Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Interview With Jim Walsh
Aired July 14, 2003 - 14:47 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: A prominent Democrat weighs in on the al Qaeda threat. Senator Bob Graham was a guest on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" and talked about terrorism in Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Had we pursued the war on terror we could have eliminated al Qaeda, eliminated its capability. What, in fact, we allowed it to do is regroup, reconstitute and kill seven Americans...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Senator Graham is one of the Democrats running for president in next year's election.
Well Graham's assertion is one being echoed by various lawmakers and critics of the Bush administration. So is al Qaeda being allowed to regroup and train so it can target Americans at home and abroad? For some analysis we're joined by Jim Walsh. He's with the Bellford (ph) Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. Jim, always great to see you.
JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Good to see you, Kyra. Happy Bastille Day.
PHILLIPS: Hey, Happy Bastille Day to you. All right.
Well, question for you: this group -- actually we didn't mention it in the copy, but the Armed Islamic Movement of al Qaeda Organization, the Al Fallujah branch. Have you ever heard of this? What do you think?
WALSH: The simple answer is no. And I agree on the advice given earlier, that we should take this with a grain of salt. It doesn't mean it's not true, but I think we should be skeptical until we get more evidence.
Why? There is some inconsistencies with this audiotape and others audiotapes that we've heard. The way the date is presented, the reference to Mullah Omar directly as opposed to the title he's usually referred by.
So I think there are reasons to doubt this tape. We'll just have to wait and see. Anyone can cut an audiotape and drop it off at a TV station, so I think that's the reason for the skepticism. PHILLIPS: Banditry or growing organized factions. The more time I guess that passes and you don't have an Iraqi police force all intact or an Iraqi military, it does give enough time for these small factions or maybe sections of banditry to build into more organized groups.
WALSH: Absolutely, Kyra. And I think you've identified a range of different things that could all be true at the same time. There are no doubt remnants of the Ba'ath Party, Saddam loyalists that are there and organized and causing trouble.
Then there are people that have gotten mad because of some particular event has happened. Their door was kicked in or a relative was hurt and shot. And so they're angry. Then you have bandits.
Then there's the allegation that al Qaeda may have some people there. I'm doubtful about that but it may be there foreign nationals from other countries who have come into Iraq and who are either sympathetic with the Iraqis or anti-U.S. and causing trouble.
So there are a lot of candidates here for bad characters who could be causing trouble.
PHILLIPS: And, Jim, what about this talk about al Qaeda up and running in the U.S.?
WALSH: Well, you know, the big headline is coming out of Senator Graham's comment on CNN and elsewhere where the notion there's somewhere between 70 and 120,000 members of al Qaeda, many of whom may be in the U.S.
And I think we have to step become on that figure a little bit. I think much of what the senator says is true about losing focus on Afghanistan and al Qaeda. But that number in particular is talking about for the full 15 years of al Qaeda's existence. And you know, half those folks may be dead or in prison or may have left their particular cause and gone back home. So we shouldn't interpret that number as meaning there are 70,000 al Qaeda members, only that over a period of time they have trained them.
Now some of them may be in the U.S. But that's the nature of al Qaeda. It's an international organization. And I think it's important to keep in mind that most of the attacks have been overseas. The big attacks have been overseas. And so far here at home even though there maybe al Qaeda operatives there have been no attacks here.
So I think we need to keep that figure in perspective.
PHILLIPS: Meanwhile the attacks going on, the soldiers dying overseas. What is going on? It's a lack of resources?
WALSH: Well i think it's a couple of different things. Part of it is the problems you had when have you a bad start. You know if you get the first move wrong, sometimes it's hard to get back in the saddle and make things right. And I think that's what happened here. We didn't start well, didn't provide security right off the bat, and as a result people are fearful and others evildoers, what have you, have seen the opportunity and been acting out.
Obviously even Secretary Rumsfeld is now talking about increasing the number of troops on the ground. He's saying we're going to be there for the foreseeable future. And they continue to try to recruit other nations to participate in peace keeping operations within Iraq.
PHILLIPS: Jim Walsh, Harvard University. Thanks, Jim.
