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CNN Live At Daybreak

Search for Bin Laden

Aired December 15, 2003 - 05:53   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: Now that Saddam Hussein is in custody, what about the challenge of finding the world's other most wanted man? In Afghanistan, Saddam's capture may give a boost to prospects for President Hamid Karzai's new government. Delegates in Kabul are debating Afghanistan's first post-Taliban constitution.
CNN's Mike Boettcher reports the search for bin Laden, though, is much more difficult than the search for Saddam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It ended at a storage shed down a carefully prepared spider hole. But the hunt for Saddam Hussein had months ago already been narrowed down to a small area around his birthplace of Tikrit. So, too, with the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which has focused on an area known as Southern Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal area.

Will similar tactics yield another success?

KEN ROBINSON, NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: These situations are totally different.

BOETTCHER: Start with the terrain. The area around Tikrit is flat, with some urban areas. But more importantly, it has been under U.S. control since April. The area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is mountainous, sparsely populated, much harder to move around, even by air.

ROBINSON: Well, the issue in Iraq is that we can, we can plan operations and we can be unilateral. We can go anywhere in that country on air or ground. It's not the situation in Afghanistan. And the terrain is totally different.

BOETTCHER: Another important difference, the U.S. can't act alone in hunting bin Laden. It must rely, in large part, on Pakistan and its ability to produce the sort of human intelligence that led to Saddam's capture. Nor will Saddam's capture now mean more resources going into the search for Osama, which is being conducted by the same special operations task force, 121.

ROBINSON: They're going to continue to press forward on the rest of the Baathists that they still have on their list and going after these insurgents. And in Afghanistan, they're going to still continue to press toward finding Osama bin Laden.

BOETTCHER: The bottom line, what worked in Iraq may not help in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

(on camera): Consider this. For all the focus on the hunt for Saddam Hussein, he was only on the run eight months, since the fall of Baghdad. The hunt for Osama bin Laden is now in its third year.

Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And Afghan President Hamid Karzai will be on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING right after DAYBREAK.

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 December 15, 2003 - 05:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now that Saddam Hussein is in custody, what about the challenge of finding the world's other most wanted man? In Afghanistan, Saddam's capture may give a boost to prospects for President Hamid Karzai's new government. Delegates in Kabul are debating Afghanistan's first post-Taliban constitution.
CNN's Mike Boettcher reports the search for bin Laden, though, is much more difficult than the search for Saddam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It ended at a storage shed down a carefully prepared spider hole. But the hunt for Saddam Hussein had months ago already been narrowed down to a small area around his birthplace of Tikrit. So, too, with the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which has focused on an area known as Southern Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal area.

Will similar tactics yield another success?

KEN ROBINSON, NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: These situations are totally different.

BOETTCHER: Start with the terrain. The area around Tikrit is flat, with some urban areas. But more importantly, it has been under U.S. control since April. The area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is mountainous, sparsely populated, much harder to move around, even by air.

ROBINSON: Well, the issue in Iraq is that we can, we can plan operations and we can be unilateral. We can go anywhere in that country on air or ground. It's not the situation in Afghanistan. And the terrain is totally different.

BOETTCHER: Another important difference, the U.S. can't act alone in hunting bin Laden. It must rely, in large part, on Pakistan and its ability to produce the sort of human intelligence that led to Saddam's capture. Nor will Saddam's capture now mean more resources going into the search for Osama, which is being conducted by the same special operations task force, 121.

ROBINSON: They're going to continue to press forward on the rest of the Baathists that they still have on their list and going after these insurgents. And in Afghanistan, they're going to still continue to press toward finding Osama bin Laden.

BOETTCHER: The bottom line, what worked in Iraq may not help in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

(on camera): Consider this. For all the focus on the hunt for Saddam Hussein, he was only on the run eight months, since the fall of Baghdad. The hunt for Osama bin Laden is now in its third year.

Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And Afghan President Hamid Karzai will be on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING right after DAYBREAK.

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