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CNN Live Saturday
Pearl's Killing Prompts U.S. to Change Policy on Kidnappings
Aired February 23, 2002 - 18:01 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Pearl's kidnapping is the latest to command our attention and our coverage here at CNN. It also appears to have been the catalyst for a major U.S. policy change on handling international kidnappings. Let's go to CNN White House correspondent Major Garrett for the very latest on this.
Hello, Major.
MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Catherine.
Even before Daniel Pearl's death was confirmed, Bush administration had concluded that as it wages its war on terrorism globally, the chances that U.S. citizens, be they officials of the U.S. government or private citizens themselves, would become more often than not targets of terrorist groups in the form of kidnappings. And so the administration redescribed its policy on how to deal with kidnappings, saying that for the first time U.S. government officials and U.S. private citizens will get the same treatment. The full force of the United States government will be put to their eventual rescue, if at all possible, meaning law enforcement, military and diplomatic engines of the U.S. government will be put in motion to win the release of any U.S. citizen kidnapped in the overall war on terrorism.
Richard Boucher, the State Department spokesman, outlined the importance and significance of this policy shift at the briefing at the State Department yesterday.
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RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The circumstances in which Mr. Pearl found himself and his subsequent death make absolutely clear why this new policy, why the policy of the United States has to be to look in every hostage taking situation, to deal seriously with every hostage situation, and mobilize every appropriate means to resolve these situations, and to make sure there's no benefit of taking of hostages so that there's no encouragement to others to take hostages in the future.
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GARRETT: Now, Catherine, it's worth pointing out it wasn't that the U.S. government was indifferent previously to the kidnapping of private U.S. citizens, it just did not always put all of the apparatus of the federal government in motion to win their release. That's now the official U.S. policy. And you can see it beginning to take shape in places around the world, such as the Philippines, where U.S. Special Forces troops arrived this week in part to deal with the Abu Sayyaf militant group there, possibly linked to the al Qaeda terrorist network globally, but also in the Philippines where two U.S. citizens have been held hostage for a good many months, part of the U.S. effort there is to win their eventual release.
CALLAWAY: You were talking about these cells overseas, but there has to be concerns about possible al Qaeda sleeper cells here in the U.S.
GARRETT: That's right, Catherine, and today on the CNN program "NOVAK, HUNT AND SHIELDS," Bob Graham, who is a Senate Democrat from Florida, he also happens to be the chairman of the Select Senate Committee on Intelligence, gave about the most specific accounting of al Qaeda terrorist cells here within the United States. The CIA Director George Tenet and the president of the United State have spoken more broadly about al Qaeda sleeper cells being here in the United States. Senator Graham was much more specific. Here's what he said.
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SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: The estimate is that there are 100 or more al Qaeda operatives inside the United States, some who have been here for a considerable period of time, all of whom went through a training process to prepare them to carry out terrorist plots when they were called upon to do so. That probably is the most immediate threat of a terrorist attack against the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GARRETT: It's a threat that U.S. government officials are all too acutely aware of, Catherine. As the president says when he goes out on the stump quite often. Every day he comes to the White House, first thing he does is sit at his desk at the Oval Office and reads a threat assessment, a daily accounting of potential attacks against the United States. Clearly, the al Qaeda and these cells are on that list -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: What a way to start your day, right, Major?
GARRETT: Absolutely.
CALLAWAY: All right, Major Garrett at the White House. Thanks, Major.
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