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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Jim Walsh
Aired November 23, 2002 - 18:05 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Word from the White House on the Saudi money trail investigation: Don't rush to judgment. White House officials say the government of Saudi Arabia is cooperating with federal investigators.
So, could the probe strain the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia? Has it already? And what does it mean for the war on terrorism? Jim Walsh is an expert on international security. He joins us from Boston, Massachusetts. Jim, thanks for being with us again.
JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT: I'm happy to be with one of the sexiest newsmen in all of America.
COOPER: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Beyond that, how significant is this? I mean, this could really have a major impact on U.S./Saudi relations if it goes farther than it has so far.
WALSH: Well, Anderson, I think that depends on the outcome of the investigation. If it does turn out that there is some link here, and I'm not pre-supposing there is, that would be big news. That would be as one official termed it, explosive, but I'm skeptical about that.
It's certainly possible that the Saudi government gave a grant to some students, and then those students end up helping someone else, and there is no direct tie here.
But I think it's useful that Congress ask this question and that the FBI and CIA investigated what happened.
COOPER: In your mind, what are the things we need to know that we do not currently know?
WALSH: Well, I think the administration made an interesting point, and it's probably true, that the Saudi government probably often provides support to students, so naturally there is a set of questions here: One, how many students are there in the U.S. from Saudi Arabia and what percentage of them get help from the Saudi government? Is it a little, is it a lot? And of those who get help, do they fall into a certain pattern, and do these gentlemen fall into that pattern? It seems to me that these are eminently answerable questions.
COOPER: Also, I mean, what remains to be seen is whether or not whatever money was received by these two people in San Diego, whether that money -- and we still do not know at that point whether or not this money was actually given to the two hijackers.
WALSH: Absolutely. And let's even presume for a moment that it was given to hijackers. That doesn't mean that there is somehow Saudi government's fingerprints all over this. It could be just people who the government supported, students, end up helping other people, and the government has no direct tie. On the other end, I think we have to, you know, look hard at this. Why, you know, most of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia has supported terrorism in the past. There is a strong Islamist constituency in Saudi Arabia, so it seems to me that we don't have to presume guilt here, but we should be asking this question, and it shows the value of having a congressional inquiry, because at the end of the day, the administration understandably doesn't want to ruffle feathers with Saudi Arabia, and so one of the good things about having an investigation in the first place is that you have Congress who'll go ahead and ask those indelicate questions.
COOPER: The question, though, is did the U.S. drop the ball on this? Did they not investigate this enough? I mean, as "Newsweek" is pointing out, you know, both of these men who are now disappeared into Saudi Arabia, one of them was in time in U.S. custody; the other was in custody in Britain for a time on various visa violations, but they were known to have -- said things praising the attacks on 9/11. They threw a party -- one of them threw a party, a welcome party to San Diego for the hijackers. They helped them get an apartment, a place to stay. Do you think the U.S. dropped the ball?
WALSH: I think, you know, hard to say. I think one of the things that we're hearing now is that Saudi Arabia is being cooperative and the princess is going to come forward and do whatever the FBI needs. And I believe that to be true.
Certainly one of the things we'd want to do is there's going to be cooperation is talk to those gentlemen again, have another conversation, so the Saudi Arabians can certainly be helpful in that regard.
COOPER: Why do you believe Saudi Arabia was going to be cooperative? I mean, in the past, many investigators on the Khobar Towers incident and in many different instances have criticized the Saudis' level of cooperation.
WALSH: Anderson, you're absolutely right, and that's why I'm glad Congress is asking these questions. I'm presuming they're going to be cooperative, because they've said that they were going to be cooperative, and what I'm laying out here is one test of being cooperative, one test. If you say you're going to be cooperative is to make these men available for further questioning, and then making other records available and whatever.
I'm hoping and assume that the Saudi government will do that.
But it raises two broader issues here. One is the nature of the investigation. Should we have acted earlier? Should have we -- would have we let these guys go had we known other stuff later on, and I think part of that goes to the fact that we haven't had an investigation. We waited nine full months before Congress started looking into this. You know, after World War II and Pearl Harbor, an investigation began almost immediately. It seems to me that it's in all Americans' interest fro Congress to look at what happened, what went wrong and try to figure out what went wrong so that we can fix it, and part of that is asking these tough questions about the Saudi connection.
COOPER: All right. Jim Walsh, it's always good to talk to you. Thanks a lot for your perspective. I appreciate it.
