago. He had ties to those individuals and he was brought in to see if they could make a link between him and those that plot to blow up the embassy.
I'm not surprised that he denies it. He is a person of some political standing in Indonesia. The vice president of Indonesia Hamzah Haz recently had him over for dinner, called him a good Muslim. So I think it's unlikely that he's going to suddenly admit or openly declare that it was his group that was responsible.
HARRIS: Now, as you know, the Pentagon here has been saying that the war in Afghanistan and the war against terror, overall, has greatly diminished Al Qaeda's ability to coordinate any kind of attack like this. What does this say about Al Qaeda's position and abilities right now?
WALSH: Well, I think we want to take a nuanced view here. On the one hand, I think it's certainly possible that Al Qaeda has been degraded and that it can't stage large organizationally complex attacks on the United States, at least in the short term. But that doesn't mean that they're out of business. I think all of us have been expecting that there would be attacks.
And if you look what's happened in these last three weeks, this attack in Bali marks the eighth attack in the region. Attacks also occurring in Jakarta and in Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere. And then across the world, we've had the attacks on the Marines in Kuwait, the attack on the French oil tanker. So the level of activity seems to be increasing, small hits here, small hits there, and then a really big hit in Bali.
HARRIS: But as you look at those incidents you just detailed just there, the attacks that were directly on the U.S. seem to be the smaller- scaled ones, the larger one coming in Bali. Does that tell you that you believe that Al Qaeda has not been able to actually penetrate any U.S. targets right now, that the U.S., perhaps, has been successful in hardening all of its targets right now?
WALSH: Well, I wouldn't go that far. But I think two things should be said. First of all, in general, we expect that terrorists are going to strike abroad, rather than at home. Why, because their targets are easier abroad. They're easier to get at. And you can slip into a foreign country and slip out, much easier than you can slip into the United States. So on average, we expect attacks to occur more likely abroad than here.
But please remember, Leon, that it was just a few days ago that the FBI issued a new warning to local law enforcement officials declaring that they believe that Al Qaeda may be in the process of planning or organizing attacks that may occur on the U.S. Homeland. Those attacks take time to plan, take time to have the training to carry out, so it wouldn't be any surprise to most of us that those would occur later, rather than sooner. HARRIS: Real quickly, if you could this morning -- we have to go, we're out of time now -- but many experts have said that they expected this sort of thing to happen and they expected it to happen there. Could you say where the next one might be?
WALSH: Well, I'm not in the prediction business. I wouldn't be surprised if there were future attacks in Indonesia and throughout Southeast Asia, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where we have U.S. assets. Those are the big targets...
HARRIS: Got you.
WALSH: ... embassies, military personnel and soft targets in other countries.
HARRIS: Doctor James Walsh at Harvard University in Boston. Thank you very much. Appreciate the insight this morning.
Thank you, Leon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Praising Attacks on Marines>
Aired October 14, 2002 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Now from that act of local terror there in the D.C. area, now a chilling message said to be coming from Osama bin Laden and this, in regards to another terror -- or a couple of other terror incidents, we should say.
The Arab Language Network Al Jazeera says that it has received a signed copy of a statement for the Al Qaeda leader that praises the attacks on U.S. Marines in Kuwait and the bombing of a French tanker off Yemen. Now the statement says, and we quote here, "The heroic operation in Kuwait proves the level of danger that threatens U.S. forces in Islamic countries. The priority in this war, at this stage, must be against the infidels, the Americans and the Jews, who have not stopped their injustice," end quote there.
Now officials have not confirmed whether this statement is, in fact, from Osama bin Laden. But we do know this much, it comes after two taped messages, one purportedly from bin Laden and the other said to be from bin Laden's top lieutenant.
Our National Security Correspondent David Ensor is tracking this story for us now. He joins us with the very latest.
David, what have you been able to make of all this?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon U.S. officials have obviously got this letter and have been looking at it closely. It was on a Web site thought to be associated with Al Qaeda. It has an autograph that purports to be that of Osama bin Laden.
Officials pointing out that it's just as easy to put a dead man's autograph on a Web site as it is a living man. So, they say they cannot say whether or not this letter is you authentically from Osama bin Laden or not. They may never be able to do so. At the same time they are looking at it closely, and there are some technical means by which they may be able to get closer to the truth in that matter.
Now the threat level, in general, is higher than usual, officials say. It's causing some officials to be somewhat edgy at this time. At the same time, they say it's not at a significantly higher level than normal. Not at the level, for example, that it was just prior to 9/11 or just prior to the U.S.S Cole attack.
On Bali, a military official is telling CNN's Barbara Starr that, as he put it, "It looks like Al Qaeda, it walks like Al Qaeda, and it smells like Al Qaeda," so the suspicion is, very much, that the attack in Bali that killed so many Australians and others who were on vacation on that island in Indonesia, that that attack -- the assumption by officials here in Washington is that it was probably Jemaah Ismaliyah, the group associated with Al Qaeda that is an Indonesian terrorist group, but again, they don't have the proof on that either.
