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American Morning
FBI Agents in Iraq Trying to Find Those Responsible
Aired August 20, 2003 - 09:32 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: FBI agents are in Iraq trying to find those responsible on the attack on the United Nations headquarters yesterday. Tom Fuentes is in charge of the FBI investigation. He joins us from Baghdad this morning.
Good morning to you, Mr. Fuentes, and thanks for joining us.
TOM FUENTES, FBI: Good morning. You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: First and foremost, what's your investigation going to entail at this point?
FUENTES: I'm sorry. Could you say that again?
O'BRIEN: Tell me a little about what the investigation -- you're heading the investigation for the FBI. What's the first step that you take in this investigation? What's it going to entail?
FUENTES: Well, the first step after we arrived yesterday afternoon was to determine how much of the crime scene we could actually get to so that we would not interfere with the rescue of any survivors. As it turned out, there was a large section alongside the building in the field next to the road, where the truck bomb was located, which we were able to access immediately, we were able to get into the crater and take chemical samples, as well as get samples of the vehicle parts and, also, some human remains that were located in the debris field. This was a little bit of a distance from the main part of the building that collapsed, so that we did not interfere with the search for survivors.
O'BRIEN: It's been described in reports as a cement truck that was loaded with maybe 500 pounds of C-4, pulling up in front of the Canal Hotel. Do you have any more information on the specifics and also any specifics on the driver of that truck?
FUENTES: We are not certain yet whether the human remains belonged to the driver of the truck or not. We'll be conducting chemical examinations of the components of the inside of the truck, including the foam padding from the driver's seat. That will be analyzed in our laboratory in Washington to determine whether we have a match to the human remains that were also located at the scene.
O'BRIEN: There are many analysts have said this was clearly in their minds not the work of amateurs. Do you agree with that assessment? Do you think this was the work of Al Qaeda or another more organized terror organization, as opposed to Saddam loyalists? FUENTES: Well, it's a little too early to speculate on the exact group that may have been responsible. We have determined that the explosive devices consisted of military-grade munitions, and we have found a number of pieces of ordinance that were Soviet-era manufacture, and we've had fragments here from mortars, artillery shells, grenades, one 500-pound bomb, and then the main component of explosive here. So we have a large quantity, in excess of 1,000 pounds of explosives, that was military-grade munitions. This was not a homemade bomb.
O'BRIEN: There were some witnesses who said, and it has to be warned that they said this in sort of the middle of the chaos, that they heard mortar fire, that they were fired upon, that people in the building were fired upon. Do you have any evidence of that at this time?
FUENTES: Well that may have appeared to them, because when the explosion occurred, mortars, and grenades and artillery shells were exploded as well. We did find one grenade intact. The firing pin was sheared off, but it did not detonate. We have ordinance people disabling that device. So it's possible that we had shells launched into the building or into the surrounding area. We have recovered some of the components of those types of shells, the stabilizer fins and the firing pins from them. So it is possible that may have appeared as a mortar attack when the main explosion happened.
O'BRIEN: You mentioned something like 1,000 pounds of military- grade munitions. How likely is it that you're going to be able to trace back these munitions and be able to essentially identify the group responsible, almost as if that were a fingerprint? Is it possible to be that accurate?
FUENTES: That would be very difficult, because this would be the type of munitions that the Iraqi army would have had in their arsenal. So this was common for them to be in possession of that, and we're not certain who has been in possession of these various types of munitions since the war.
O'BRIEN: Tom Fuentes is an FBI agent who is leading the investigation into the bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Thank you for joining us this morning. I know you're busy. So we certainly appreciate your time.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Want to get now to the political fallout for the Baghdad bombing and the attack yesterday in Jerusalem. Both events could undermine the president's position on going to war with Iraq and the Middle East road map to peace.
Mr. Bush talked about that situation yesterday in Texas. Here's part.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All nations of the world face a challenge and a choice. By attempting to spread chaos and fear, terrorists are testing our will. Across the world, they are finding that our will cannot be shaken. We will persevere through every hardship.
HEMMER: For more on all of this, we're joined by CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider, joining us today from London. And we appreciate your time with us, Bill, today. The implications now from the White House, joint attacks in one afternoon, an absolute day of terror, jeopardizes plans and the mission how?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Because the president was precisely right. These attacks do test America's will, America's resolve. The president clearly is stating we're determined to see this through. But what the explosions, what the terrorist attacks are aimed at is American public opinion, and in fact, world public opinion. Does America have the fortitude, the stamina to stay with this mission in Iraq? And in fact, with the Middle East road map? Because what they're hoping to do is raise the question with the American people, what have you really accomplished in Iraq? Was the war worth it? Was it the right thing to do? Why are Americans and others still being killed there? Does the United States control this situation? They are hoping to influence public opinion, even if the president's resolve is strong.
