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A Pound of Prevention
Aired January 02, 2004 - 13:35 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: Delays at Dulles. British Airways flight 223 from London to Washington Dulles Airport is canceled again today due to security concerns. The same flight also canceled last night for the same reason. Today's cancellation is the latest move to protect international flights from possible terror attacks.
A terror analysts in London says that governments feel they have to act on scraps of information now. Joining me from Washington with his own insights, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, Peter Goelz. Peter, good to see you.
PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MANAGING DIR.: Good seeing you, happy new year.
PHILLIPS: Happy new year. Let's talk about these scraps of information. What exactly does that mean?
GOELZ: I think there's good news and bad news today. The good news is, clearly, intelligence agencies are sharing information. And sharing it quickly.
One of the complaints after 9/11 was that intelligence agencies were holding on to information, not sharing it among themselves, and certainly not sharing it across country borders. I think we've seen in the last week particularly that the agencies are sharing information and that countries are acting on it, up to and including having some flights shadowed by interceptor. So I think that's the good news.
The bad news is al Qaeda and its minions still appear to be obsessed with commercial aviation, and they continue to try to probe the layered security system that we've put in place since 9/11. Thankfully, they haven't been successful. But it's going to be a long, hard fight.
PHILLIPS: Peter, these flight cancellations, these flights being escorted by F-16s, is it a little overboard? You think we're being too careful? Or is this definitely necessary?
GOELZ: I think it's definitely necessary. You have no choice in this situation, where if you have information that indicated that something might be brewing, you've got to share it and you've got to act on it.
I mean, what would it look like if we had another tragic event and bits and pieces of information, as there was in 9/11, were out there and people didn't act on it? The terrorists' greatest ally is the public's, you know, just abhorrence of inconvenience. And we've got to keep our defenses up. And people have to understand that this is a war and it's going to go on for some time.
PHILLIPS: Peter, is this more than just lists of names coming through? I mean what type of threat intelligence? Is it actual chatter government officials are hearing, talks of hijacks, talks of explosives? Does it get that detailed?
GOELZ: Well, no one knows for sure. But I think the level of response, the actual cancellation of flights, the idea that we're going to put on armed guards on other flights, has to indicate that they have a very high confidence that this information was credible.
Every one that I've spoken to on background on this has indicated that this is a serious threat. And I frankly think the governments of the U.K., the United States and even France have acted responsibly.
PHILLIPS: Peter Goelz, former NTSB managing director, always a pleasure to have you. Thank you.
GOELZ: Thanks, Kyra. 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 January 2, 2004 - 13:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Delays at Dulles. British Airways flight 223 from London to Washington Dulles Airport is canceled again today due to security concerns. The same flight also canceled last night for the same reason. Today's cancellation is the latest move to protect international flights from possible terror attacks.
A terror analysts in London says that governments feel they have to act on scraps of information now. Joining me from Washington with his own insights, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, Peter Goelz. Peter, good to see you.
PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MANAGING DIR.: Good seeing you, happy new year.
PHILLIPS: Happy new year. Let's talk about these scraps of information. What exactly does that mean?
GOELZ: I think there's good news and bad news today. The good news is, clearly, intelligence agencies are sharing information. And sharing it quickly.
One of the complaints after 9/11 was that intelligence agencies were holding on to information, not sharing it among themselves, and certainly not sharing it across country borders. I think we've seen in the last week particularly that the agencies are sharing information and that countries are acting on it, up to and including having some flights shadowed by interceptor. So I think that's the good news.
The bad news is al Qaeda and its minions still appear to be obsessed with commercial aviation, and they continue to try to probe the layered security system that we've put in place since 9/11. Thankfully, they haven't been successful. But it's going to be a long, hard fight.
PHILLIPS: Peter, these flight cancellations, these flights being escorted by F-16s, is it a little overboard? You think we're being too careful? Or is this definitely necessary?
GOELZ: I think it's definitely necessary. You have no choice in this situation, where if you have information that indicated that something might be brewing, you've got to share it and you've got to act on it.
I mean, what would it look like if we had another tragic event and bits and pieces of information, as there was in 9/11, were out there and people didn't act on it? The terrorists' greatest ally is the public's, you know, just abhorrence of inconvenience. And we've got to keep our defenses up. And people have to understand that this is a war and it's going to go on for some time.
PHILLIPS: Peter, is this more than just lists of names coming through? I mean what type of threat intelligence? Is it actual chatter government officials are hearing, talks of hijacks, talks of explosives? Does it get that detailed?
GOELZ: Well, no one knows for sure. But I think the level of response, the actual cancellation of flights, the idea that we're going to put on armed guards on other flights, has to indicate that they have a very high confidence that this information was credible.
Every one that I've spoken to on background on this has indicated that this is a serious threat. And I frankly think the governments of the U.K., the United States and even France have acted responsibly.
PHILLIPS: Peter Goelz, former NTSB managing director, always a pleasure to have you. Thank you.
GOELZ: Thanks, Kyra. 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