So, a sense of unease, Leon, about the letter, about the higher level of chatter in the system. Intelligence officials obviously listen in on certain individuals they think are associated with Al Qaeda and they talk to their human intelligence sources -- unease that something else may happen, but it's not a really significantly higher level than normal.
Leon.
HARRIS: Understood. David Ensor reporting live from Washington. And David, as you brought up the incidents in Bali, the explosion there, and right now the death toll standing at 187 and expected to go higher, as hundreds are still missing.
Moments ago we were able to listen in as British Prime Minister Tony Blair came out of his residence to offer his condolences to the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have, yet again, evidence of the appalling depths to which these extremists will sink. They're not worried, in the least, about the numbers of people they kill, about the total innocence of the people they kill. They're not interested in the destruction and devastation that they wreak upon whole communities and families who have lost their loved ones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now, let's continue with more on that topic right now and talk some more about the suspicions of terror links to the Bali bombings. Harvard University's Dr. James Walsh is an expert in the field and he joins us from Boston with his analysis this morning.
Good morning, doctor.
JAMES WALSH, TERRORISM EXPERT: Good morning, Leon.
HARRIS: Let's start off with a report that's come in, and sort of -- and has been a bit hidden with all the other details that have come out. It's been talked about, as you might have just heard there from our David Ensor, that many believe that there was an Al Qaeda link with this blast in Bali. They believe it's Jemaah Ismaliyah is the group there that is said to be linked with Al Qaeda. But the leader of that group has come out and said that they did not perpetrate this bombing. What do you make of that?
WALSH: Well, I'm not surprised that Mr. Bashir denies responsibility. He has been brought in for questioning on a couple of occasions now, because that group Jemaah Islamiyah has been associated or suspected of sponsoring other attacks in the region.
They are a group of operatives that were arrested in Singapore not long ago. He had ties to those individuals and he was brought in to see if they could make a link between him and those that plot to blow up the embassy.
I'm not surprised that he denies it. He is a person of some political standing in Indonesia. The vice president of Indonesia Hamzah Haz recently had him over for dinner, called him a good Muslim. So I think it's unlikely that he's going to suddenly admit or openly declare that it was his group that was responsible.
HARRIS: Now, as you know, the Pentagon here has been saying that the war in Afghanistan and the war against terror, overall, has greatly diminished Al Qaeda's ability to coordinate any kind of attack like this. What does this say about Al Qaeda's position and abilities right now?
WALSH: Well, I think we want to take a nuanced view here. On the one hand, I think it's certainly possible that Al Qaeda has been degraded and that it can't stage large organizationally complex attacks on the United States, at least in the short term. But that doesn't mean that they're out of business. I think all of us have been expecting that there would be attacks.
And if you look what's happened in these last three weeks, this attack in Bali marks the eighth attack in the region. Attacks also occurring in Jakarta and in Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere. And then across the world, we've had the attacks on the Marines in Kuwait, the attack on the French oil tanker. So the level of activity seems to be increasing, small hits here, small hits there, and then a really big hit in Bali.
HARRIS: But as you look at those incidents you just detailed just there, the attacks that were directly on the U.S. seem to be the smaller- scaled ones, the larger one coming in Bali. Does that tell you that you believe that Al Qaeda has not been able to actually penetrate any U.S. targets right now, that the U.S., perhaps, has been successful in hardening all of its targets right now?
WALSH: Well, I wouldn't go that far. But I think two things should be said. First of all, in general, we expect that terrorists are going to strike abroad, rather than at home. Why, because their targets are easier abroad. They're easier to get at. And you can slip into a foreign country and slip out, much easier than you can slip into the United States. So on average, we expect attacks to occur more likely abroad than here.
But please remember, Leon, that it was just a few days ago that the FBI issued a new warning to local law enforcement officials declaring that they believe that Al Qaeda may be in the process of planning or organizing attacks that may occur on the U.S. Homeland. Those attacks take time to plan, take time to have the training to carry out, so it wouldn't be any surprise to most of us that those would occur later, rather than sooner. HARRIS: Real quickly, if you could this morning -- we have to go, we're out of time now -- but many experts have said that they expected this sort of thing to happen and they expected it to happen there. Could you say where the next one might be?
WALSH: Well, I'm not in the prediction business. I wouldn't be surprised if there were future attacks in Indonesia and throughout Southeast Asia, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where we have U.S. assets. Those are the big targets...
HARRIS: Got you.
WALSH: ... embassies, military personnel and soft targets in other countries.
HARRIS: Doctor James Walsh at Harvard University in Boston. Thank you very much. Appreciate the insight this morning.
Thank you, Leon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Praising Attacks on Marines>