HEMMER: What are you hearing right now based on reaction, be it political or otherwise, civilians back here in the U.S., about what they're saying about the overall operation? Because there's really two mind right now. One mind says, see, we told you so, pull back and get out. The other mind says, no, now you've got to go with even more gusto to get this situation back under control?
SCHNEIDER: What I'm hearing is Americans, certainly American politicians, are being very, very cautious. They don't want to say this was a mistake, we want to abandon the project. And right now, the American people still believe we did the right thing going into Iraq. About a third one month ago said we did the wrong thing. And we're keeping a close eye on whether that number begins to go up. If that number ever hits a majority, then you could have an explosion of public reaction. You already have the possibility, let's say Howard Dean wins the Democratic nomination, of next year's presidential campaign being a referendum on the war in Iraq. A lot of Democrats say this is not the issue we want to run on. But as -- if more of these tragedies occur, and if the United States finds itself in a difficult situation and war becomes more and more controversial, that could be exactly the kind of campaign we get next year.
HEMMER: As we look at these two situations, a bit of dual tracks right now that parallel one another, does one have more importance now than the other? Middle East road map, maintain a level of violence at a low level in the Middle East, or is it Iraq right now with U.S. soldiers dying almost every day?
SCHNEIDER: Well, the fact that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq means that has a great deal more immediacy and more relevance. The United States went to war with Iraq. We said we were there to stabilize the situation. More and more Americans getting killed is not a very good sign. I think the Middle East road map is something that the president said would be a byproduct of our success in Iraq. If that, too, looks like it's being roadblocked, it's not making any progress. If it goes off track, then I think questions, serious questions, will be raised.
And this sort of controversy that we're seeing here in London over how did Britain get into this. Was there deception involved? Did the prime minister mislead the British people? That we began to see in the United States with the controversy over the president's State of the Union Speech, and it seemed to go away. But if more and more Americans reach the conclusion that we shouldn't be there and we should never have gone in, then that controversy over weapons of mass destruction could come back in the United States, just as it has here in Britain.
HEMMER: Thanks, Bill. Bill Schneider, watching things from London. Appreciate your thoughts today. Good to see 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 August 20, 2003 - 09:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: FBI agents are in Iraq trying to find those responsible on the attack on the United Nations headquarters yesterday. Tom Fuentes is in charge of the FBI investigation. He joins us from Baghdad this morning.
Good morning to you, Mr. Fuentes, and thanks for joining us.
TOM FUENTES, FBI: Good morning. You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: First and foremost, what's your investigation going to entail at this point?
FUENTES: I'm sorry. Could you say that again?
O'BRIEN: Tell me a little about what the investigation -- you're heading the investigation for the FBI. What's the first step that you take in this investigation? What's it going to entail?
FUENTES: Well, the first step after we arrived yesterday afternoon was to determine how much of the crime scene we could actually get to so that we would not interfere with the rescue of any survivors. As it turned out, there was a large section alongside the building in the field next to the road, where the truck bomb was located, which we were able to access immediately, we were able to get into the crater and take chemical samples, as well as get samples of the vehicle parts and, also, some human remains that were located in the debris field. This was a little bit of a distance from the main part of the building that collapsed, so that we did not interfere with the search for survivors.
O'BRIEN: It's been described in reports as a cement truck that was loaded with maybe 500 pounds of C-4, pulling up in front of the Canal Hotel. Do you have any more information on the specifics and also any specifics on the driver of that truck?
FUENTES: We are not certain yet whether the human remains belonged to the driver of the truck or not. We'll be conducting chemical examinations of the components of the inside of the truck, including the foam padding from the driver's seat. That will be analyzed in our laboratory in Washington to determine whether we have a match to the human remains that were also located at the scene.
O'BRIEN: There are many analysts have said this was clearly in their minds not the work of amateurs. Do you agree with that assessment? Do you think this was the work of Al Qaeda or another more organized terror organization, as opposed to Saddam loyalists? FUENTES: Well, it's a little too early to speculate on the exact group that may have been responsible. We have determined that the explosive devices consisted of military-grade munitions, and we have found a number of pieces of ordinance that were Soviet-era manufacture, and we've had fragments here from mortars, artillery shells, grenades, one 500-pound bomb, and then the main component of explosive here. So we have a large quantity, in excess of 1,000 pounds of explosives, that was military-grade munitions. This was not a homemade bomb.
