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America's New War: 'L.A. Times' Reporter Gives Perspective on Future of Pakistani Involvement in War on Terrorism

Aired September 18, 2001 - 09:06   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.
PAULA ZAUN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining me right now is Robin Wright of the "Los Angeles Times," who joins us from Washington, D.C. this morning with some insight as to what might happen as a result of these meetings.

Good morning, Robin. Thanks for being with us.

ROBIN WRIGHT, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Good morning.

ZAUN: What do you think the Taliban is going to do?

WRIGHT: Well, I think that there are some very serious deliberations about to take place, and they have to weigh the fate of the nation against -- and the fate of their rule, against a very defiant traditional spirit, a nationalism, strong religious commitment, and, frankly, very practical financial and personal ties with Osama bin Laden and his organization. And I think it's going to be a very tough decision. I suspect they'll try to come out and offer some compromise, which the United States has rejected in the past and is not likely to accept this time around. So this could be a process, though, that drags out over a couple -- two or three days or longer.

ZAUN: And to reinforce that you know what you're talking about we should add that you have traveled extensively through Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We had former Ambassador Murphy on the air this morning, and he was predicting that what the Taliban is going to want is some sort of evidence linking Osama bin Laden to these attacks. Do you think the investigation is far enough long to do that?

WRIGHT: Well, remember, the United States has in the past asked for Osama bin Laden to be turned over, and exactly the same response came from the Taliban, they asked for concrete evidence. And the United States said it had a concrete case and that evidence would be provided in a trial.

I don't think the United States is going to hand over to the Taliban any evidence because, of course, there is a great sensitivity about intelligence and how that information was gathered.

ZAUN: All right, let's talk about your assessment of what kind of leverage the Pakistanis have right now in all of this. Ambassador Murphy also pointing out that not only is Pakistan one of the few countries to recognize the Taliban as the ruling government, it provides an awful lot of money and support to the Taliban?

WRIGHT: Yes. Pakistan really is the critical player on every front in what happens next. One of the great problem, though, is that even within the military there is a strong Islamic component, and growing, which feels very sympathetic toward the Taliban. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) looked Afghanistan and this particular government as a buffer zone, as an ally, and would not like to see the Taliban overthrown. So I think you're going to see some debates within Pakistani society about how far they are -- how far the government should go. Right now it really has no alternative.

The tricky part will be as this unravels and how much leverage the Pakistanis use and how much of a role they allow the United States to play inside Pakistan.

ZAUN: So what would be the first thing the Pakistanis would do to say that they mean business here?

WRIGHT: Well, I think we've already seen an indication that Pakistan will cooperate at least on some level; they've started closing the border, which is a very porous border and difficult to close completely, but that is an important step.

I think the most important step, even more important than the military operation, frankly, is dealing with the financial links, many of, which, in fact, virtually all of which, go one way or another via Pakistan; whether it is money getting physically out or using Pakistani institutions, financial institutions, and even charitable organizations to launder money out of bin Laden's pockets and the pockets of his supporters. And tracking those assets and freezing them is critical in limiting the ability of Osama bin Laden to operate and to not to fund things, whether it's penetration of his agents into foreign societies or paying for flight instruction.

ZAUN: Robin, you made a really interesting point awhile ago when you said there is a strong growing group, Islamic group, within Pakistan that is sympathetic to the Taliban. Christiane Amanpour was reporting that already you have seen some small-scale protests in Pakistan. Where do you expect that debate to go within the country?

WRIGHT: Well, remember, Pakistan has been a fragile society really since its creation in the late 1940s. And it's been particularly fragile lately because two years ago the military toppled a Democratically-elected government, and it has been challenged internally since then in large part and most visibly by Islamic parties. Now these are not all militant groups, but some of them are sympathetic to the Taliban, they do engage in some of the same kind of religious training that produced the Taliban in the 1980s and 1990s. And this is one of the great calculations of what happens to Pakistan down the road and its fate.

I think the fate of Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan is only part of the picture, the fate of Pakistan is also on the line. And I think the Pakistani military government is very aware of what it faces internally and the price it could end up paying if it cooperates completely with the United States, everything that's asked.

ZAUN; You would have to acknowledge there is a great deal of cynicism about Pakistan's involvement in this. You just said a moment ago, you can count on Pakistan for some level of support, at least the United States can. I know Madeleine Albright was a guest yesterday, and she said, you know, you got to wait and see. How cynical -- not cynical, but how skeptical do you think the U.S. administration might be at this point?

WRIGHT: Well, that's a very good question, and I don't work inside the U.S. government, but I suspect there is a great deal of concern about how much the Pakistani government will do and how much division there will be within the government about assisting the United States. I think that's one of the reasons they want to take advantage of the momentum. The difficulty, of course, is that it takes a long time to do these things in a way to guarantee some kind of success, deploying troops, letting the diplomatic process play out, building a coalition, both diplomatically and militarily.

ZAUN: Just in closing, I want to you take a much more short-term view and make an educated guess as to what we may see play out in the next couple of days in terms of the Taliban and its religious leaders continuing to meet today and the Pakistani delegation returning home to its country later today?

WRIGHT: Well, I think that we feel a great deal of pressure that something needs to happen. Just the reverse is true on the other side. These are millennia-old societies that feel no pressure to respond today or tomorrow or even in the next hour. And I don't think we're likely to have anything hugely dramatic, except perhaps some kind of response that says, well, if -- you know, a heavily- conditioned response.

ZAUN: Robin Wright, good to have your educated perspective on the air today. Thank you so much for your time.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

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