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CNN Live At Daybreak

International Wrap, Eye on World

Aired September 01, 2003 - 06:34   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Two years after the September 11 attack, Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist in the world, is still a free man, and reportedly he is plotting another attack.
"Newsweek" magazine, reporting a high-ranking Taliban source, says bin Laden's priority now is to use biological weapons. The source says bin Laden's al Qaeda network already has the weapons. It's just a matter of figuring out how to launch an attack.

We also have reports the Taliban is regrouping in Afghanistan and putting up some stiffer resistance.

Let's talk more about that and more with our senior international editor, David Clinch.

Good morning -- David.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol, good morning.

I said we would come back when we were here earlier and talk a little bit more about the question of whether these attacks in Iraq -- and, of course, what's going on in Afghanistan where U.S. troops are fighting and some dying, too, over the weekend in fighting with a reconstituted Taliban -- how organized are these attacks in Iraq? Are they in any way related to al Qaeda? And is al Qaeda in any way related to what's going on in Afghanistan?

It's very easy, I think, to just sort of join all of those dots and say Osama bin Laden sitting in a cave maybe with Saddam Hussein...

COSTELLO: Along with -- yes, I was just going to say.

CLINCH: ... is doing it all. It's probably obviously not that simple.

But the fact is that these attacks in Iraq do have the appearance of being coordinated. They are hitting at the softest targets, the targets that will hurt the United States most. They're hitting at targets that are the hardest to protect. And they're hitting targets which -- you know, we just had Saddam Hussein somewhat absurdly saying I would never attack Shiites, the same man, of course, who did away with tens of thousands of Shiites by the sight of the mass graves that have been found in Iraq.

We have the absurdity, if you want to put it that way, of the FBI being involved in the investigation of this attack in Najaf. It's hard to sort of keep up with who is investigating who.

COSTELLO: And Rym Brahimi just mentioned that a couple of suspects are from Pakistan. And, of course, that's where everyone...

CLINCH: Right, absolutely.

COSTELLO: ... believes Osama bin Laden is.

CLINCH: Right. And then, you're getting reports from Afghanistan of Iraqis being stopped going from Pakistan into Afghanistan recently. It's hard to keep up.

What is very important for us in reporting these stories is to only report what we know, and also obviously to go to our experts. We have these people in Iraq who know what they're talking about. We're in Najaf. We're not just standing back in Baghdad. We've gone to Najaf to talk to the people there to see what they have to say.

We also have Christiane Amanpour, for instance, who just spent a week -- or more than a week in Afghanistan, doing some reporting for us there. She will actually be live from London within the next few hours for AMERICAN MORNING talking about what she saw when she was there.

It's very important that we let the people who really know what they're talking about and who really understand this story lay it out for us, because, again, it's all too simple to say it's all coordinated, it's all connected, everybody in al Qaeda is talking to everybody in Iraq.

COSTELLO: But in a way, it's a shame we can't say that, because one enemy would (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a known enemy...

CLINCH: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: ... it would be so much easier to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CLINCH: Absolutely. And in some ways, I suppose that may be the end result of what's going on.

The phrase was used I think in "TIME" magazine over the weekend that Iraq is becoming a showcase for terrorism. It has become a magnet for terrorists from all over the world. That seems undeniable at this point. But that, again, does not necessarily mean that it's coordinated, and we need to make the distinction between freelancers -- if you want to put it that way -- turning up and carrying out attacks in Iraq and the idea that it is all together in one, big plan.

COSTELLO: Well...

CLINCH: It may very well be, but we need to look closely at every single attack, every single incident, and see what we know and what we don't know.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll look forward to Christiane Amanpour's report. Thank you, David. CLINCH: OK.

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 September 1, 2003 - 06:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Two years after the September 11 attack, Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist in the world, is still a free man, and reportedly he is plotting another attack.
"Newsweek" magazine, reporting a high-ranking Taliban source, says bin Laden's priority now is to use biological weapons. The source says bin Laden's al Qaeda network already has the weapons. It's just a matter of figuring out how to launch an attack.

We also have reports the Taliban is regrouping in Afghanistan and putting up some stiffer resistance.

Let's talk more about that and more with our senior international editor, David Clinch.

Good morning -- David.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol, good morning.

I said we would come back when we were here earlier and talk a little bit more about the question of whether these attacks in Iraq -- and, of course, what's going on in Afghanistan where U.S. troops are fighting and some dying, too, over the weekend in fighting with a reconstituted Taliban -- how organized are these attacks in Iraq? Are they in any way related to al Qaeda? And is al Qaeda in any way related to what's going on in Afghanistan?

It's very easy, I think, to just sort of join all of those dots and say Osama bin Laden sitting in a cave maybe with Saddam Hussein...

COSTELLO: Along with -- yes, I was just going to say.

CLINCH: ... is doing it all. It's probably obviously not that simple.

But the fact is that these attacks in Iraq do have the appearance of being coordinated. They are hitting at the softest targets, the targets that will hurt the United States most. They're hitting at targets that are the hardest to protect. And they're hitting targets which -- you know, we just had Saddam Hussein somewhat absurdly saying I would never attack Shiites, the same man, of course, who did away with tens of thousands of Shiites by the sight of the mass graves that have been found in Iraq.

We have the absurdity, if you want to put it that way, of the FBI being involved in the investigation of this attack in Najaf. It's hard to sort of keep up with who is investigating who.

COSTELLO: And Rym Brahimi just mentioned that a couple of suspects are from Pakistan. And, of course, that's where everyone...

CLINCH: Right, absolutely.

COSTELLO: ... believes Osama bin Laden is.

CLINCH: Right. And then, you're getting reports from Afghanistan of Iraqis being stopped going from Pakistan into Afghanistan recently. It's hard to keep up.

What is very important for us in reporting these stories is to only report what we know, and also obviously to go to our experts. We have these people in Iraq who know what they're talking about. We're in Najaf. We're not just standing back in Baghdad. We've gone to Najaf to talk to the people there to see what they have to say.

We also have Christiane Amanpour, for instance, who just spent a week -- or more than a week in Afghanistan, doing some reporting for us there. She will actually be live from London within the next few hours for AMERICAN MORNING talking about what she saw when she was there.

It's very important that we let the people who really know what they're talking about and who really understand this story lay it out for us, because, again, it's all too simple to say it's all coordinated, it's all connected, everybody in al Qaeda is talking to everybody in Iraq.

COSTELLO: But in a way, it's a shame we can't say that, because one enemy would (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a known enemy...

CLINCH: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: ... it would be so much easier to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CLINCH: Absolutely. And in some ways, I suppose that may be the end result of what's going on.

The phrase was used I think in "TIME" magazine over the weekend that Iraq is becoming a showcase for terrorism. It has become a magnet for terrorists from all over the world. That seems undeniable at this point. But that, again, does not necessarily mean that it's coordinated, and we need to make the distinction between freelancers -- if you want to put it that way -- turning up and carrying out attacks in Iraq and the idea that it is all together in one, big plan.

COSTELLO: Well...

CLINCH: It may very well be, but we need to look closely at every single attack, every single incident, and see what we know and what we don't know.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll look forward to Christiane Amanpour's report. Thank you, David. CLINCH: OK.

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