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 November 23, 2002 - 18:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Word from the White House on the Saudi money trail investigation: Don't rush to judgment. White House officials say the government of Saudi Arabia is cooperating with federal investigators.
So, could the probe strain the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia? Has it already? And what does it mean for the war on terrorism? Jim Walsh is an expert on international security. He joins us from Boston, Massachusetts. Jim, thanks for being with us again.
JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT: I'm happy to be with one of the sexiest newsmen in all of America.
COOPER: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Beyond that, how significant is this? I mean, this could really have a major impact on U.S./Saudi relations if it goes farther than it has so far.
WALSH: Well, Anderson, I think that depends on the outcome of the investigation. If it does turn out that there is some link here, and I'm not pre-supposing there is, that would be big news. That would be as one official termed it, explosive, but I'm skeptical about that.
It's certainly possible that the Saudi government gave a grant to some students, and then those students end up helping someone else, and there is no direct tie here.
But I think it's useful that Congress ask this question and that the FBI and CIA investigated what happened.
COOPER: In your mind, what are the things we need to know that we do not currently know?
WALSH: Well, I think the administration made an interesting point, and it's probably true, that the Saudi government probably often provides support to students, so naturally there is a set of questions here: One, how many students are there in the U.S. from Saudi Arabia and what percentage of them get help from the Saudi government? Is it a little, is it a lot? And of those who get help, do they fall into a certain pattern, and do these gentlemen fall into that pattern? It seems to me that these are eminently answerable questions.
COOPER: Also, I mean, what remains to be seen is whether or not whatever money was received by these two people in San Diego, whether that money -- and we still do not know at that point whether or not this money was actually given to the two hijackers.
WALSH: Absolutely. And let's even presume for a moment that it was given to hijackers. That doesn't mean that there is somehow Saudi government's fingerprints all over this. It could be just people who the government supported, students, end up helping other people, and the government has no direct tie. On the other end, I think we have to, you know, look hard at this. Why, you know, most of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia has supported terrorism in the past. There is a strong Islamist constituency in Saudi Arabia, so it seems to me that we don't have to presume guilt here, but we should be asking this question, and it shows the value of having a congressional inquiry, because at the end of the day, the administration understandably doesn't want to ruffle feathers with Saudi Arabia, and so one of the good things about having an investigation in the first place is that you have Congress who'll go ahead and ask those indelicate questions.
COOPER: The question, though, is did the U.S. drop the ball on this? Did they not investigate this enough? I mean, as "Newsweek" is pointing out, you know, both of these men who are now disappeared into Saudi Arabia, one of them was in time in U.S. custody; the other was in custody in Britain for a time on various visa violations, but they were known to have -- said things praising the attacks on 9/11. They threw a party -- one of them threw a party, a welcome party to San Diego for the hijackers. They helped them get an apartment, a place to stay. Do you think the U.S. dropped the ball?
WALSH: I think, you know, hard to say. I think one of the things that we're hearing now is that Saudi Arabia is being cooperative and the princess is going to come forward and do whatever the FBI needs. And I believe that to be true.
Certainly one of the things we'd want to do is there's going to be cooperation is talk to those gentlemen again, have another conversation, so the Saudi Arabians can certainly be helpful in that regard.
COOPER: Why do you believe Saudi Arabia was going to be cooperative? I mean, in the past, many investigators on the Khobar Towers incident and in many different instances have criticized the Saudis' level of cooperation.
WALSH: Anderson, you're absolutely right, and that's why I'm glad Congress is asking these questions. I'm presuming they're going to be cooperative, because they've said that they were going to be cooperative, and what I'm laying out here is one test of being cooperative, one test. If you say you're going to be cooperative is to make these men available for further questioning, and then making other records available and whatever.
I'm hoping and assume that the Saudi government will do that.
But it raises two broader issues here. One is the nature of the investigation. Should we have acted earlier? Should have we -- would have we let these guys go had we known other stuff later on, and I think part of that goes to the fact that we haven't had an investigation. We waited nine full months before Congress started looking into this. You know, after World War II and Pearl Harbor, an investigation began almost immediately. It seems to me that it's in all Americans' interest fro Congress to look at what happened, what went wrong and try to figure out what went wrong so that we can fix it, and part of that is asking these tough questions about the Saudi connection.
COOPER: All right. Jim Walsh, it's always good to talk to you. Thanks a lot for your perspective. I appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