O'BRIEN: There were some witnesses who said, and it has to be warned that they said this in sort of the middle of the chaos, that they heard mortar fire, that they were fired upon, that people in the building were fired upon. Do you have any evidence of that at this time?
FUENTES: Well that may have appeared to them, because when the explosion occurred, mortars, and grenades and artillery shells were exploded as well. We did find one grenade intact. The firing pin was sheared off, but it did not detonate. We have ordinance people disabling that device. So it's possible that we had shells launched into the building or into the surrounding area. We have recovered some of the components of those types of shells, the stabilizer fins and the firing pins from them. So it is possible that may have appeared as a mortar attack when the main explosion happened.
O'BRIEN: You mentioned something like 1,000 pounds of military- grade munitions. How likely is it that you're going to be able to trace back these munitions and be able to essentially identify the group responsible, almost as if that were a fingerprint? Is it possible to be that accurate?
FUENTES: That would be very difficult, because this would be the type of munitions that the Iraqi army would have had in their arsenal. So this was common for them to be in possession of that, and we're not certain who has been in possession of these various types of munitions since the war.
O'BRIEN: Tom Fuentes is an FBI agent who is leading the investigation into the bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Thank you for joining us this morning. I know you're busy. So we certainly appreciate your time.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Want to get now to the political fallout for the Baghdad bombing and the attack yesterday in Jerusalem. Both events could undermine the president's position on going to war with Iraq and the Middle East road map to peace.
Mr. Bush talked about that situation yesterday in Texas. Here's part.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All nations of the world face a challenge and a choice. By attempting to spread chaos and fear, terrorists are testing our will. Across the world, they are finding that our will cannot be shaken. We will persevere through every hardship.
HEMMER: For more on all of this, we're joined by CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider, joining us today from London. And we appreciate your time with us, Bill, today. The implications now from the White House, joint attacks in one afternoon, an absolute day of terror, jeopardizes plans and the mission how?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Because the president was precisely right. These attacks do test America's will, America's resolve. The president clearly is stating we're determined to see this through. But what the explosions, what the terrorist attacks are aimed at is American public opinion, and in fact, world public opinion. Does America have the fortitude, the stamina to stay with this mission in Iraq? And in fact, with the Middle East road map? Because what they're hoping to do is raise the question with the American people, what have you really accomplished in Iraq? Was the war worth it? Was it the right thing to do? Why are Americans and others still being killed there? Does the United States control this situation? They are hoping to influence public opinion, even if the president's resolve is strong.
HEMMER: What are you hearing right now based on reaction, be it political or otherwise, civilians back here in the U.S., about what they're saying about the overall operation? Because there's really two mind right now. One mind says, see, we told you so, pull back and get out. The other mind says, no, now you've got to go with even more gusto to get this situation back under control?
SCHNEIDER: What I'm hearing is Americans, certainly American politicians, are being very, very cautious. They don't want to say this was a mistake, we want to abandon the project. And right now, the American people still believe we did the right thing going into Iraq. About a third one month ago said we did the wrong thing. And we're keeping a close eye on whether that number begins to go up. If that number ever hits a majority, then you could have an explosion of public reaction. You already have the possibility, let's say Howard Dean wins the Democratic nomination, of next year's presidential campaign being a referendum on the war in Iraq. A lot of Democrats say this is not the issue we want to run on. But as -- if more of these tragedies occur, and if the United States finds itself in a difficult situation and war becomes more and more controversial, that could be exactly the kind of campaign we get next year.
HEMMER: As we look at these two situations, a bit of dual tracks right now that parallel one another, does one have more importance now than the other? Middle East road map, maintain a level of violence at a low level in the Middle East, or is it Iraq right now with U.S. soldiers dying almost every day?
SCHNEIDER: Well, the fact that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq means that has a great deal more immediacy and more relevance. The United States went to war with Iraq. We said we were there to stabilize the situation. More and more Americans getting killed is not a very good sign. I think the Middle East road map is something that the president said would be a byproduct of our success in Iraq. If that, too, looks like it's being roadblocked, it's not making any progress. If it goes off track, then I think questions, serious questions, will be raised.
And this sort of controversy that we're seeing here in London over how did Britain get into this. Was there deception involved? Did the prime minister mislead the British people? That we began to see in the United States with the controversy over the president's State of the Union Speech, and it seemed to go away. But if more and more Americans reach the conclusion that we shouldn't be there and we should never have gone in, then that controversy over weapons of mass destruction could come back in the United States, just as it has here in Britain.
HEMMER: Thanks, Bill. Bill Schneider, watching things from London. Appreciate your thoughts today. Good to see 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
