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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Pentagon: Taliban May Poison Dropped Food

Aired October 25, 2001 - 06:30   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The humanitarian side of this campaign could be used against the United States. The Pentagon believes that the Taliban may try to poison U.S. food drops into Afghanistan.

CNN's Bob Franken checks in now. He is live at the Pentagon. He's got more on this for us now.

Hi -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon.

It seems to be a part of an intensifying propaganda war. Of course, there have been claims and counterclaims for the last several days and weeks, as a matter of fact, about the number of civilian casualties, Taliban making claims, the United States saying that those claims are significantly exaggerated.

Now it is a war of words over the food supplies. The food supplies, of course, so important in Afghanistan, where so large a portion of the population is facing the possibility of starvation and relief organizations have been providing food for some time. The United States, of course, is making its drop of humanitarian daily rations on a daily basis.

At the Pentagon briefing yesterday, the briefer said that there was credible evidence that the Taliban would be poisoning some of the food supplies under their control and saying that the United States did it -- information, he said, which came from credible sources. Others told us later it was multiple intelligence sources. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

REAR ADM. JOHN STUFFLEBEEM, JOINT STAFF DEP. OPS DIRECTOR: We are confident in the information that we have that they may intend to poison one or more types of food sources and blame it on the Americans. We are releasing this information preemptively so that they will know if the food comes from Americans, it will not be tainted.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

FRANKEN: And the Taliban, of course, deny that, saying it would be the Americans poisoning the food -- Leon.

HARRIS: Thanks Bob.

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