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 July 14, 2003 - 14:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A prominent Democrat weighs in on the al Qaeda threat. Senator Bob Graham was a guest on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" and talked about terrorism in Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Had we pursued the war on terror we could have eliminated al Qaeda, eliminated its capability. What, in fact, we allowed it to do is regroup, reconstitute and kill seven Americans...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Senator Graham is one of the Democrats running for president in next year's election.
Well Graham's assertion is one being echoed by various lawmakers and critics of the Bush administration. So is al Qaeda being allowed to regroup and train so it can target Americans at home and abroad? For some analysis we're joined by Jim Walsh. He's with the Bellford (ph) Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. Jim, always great to see you.
JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Good to see you, Kyra. Happy Bastille Day.
PHILLIPS: Hey, Happy Bastille Day to you. All right.
Well, question for you: this group -- actually we didn't mention it in the copy, but the Armed Islamic Movement of al Qaeda Organization, the Al Fallujah branch. Have you ever heard of this? What do you think?
WALSH: The simple answer is no. And I agree on the advice given earlier, that we should take this with a grain of salt. It doesn't mean it's not true, but I think we should be skeptical until we get more evidence.
Why? There is some inconsistencies with this audiotape and others audiotapes that we've heard. The way the date is presented, the reference to Mullah Omar directly as opposed to the title he's usually referred by.
So I think there are reasons to doubt this tape. We'll just have to wait and see. Anyone can cut an audiotape and drop it off at a TV station, so I think that's the reason for the skepticism. PHILLIPS: Banditry or growing organized factions. The more time I guess that passes and you don't have an Iraqi police force all intact or an Iraqi military, it does give enough time for these small factions or maybe sections of banditry to build into more organized groups.
WALSH: Absolutely, Kyra. And I think you've identified a range of different things that could all be true at the same time. There are no doubt remnants of the Ba'ath Party, Saddam loyalists that are there and organized and causing trouble.
Then there are people that have gotten mad because of some particular event has happened. Their door was kicked in or a relative was hurt and shot. And so they're angry. Then you have bandits.
Then there's the allegation that al Qaeda may have some people there. I'm doubtful about that but it may be there foreign nationals from other countries who have come into Iraq and who are either sympathetic with the Iraqis or anti-U.S. and causing trouble.
So there are a lot of candidates here for bad characters who could be causing trouble.
PHILLIPS: And, Jim, what about this talk about al Qaeda up and running in the U.S.?
WALSH: Well, you know, the big headline is coming out of Senator Graham's comment on CNN and elsewhere where the notion there's somewhere between 70 and 120,000 members of al Qaeda, many of whom may be in the U.S.
And I think we have to step become on that figure a little bit. I think much of what the senator says is true about losing focus on Afghanistan and al Qaeda. But that number in particular is talking about for the full 15 years of al Qaeda's existence. And you know, half those folks may be dead or in prison or may have left their particular cause and gone back home. So we shouldn't interpret that number as meaning there are 70,000 al Qaeda members, only that over a period of time they have trained them.
Now some of them may be in the U.S. But that's the nature of al Qaeda. It's an international organization. And I think it's important to keep in mind that most of the attacks have been overseas. The big attacks have been overseas. And so far here at home even though there maybe al Qaeda operatives there have been no attacks here.
So I think we need to keep that figure in perspective.
PHILLIPS: Meanwhile the attacks going on, the soldiers dying overseas. What is going on? It's a lack of resources?
WALSH: Well i think it's a couple of different things. Part of it is the problems you had when have you a bad start. You know if you get the first move wrong, sometimes it's hard to get back in the saddle and make things right. And I think that's what happened here. We didn't start well, didn't provide security right off the bat, and as a result people are fearful and others evildoers, what have you, have seen the opportunity and been acting out.
Obviously even Secretary Rumsfeld is now talking about increasing the number of troops on the ground. He's saying we're going to be there for the foreseeable future. And they continue to try to recruit other nations to participate in peace keeping operations within Iraq.
PHILLIPS: Jim Walsh, Harvard University. Thanks, Jim.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
