Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Jim Walsh
Aired December 07, 2002 - 15:50 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Federal investigators are combing through the records of a high-tech computer company in Quincy, Massachusetts. They are looking for ties to a suspected al Qaeda money man. The big question here, the big concern here, is that the company, PTech, supplies software to a multitude of government agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. military.
Harvard University's international security expert Jim Walsh is in Boston, joins us today to talk about this. Hi, Jim.
JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, let's take a look at the connection between PTech and these government agencies. NATO, FBI, Air Force, FAA. You look at this connection, and then you hear the word "terrorism," connection to al Qaeda possibly. And even though there's no charges, no arrests that have been made, how concerned should we be about this?
WALSH: Well, I would say that we should be cautious about interpreting this story. This story is still in the early phases. And the reason is, is we don't have any charges. As you rightly point out, there is no indictment, there are no charges. And this was an investigation that really had its roots back in October of 2001, just after 9/11. So it's been a long time building. There still aren't any charges, so I think we should be cautious.
And there really are two different issues. One is, is there software security issue. Have U.S. information or secrets been compromised? And the early indications are from government officials that that has not been the case. So the second question is, is this a firm that is somehow involved in financial transactions that somehow benefit al Qaeda? And that's what I think investigators are focusing on today.
PHILLIPS: So let's explain what PTech does, because I really don't think we've gone into it in depth. What PTech does for these companies and if, indeed, there is a link with al Qaeda, then what is the concern here?
WALSH: Well, it's a good question. They build software. In particular, they design software that helps organizations, large organizations, just not the federal government, but private industry, like a Metlife or Weyerhauser, lets large organizations model their own business, map their organizations, so that when they make a new change, they want to go into a different direction, or adopt a new business strategy, then they're able to see how that will work throughout the organization. So it's sort of a meta-level piece of software that helps managers do a better job.
And if you're a big organization like the U.S. Air Force, or like the FBI, or like Weyerhauser, then that's what you need if you're going to make changes and be able to adjust your strategy. So that's what they do.
Now, the concern here, again, is twofold. One, is that there's a software issue. This is a sort of software that checks internal databases, and the question is, has this software gone into a government database, pulled out information and then somehow stored it and given it to the owners, and therefore, to al Qaeda? Again, less likely.
Ari Fleischer, Governor Ridge in homeland security seemed to downplay those concerns.
The second issue, is the financial transaction issue. Is there money laundering? Is there other sorts of shenanigans going on that would allow money coming into that corporation to eventually find its way into the hands of al Qaeda? That's what people are concerned about.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about that. You mentioned the money issue and funneling. Here comes the alleged connection with Yassin Al-Qadi, the Saudi businessman that's on the U.S. watch list. OK. And then you have employees and management that are from the Middle East. An employee made this comment. Let's listen to this for a moment and then let's get back to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNSON, PTECH EMPLOYEE: We are just a software company. I mean, you know, it's like any other kind of company. You know, we started out with, as I said, we started eight and a half, nine years ago. You know, there are a lot of people here who have families that are still in the Mideast, and like any small companies, they got family donations to get started with that. And I'm sure that, you know, when you have money coming in from the Mideast, it starts to get looked at today, you know, it invites this kind of scrutiny, and, you know, I think that that's kind of -- it's going to be sort of normal to expect this kind of scrutiny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Is that normal? And let's talk about these connections, and how significant you think they are.
WALSH: Well, I wouldn't call it normal, but I do think we have to be cautious here. Again, there are two things. One is, is there a legal -- has there been a violation of the law? The U.S. has a watch list. It says you're not supposed to do business with this list of people. And that list is people who the government believes has ties to al Qaeda.
Now, the gentleman, the Saudi financier, allegedly has invested heavily in that company. And if that's the case and the corporate officers knew that was the case, that would be a violation of federal law. So that's one thing.
The second thing, is whether the guy invested in the company or not, whether the company is being used towards some nefarious end. Whether it's being used as a funnel for money -- and that, again, I think we have to be cautious.
Now, if you have terrorists who are associating with each other, they're going to be connected. But not everyone who knows a terrorist is a terrorist. That's the old guilt by association. It's the thing that we saw a week ago with the Saudi report that the wife of the U.S. ambassador has provided students with money, and those students turned around and provided other people with money.
Not everyone linked to a terrorist is a terrorist. It's a necessary but not a sufficient reason for concluding that a person has terrorist ambitions. So I really caution and urge us to move slowly here. It may be, if this Saudi gentleman has invested in a company, there may be a link, or it may just be another business investment of his.
PHILLIPS: Jim Walsh, we'll be checking in with you again. Thank you so much.
