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CNN Live At Daybreak

Target: Terrorism: Pakistan's Position Has Brought it to Center State; Speculation Focuses on Next Terrorist Attack

Aired October 01, 2001 - 08:40   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistan's position next to Afghanistan has brought it to center stage. Both Islamic hard-liners and moderates see opportunity in the crisis thrust upon their country.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour is in Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Years of economic neglect and corruption have dragged nearly a third of Pakistan's population below the poverty line, the perfect breeding ground for Islamic extremism, which is now on display at antigovernment, anti-U.S. protests, well orchestrated by the hardline Islamic party leaders.

"Whoever is friends with America is a traitor," yells this crowd.

Just fighting words? Maybe. But nearly half the country is illiterate. One million students are enrolled in religious schools, the proliferate in an inadequate education system.

(on camera): Pakistanis are mad about cricket. In fact, it's probably the only thing all social classes here have in common. And now, the vast silent, moderate majority are hoping that this crisis will help loosen the foothold that has been gained over the years by the hardline minority.

(voice-over): The Saulat family belongs to upper middle class. They are religious, but also progressive and professional. They believe -- believe education is the key to a better future here. Haseeb is a vice president at Pakistan's largest private bank, and Saadia has her own parenting magazine.

SAADIA HASEES, "MOTHERHOOD MAGAZINE": The girls in our society can do anything they want, professionally speaking. They can get into any kind of profession they want to, and we can see women now these days everywhere, in just about every profession.

HASEEB SAULAT, ASKARI COMMERCIAL BANK: The very vast majority in this country, those who have their own point of view, and they are not at all involved into any sort of extremism. They have no desire to create lawlessness in the country.

AMANPOUR: This family takes vacations abroad, and has fond memories of the United States.

SAULAT: We still remember the -- our visit to Manhattan. And this is the place when we were standing on the World Trade Center, on the rooftop, with an excellent view.

AMANPOUR: The Saulats engaging with the world is the best bet for a bright future. Right now, like many Pakistanis, they are just thankful for a crisis that has brought that chance a step closer.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: So where and how might terrorists strike next? The news magazines deal with those issues this week, "Newsweek" asking how scared should you be? And "Time" telling you how to protect yourself from attacks. Both featuring gas masks on the cover. Speculation centers on threats from biochemical materials, nuclear weapons, and car, truck, and backpack bombs.

Joining us to talk a little bit about these issues is Alice Park. She is the senior reporter on the cover story of "Time" magazine this week.

Thanks for being with us, Alice.

ALICE PARK, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: First of all, let's talk about insidious nature of these potential attacks. It's very likely that something like this could happen and none of us would know it, and that raises all kinds of issues, doesn't it?

PARK: That's very true, and in the case of biological attacks, in particular, we are talking about germs here that have incubation periods of up to two weeks. So before symptoms appear, we just won't know.

O'BRIEN: And of course some of these symptoms could be mistaken for other things, such as just the flu, for example, so it is incumbent upon the medical profession to be very attuned to this. It is obviously potentially very disparate, many hospitals perhaps all over country. How well coordinated is it right now?

PARK: Well, I think that's the issues that we're beginning to deal with right now, is the fact that there is a very little coordination. And what's needed as you talked to experts, and the senator pointed out as well, is that we need more regional coordination between hospitals to be able to handle influx of patients that could ham in case of an attack.

O'BRIEN: Now the senator of course is a medical doctor confessed that he has never treated smallpox. Why should he? It has been eradicated. And smallpox supposedly exists only in two places, in the U.S. and Russia, under lock and key, we hope. That raises an issue as to whether medical professionals can really recognize this for what it is in a timely way.

PARK: That's true. And the fact of the matter is, that many medical professionals today cannot recognize anthrax or smallpox, because they simply have not been trained to do so.

O'BRIEN: What about the stockpiles of vaccines and antibiotics that might help treat these kinds of things.

PARK: There is a national pharmaceutical stockpile, which includes vaccines to things like smallpox, but the fact of the matter is that those stores at this point are nowhere near enough to deal with the threat, if it came.

O'BRIEN: And will enough be done, based on the proposals that you have been hearing.

PARK: Well, I think things are starting to be looked at right now. So it's a matter of how quickly can this be brought up to speed, and that's what I think all the legislatures and the health care professionals are focusing on right now.

O'BRIEN: Timeframe, obviously, very critical here.

Now both magazines, yours included, have the gas mask on the cover. Perhaps we should dispel some myths about that before people run out and purchase a gas masks. I mean, I guess to really protect yourself with a gas mask, you would have to wear it around daily life all the time.

PARK: That's right. And I think the point we need to make here is that with a biological a biological or chemical attack, it's less about what the individual can do to protect himself, more about what the community can do. And you know, in that respect, we're talking about things like making sure that health care professionals are trained and educated, and that hospitals are coordinated to deal with an attack if it should happen.

O'BRIEN: So just in a word, you don't think that was a bit misleading to put the gas mask on the cover, or?

PARK: Well, I think people are concerned about it, so our intention there was to educate people and to have them look and learn more about the threat.

O'BRIEN: All right, Alice Park with "Time" magazine, thanks for being with us this morning.

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