Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

U.N. Blast Confirms Fears Enemy is Morphing

Aired August 20, 2003 - 13:04   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: We emphasize again United States officials say they don't know who is behind the attack. It could have been members of the ousted regime, it could have been terrorists, or a combination of both. But as CNN's Barbara Starr reports, the blast confirms fears that the enemy is morphing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the type of attack the U.S. military had already been fearing for days. The bombing of the United Nations compound increasing worries the war has shifted yet again, and the U.S. is battling organized terrorists who are unveiling a wave of attacks against soft targets, facilities not heavily protected.

No one knows who is responsible for this attack, but there is growing evidence that post-war Iraq has become a magnet for terrorists.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Al Qaeda is in Iraq, and we're talking about something that's a pretty recent phenomenon. We're talking about people coming over from Saudi Arabia, over the Syrian-Iraqi border into Iraq.

STARR: U.S. officials say an unknown number of foreign fighters continue to cross into Iraq. In early June, U.S. troops attacked a suspected terrorist camp, killing a number of non-Iraqi fighters. On August 7, a bombing at the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad, more than a dozen killed.

A top suspect? Ansar al Islam, a radical group with ties to al Qaeda. That group has increased its operations in Iraq, say U.S. officials. Some Shia clerics now calling for resistance against the coalition. If Shia forces join with the opposition, a new resistance challenge.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: There are people inside of Iraq who really don't want the U.S. there -- there are former members of Saddam's regime, there are Islamic fundamentalists, there are Sunni Arab tribesmen -- all of whom don't want the Americans there, all of whom are taking shots at the Americans and all of whom might make common cause with al Qaeda.

STARR: And this week, aggressive new sabotage attacks against water supplies and oil pipelines, another element in what U.S. officials believe is a campaign to turn the Iraqis against the coalition. (END VIDEOTAPE)

Now, in the hours since the attack happened at the U.N. compound, suspicions have been growing that Ansar al Islam might be involved. There are a couple reasons for that. It's the sophistication of the attack, and there were intelligence reports that they might be planning a major attack against some target in Iraq.

But officials still say they are not sure. They don't know who is really behind it, and they do remind people that they did also have intelligence that members of Saddam Hussein's former intelligence services were also very sophisticated in their explosives capabilities -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Barbara, I have to ask you this, too: Could this mean that more troops will be headed to Iraq?

STARR: You know, that's a question that the administration just has not answered publicly in the last 24 hours or so since this attack. There are no indications that they are. Prior to the attack, the Bush administration had a very firm policy that even as the security situation was difficult in Iraq, more troops on the ground would not solve the problem; that there was no way they could put enough forces in to protect every building, every mile of pipeline, every key infrastructure facility.

So, they, at least at this point, appear to be sticking with their policy. They will do what they can on security, but the real goal is to try and turn as much of that over to the Iraqi forces, to the Iraqi people, and hope they can discourage attacks that way -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon, thank you.

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 August 20, 2003 - 13:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We emphasize again United States officials say they don't know who is behind the attack. It could have been members of the ousted regime, it could have been terrorists, or a combination of both. But as CNN's Barbara Starr reports, the blast confirms fears that the enemy is morphing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the type of attack the U.S. military had already been fearing for days. The bombing of the United Nations compound increasing worries the war has shifted yet again, and the U.S. is battling organized terrorists who are unveiling a wave of attacks against soft targets, facilities not heavily protected.

No one knows who is responsible for this attack, but there is growing evidence that post-war Iraq has become a magnet for terrorists.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Al Qaeda is in Iraq, and we're talking about something that's a pretty recent phenomenon. We're talking about people coming over from Saudi Arabia, over the Syrian-Iraqi border into Iraq.

STARR: U.S. officials say an unknown number of foreign fighters continue to cross into Iraq. In early June, U.S. troops attacked a suspected terrorist camp, killing a number of non-Iraqi fighters. On August 7, a bombing at the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad, more than a dozen killed.

A top suspect? Ansar al Islam, a radical group with ties to al Qaeda. That group has increased its operations in Iraq, say U.S. officials. Some Shia clerics now calling for resistance against the coalition. If Shia forces join with the opposition, a new resistance challenge.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: There are people inside of Iraq who really don't want the U.S. there -- there are former members of Saddam's regime, there are Islamic fundamentalists, there are Sunni Arab tribesmen -- all of whom don't want the Americans there, all of whom are taking shots at the Americans and all of whom might make common cause with al Qaeda.

STARR: And this week, aggressive new sabotage attacks against water supplies and oil pipelines, another element in what U.S. officials believe is a campaign to turn the Iraqis against the coalition. (END VIDEOTAPE)

Now, in the hours since the attack happened at the U.N. compound, suspicions have been growing that Ansar al Islam might be involved. There are a couple reasons for that. It's the sophistication of the attack, and there were intelligence reports that they might be planning a major attack against some target in Iraq.

But officials still say they are not sure. They don't know who is really behind it, and they do remind people that they did also have intelligence that members of Saddam Hussein's former intelligence services were also very sophisticated in their explosives capabilities -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Barbara, I have to ask you this, too: Could this mean that more troops will be headed to Iraq?

STARR: You know, that's a question that the administration just has not answered publicly in the last 24 hours or so since this attack. There are no indications that they are. Prior to the attack, the Bush administration had a very firm policy that even as the security situation was difficult in Iraq, more troops on the ground would not solve the problem; that there was no way they could put enough forces in to protect every building, every mile of pipeline, every key infrastructure facility.

So, they, at least at this point, appear to be sticking with their policy. They will do what they can on security, but the real goal is to try and turn as much of that over to the Iraqi forces, to the Iraqi people, and hope they can discourage attacks that way -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.