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 7, 2002 - 15:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Federal investigators are combing through the records of a high-tech computer company in Quincy, Massachusetts. They are looking for ties to a suspected al Qaeda money man. The big question here, the big concern here, is that the company, PTech, supplies software to a multitude of government agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. military.
Harvard University's international security expert Jim Walsh is in Boston, joins us today to talk about this. Hi, Jim.
JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, let's take a look at the connection between PTech and these government agencies. NATO, FBI, Air Force, FAA. You look at this connection, and then you hear the word "terrorism," connection to al Qaeda possibly. And even though there's no charges, no arrests that have been made, how concerned should we be about this?
WALSH: Well, I would say that we should be cautious about interpreting this story. This story is still in the early phases. And the reason is, is we don't have any charges. As you rightly point out, there is no indictment, there are no charges. And this was an investigation that really had its roots back in October of 2001, just after 9/11. So it's been a long time building. There still aren't any charges, so I think we should be cautious.
And there really are two different issues. One is, is there software security issue. Have U.S. information or secrets been compromised? And the early indications are from government officials that that has not been the case. So the second question is, is this a firm that is somehow involved in financial transactions that somehow benefit al Qaeda? And that's what I think investigators are focusing on today.
PHILLIPS: So let's explain what PTech does, because I really don't think we've gone into it in depth. What PTech does for these companies and if, indeed, there is a link with al Qaeda, then what is the concern here?
WALSH: Well, it's a good question. They build software. In particular, they design software that helps organizations, large organizations, just not the federal government, but private industry, like a Metlife or Weyerhauser, lets large organizations model their own business, map their organizations, so that when they make a new change, they want to go into a different direction, or adopt a new business strategy, then they're able to see how that will work throughout the organization. So it's sort of a meta-level piece of software that helps managers do a better job.
And if you're a big organization like the U.S. Air Force, or like the FBI, or like Weyerhauser, then that's what you need if you're going to make changes and be able to adjust your strategy. So that's what they do.
Now, the concern here, again, is twofold. One, is that there's a software issue. This is a sort of software that checks internal databases, and the question is, has this software gone into a government database, pulled out information and then somehow stored it and given it to the owners, and therefore, to al Qaeda? Again, less likely.
Ari Fleischer, Governor Ridge in homeland security seemed to downplay those concerns.
The second issue, is the financial transaction issue. Is there money laundering? Is there other sorts of shenanigans going on that would allow money coming into that corporation to eventually find its way into the hands of al Qaeda? That's what people are concerned about.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about that. You mentioned the money issue and funneling. Here comes the alleged connection with Yassin Al-Qadi, the Saudi businessman that's on the U.S. watch list. OK. And then you have employees and management that are from the Middle East. An employee made this comment. Let's listen to this for a moment and then let's get back to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNSON, PTECH EMPLOYEE: We are just a software company. I mean, you know, it's like any other kind of company. You know, we started out with, as I said, we started eight and a half, nine years ago. You know, there are a lot of people here who have families that are still in the Mideast, and like any small companies, they got family donations to get started with that. And I'm sure that, you know, when you have money coming in from the Mideast, it starts to get looked at today, you know, it invites this kind of scrutiny, and, you know, I think that that's kind of -- it's going to be sort of normal to expect this kind of scrutiny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Is that normal? And let's talk about these connections, and how significant you think they are.
WALSH: Well, I wouldn't call it normal, but I do think we have to be cautious here. Again, there are two things. One is, is there a legal -- has there been a violation of the law? The U.S. has a watch list. It says you're not supposed to do business with this list of people. And that list is people who the government believes has ties to al Qaeda.
Now, the gentleman, the Saudi financier, allegedly has invested heavily in that company. And if that's the case and the corporate officers knew that was the case, that would be a violation of federal law. So that's one thing.
The second thing, is whether the guy invested in the company or not, whether the company is being used towards some nefarious end. Whether it's being used as a funnel for money -- and that, again, I think we have to be cautious.
Now, if you have terrorists who are associating with each other, they're going to be connected. But not everyone who knows a terrorist is a terrorist. That's the old guilt by association. It's the thing that we saw a week ago with the Saudi report that the wife of the U.S. ambassador has provided students with money, and those students turned around and provided other people with money.
Not everyone linked to a terrorist is a terrorist. It's a necessary but not a sufficient reason for concluding that a person has terrorist ambitions. So I really caution and urge us to move slowly here. It may be, if this Saudi gentleman has invested in a company, there may be a link, or it may just be another business investment of his.
PHILLIPS: Jim Walsh, we'll be checking in with you again. Thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
