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U.S. Officials: Intelligence About Possible Attack Around Holidays as Good as it Gets
Aired February 26, 2004 - 14:39 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: Awesome intel. That's how Homeland Security officials rate the information leading to some flight cancellations last December. But other experts aren't so sure. As part of our week-long series CNN's Kelli Arena looks at the hard part of intelligence gathering evaluating it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. officials said the intelligence about a possible attack which led to a series of flight cancellations around the Christmas and New Year's holiday was as good as it gets.
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It was clearly, since we've had the advisory system, probably the most significant convergence of multiple reporting streams about potential attacks, simultaneous attacks against the country.
ARENA: Ridge has said that he believes a terrorist attack was this thwarted while the country was on Orange alert, but won't offer specifics about the government's reporting streams.
There is some evidence increased security does make a difference.
LARRY MEFFORD, FRM. FBI COUNTERTERRORISM CHIEF: I am aware of situations specifically in the world, historically, that they have been deterred. They've either slowed down the pace of their planning and they've waited, or they've actually been deterred and they've switched to another target.
ARENA: For example, individuals involved in the bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul told interrogators they originally planned to hit the U.S. consulate but did not because security was too extreme.
Still, lacking concrete proof an attack was avoided over the holidays, officials are not ruling out other possibilities and are currently working on what is known as an after-action review.
ROGER CRESSEY, FRM. WHITE HOUSE COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: A hallmark of al Qaeda's planning is conducting reconnaissance. So one form of reconnaissance could be passing disinformation to see how the United States and its allies respond to it, and then adjust their plan accordingly.
ARENA: An article published on a Web site used before by a suspected al Qaeda operative made that very argument to supporters.
PAUL EEDLE, TERRORISM EXPERT: He assured supporters that we are fighting a war of nerves against our enemies. We want to get them to disburse their forces and in futile operations. And that al Qaeda will never flag its operations in advance.
ARENA: Still, U.S. officials say the intelligence that came in before the holiday was a step above anonymous chatter. They say it was corroborated by a variety of means, and that there were credible human sources involved.
MEFFORD: If it's credible information, if it's from multiple sources and it's vetted appropriately, I don't think they have an option, because the ramifications of today's terrorist acts are much, much different than what we saw ten years ago, for instance.
ARENA: Former and current counterterrorism officials say the quality, quantity and analysis of intelligence information has improved over the past two years.
(on camera): But with improvement comes difficulty. Officials say they are collecting so much information that it's sometimes impossible to make sense of it all.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Holidays as Good as it Gets>
Aired February 26, 2004 - 14:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Awesome intel. That's how Homeland Security officials rate the information leading to some flight cancellations last December. But other experts aren't so sure. As part of our week-long series CNN's Kelli Arena looks at the hard part of intelligence gathering evaluating it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. officials said the intelligence about a possible attack which led to a series of flight cancellations around the Christmas and New Year's holiday was as good as it gets.
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It was clearly, since we've had the advisory system, probably the most significant convergence of multiple reporting streams about potential attacks, simultaneous attacks against the country.
ARENA: Ridge has said that he believes a terrorist attack was this thwarted while the country was on Orange alert, but won't offer specifics about the government's reporting streams.
There is some evidence increased security does make a difference.
LARRY MEFFORD, FRM. FBI COUNTERTERRORISM CHIEF: I am aware of situations specifically in the world, historically, that they have been deterred. They've either slowed down the pace of their planning and they've waited, or they've actually been deterred and they've switched to another target.
ARENA: For example, individuals involved in the bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul told interrogators they originally planned to hit the U.S. consulate but did not because security was too extreme.
Still, lacking concrete proof an attack was avoided over the holidays, officials are not ruling out other possibilities and are currently working on what is known as an after-action review.
ROGER CRESSEY, FRM. WHITE HOUSE COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: A hallmark of al Qaeda's planning is conducting reconnaissance. So one form of reconnaissance could be passing disinformation to see how the United States and its allies respond to it, and then adjust their plan accordingly.
ARENA: An article published on a Web site used before by a suspected al Qaeda operative made that very argument to supporters.
PAUL EEDLE, TERRORISM EXPERT: He assured supporters that we are fighting a war of nerves against our enemies. We want to get them to disburse their forces and in futile operations. And that al Qaeda will never flag its operations in advance.
ARENA: Still, U.S. officials say the intelligence that came in before the holiday was a step above anonymous chatter. They say it was corroborated by a variety of means, and that there were credible human sources involved.
MEFFORD: If it's credible information, if it's from multiple sources and it's vetted appropriately, I don't think they have an option, because the ramifications of today's terrorist acts are much, much different than what we saw ten years ago, for instance.
ARENA: Former and current counterterrorism officials say the quality, quantity and analysis of intelligence information has improved over the past two years.
(on camera): But with improvement comes difficulty. Officials say they are collecting so much information that it's sometimes impossible to make sense of it all.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Holidays as Good as it Gets>
