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American Morning

Hunt For Bin Laden, Possible Lost Opportunity

Aired January 22, 2003 - 08:07   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: Now we're going to turn our attention to the hunt for bin Laden and a possible lost opportunity. According to the "Washington Post," during the battle for Tora Bora a little more than a year ago, bin Laden reportedly used a simple trick to fool U.S. forces and escape, giving his satellite phone to a bodyguard.
Were there other mistakes in Tora Bora?

Well, Robert Baer says yes.

He is the author of "See No Evil: The True Story of A Ground Soldier in the CIA's War On Terrorism."

He joins us live from Washington this morning.

Good morning, Mr. Baer.

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA CASE OFFICER: Good morning.

ZAHN: Thanks for joining us.

BAER: Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: First of all, your reaction to the "Washington Post" reporting that it was a simple game of Osama bin Laden turning over his satellite phone to a bodyguard.

BAER: I think it's plausible. Remember, there's been a lot of leaks about these intercepts in the newspapers since 1998. And so bin Laden was aware that his phone was being watched, monitored, what, or tracked. And it would have been a natural step for him to give it to a bodyguard and go the opposite direction.

ZAHN: And do you think that makes U.S. forces look pretty stupid?

BAER: Well, on this...

ZAHN: And I don't mean to cast aspersion on them, but is that a pretty obvious strategy?

BAER: It's an obvious strategy, but see the problem is that's the only, the intelligence they had. They didn't have people next to bin Laden that could have confirmed he still had the phone. And by not having human sources, you're at your weakest point when you rely simply on technology.

ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit more about where else you think intelligence failed the U.S. in the hunt for bin Laden.

BAER: It failed because there's a whole gap between the Afghan and the Iranian border where people have obviously escaped into Iran, the bin Laden people, when they went west rather than east. We didn't have people monitoring the border with Pakistan and we didn't really cut off the access of getting out on this. It was an enormous mistake and it was an intelligence failure.

ZAHN: Tell us a little bit about this aide, a Moroccan gentleman named Abdullah Tabarak (ph), who was sent to Guantanamo with some other detainees without an interrogation. Who is he and what is it we should have learned from him?

BAER: Well, I think what we should learn from him, according to the "Washington Post," is that once we get these people and arrest them, that they don't talk. Or if they do, their information is probably not very good because they're so deceptive. I mean the intelligence business is really, really hard. And when they say this war on terrorism is going to go on for a long time, it's very clear that it will.

ZAHN: And let's talk about what are the lessons learned post- 9/11. Do you see any fundamental changes coming at the place where you once worked, at the CIA, that would make any big difference to the average American and their sense of vulnerability?

BAER: Oh, I think absolutely. I mean they're recruiting a lot of good people. There are more people dedicated to terrorism. But more than that, there's the political will to back the CIA, which didn't exist before. Remember, in the '90s, people had lost interest in intelligence. The cold war was over. We weren't spying on Afghanistan. Terrorism was important, but not all that important. And we all missed it, just not the CIA and the Pentagon.

ZAHN: Robert Baer, the author of "See No Evil," thanks for your perspective this morning.

BAER: Thank you.

ZAHN: Good of you to join us.

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 January 22, 2003 - 08:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to turn our attention to the hunt for bin Laden and a possible lost opportunity. According to the "Washington Post," during the battle for Tora Bora a little more than a year ago, bin Laden reportedly used a simple trick to fool U.S. forces and escape, giving his satellite phone to a bodyguard.
Were there other mistakes in Tora Bora?

Well, Robert Baer says yes.

He is the author of "See No Evil: The True Story of A Ground Soldier in the CIA's War On Terrorism."

He joins us live from Washington this morning.

Good morning, Mr. Baer.

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA CASE OFFICER: Good morning.

ZAHN: Thanks for joining us.

BAER: Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: First of all, your reaction to the "Washington Post" reporting that it was a simple game of Osama bin Laden turning over his satellite phone to a bodyguard.

BAER: I think it's plausible. Remember, there's been a lot of leaks about these intercepts in the newspapers since 1998. And so bin Laden was aware that his phone was being watched, monitored, what, or tracked. And it would have been a natural step for him to give it to a bodyguard and go the opposite direction.

ZAHN: And do you think that makes U.S. forces look pretty stupid?

BAER: Well, on this...

ZAHN: And I don't mean to cast aspersion on them, but is that a pretty obvious strategy?

BAER: It's an obvious strategy, but see the problem is that's the only, the intelligence they had. They didn't have people next to bin Laden that could have confirmed he still had the phone. And by not having human sources, you're at your weakest point when you rely simply on technology.

ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit more about where else you think intelligence failed the U.S. in the hunt for bin Laden.

BAER: It failed because there's a whole gap between the Afghan and the Iranian border where people have obviously escaped into Iran, the bin Laden people, when they went west rather than east. We didn't have people monitoring the border with Pakistan and we didn't really cut off the access of getting out on this. It was an enormous mistake and it was an intelligence failure.

ZAHN: Tell us a little bit about this aide, a Moroccan gentleman named Abdullah Tabarak (ph), who was sent to Guantanamo with some other detainees without an interrogation. Who is he and what is it we should have learned from him?

BAER: Well, I think what we should learn from him, according to the "Washington Post," is that once we get these people and arrest them, that they don't talk. Or if they do, their information is probably not very good because they're so deceptive. I mean the intelligence business is really, really hard. And when they say this war on terrorism is going to go on for a long time, it's very clear that it will.

ZAHN: And let's talk about what are the lessons learned post- 9/11. Do you see any fundamental changes coming at the place where you once worked, at the CIA, that would make any big difference to the average American and their sense of vulnerability?

BAER: Oh, I think absolutely. I mean they're recruiting a lot of good people. There are more people dedicated to terrorism. But more than that, there's the political will to back the CIA, which didn't exist before. Remember, in the '90s, people had lost interest in intelligence. The cold war was over. We weren't spying on Afghanistan. Terrorism was important, but not all that important. And we all missed it, just not the CIA and the Pentagon.

ZAHN: Robert Baer, the author of "See No Evil," thanks for your perspective this morning.

BAER: Thank you.

ZAHN: Good of you to join us.

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