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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Thomas Gouttierre
Aired December 15, 2001 - 16:38 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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now with some insights on this hunt for bin Laden, as well as the future for a stable Afghanistan is Thomas Gouttierre. He is dean of the international studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and our resident Afghan expert.
Good morning, or actually good afternoon.
THOMAS GOUTTIERRE, UNIV. OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA: Good afternoon here, too.
LIN: The day is passing quickly for me. All right, listening to Ben Wedeman's report there, it sure sounds like to me that it is over for al Qaeda and bin Laden. What do you make of it?
GOUTTIERRE: It looks like things are coming to near an end game for them. But that's still, we have to remember, the first campaign of this war on terrorism. And there's been more than 10,000, maybe even more than 20,000 individuals who have been trained in those camps and who are now out in as many as 60 different countries. And so, that's a very important issue that remains for us and that will be likely one we'll have to deal with for years to come.
As far as Afghanistan goes, now the very important role of reconstructing Afghanistan, rebuilding that country remains for us and for the Afghans. And I hope we are as forthright in that particular aspect of this war as we have been in the military part.
LIN: All right, we're going to get to that in just a quick moment. But first, let's deal with the stickiness here with the al Qaeda fighters still holed up in Tora Bora. Osama bin Laden still on the loose. Mullah Omar is somewhere out there. How much support is there still for these leaders inside of Afghanistan? And how difficult then does it make it for this transition from a military operation inside Afghanistan to a civilian rebuilding operation?
GOUTTIERRE: Well, I think this, you know, certainly suggests that there are probably going to be pockets that we will watch rise up at various different times. It might be in a position to carry on some type of guerrilla activity in Afghanistan. And that's something I think we need to be mindful of. I think that calls for the, again, presence perhaps of peacekeeping forces in the future, that might be able to have some ability to protect people within the high population areas. I think it also suggests that there will probably be some need for some of our troops to remain, even after and if Osama bin Laden is captured.
LIN: So what should the role of the U.S. military be then in the weeks, months and even years to come in rebuilding this country and securing it?
GOUTTIERRE: Well, I don't know that this is necessarily the role of the U.S. military, but it certainly should be the role of the United States government itself. And particularly, those arms of the U.S. government like U.S.A.I.D, Peace Corps perhaps, even programs like the Fulbright program, where Afghans are going to need training.
We've got to remember that most of the infrastructure of the country, both in terms of human and material, has been destroyed. So with both of these having been destroyed, it's going to be very difficult for any type of government in Afghanistan to be able to deliver the things that Afghans are going to expect from their government.
And therefore, if they're going to be successful, credible, and promote stability, they're going to need this help from us.
LIN: But Tom, isn't the fact of the matter on the ground inside of Afghanistan, that the Afghans do not trust Westerners?
GOUTTIERRE: No, that's not at all the case. And I've heard that a number of times. And I don't know where the devil this comes from. But Afghans are not xenophobic. They are not distrustful of Westerners.
There are some Afghans, of course, who are not very pleased with the way things are going right now, particularly those warlords from the period in the '90s. I think many of them have their own agendas. And they thought, perhaps, that out of Bonn, there would be a chance for them to regain some measure of control.
But indeed, the people of Afghanistan have never been among those who, you know, hate Americans in any way, shape or form. In fact, the United States is one of those countries that the Afghans have always counted on as their friends. And indeed, Afghanistan is one of those pockets within Asia that really feels very warmly about the United States.
We need to make sure that we treat these friends as friends. They are expecting that. They've been allies with us in the Cold War and now also on the war on terrorism.
LIN: All right. Thank you very much, Thomas Gouttierre. Always good to see you. Thanks for joining us on this Saturday afternoon.
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