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American Morning
Richard Butler Speaks on Osama bin Laden's Cash
Aired November 30, 2001 - 07:34 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We have known from the outset of the war that Osama bin Laden contributed money to the Taliban, his Afghan host. Well today, a new report that gives us a much better understanding just how much money, hundreds of millions of dollars he has handed over to Taliban officials.
For more on this, let's go to our very own ambassador in residence, Richard Butler, the chief former U.N. arms inspector in Iraq and now of the Council on Foreign Relations -- welcome.
RICHARD BUTLER, FORMER U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Hi, Paula.
ZAHN: This story this morning is just staggering.
BUTLER: Mind blowing.
ZAHN: We knew he was paying off people,...
BUTLER: Yes, yes, but...
ZAHN: ... but I don't think we fully understood the...
BUTLER: ... the orders...
ZAHN: ... amount of money (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BUTLER: ... of magnitude, right, the orders of magnitude just extraordinary. The deputy interior minister of the former Taliban government has now crossed to the other side, to the Northern Alliance. I guess he hopes to be part of the new arrangements. But what he's brought with him is this staggering information, truck loads of money, hundreds of millions of dollars.
ZAHN: And he told this to -- in an interview to a reporter for the "Washington Post."
BUTLER: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
ZAHN: But what kind of money you talking (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
BUTLER: Osama bin Laden would show up and peel off out of his pocket $50,000, $100,000. And overall, it seems like we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that Osama, the leader of the terrorist group al Qaeda, handed over to the Taliban. So, Paula, I guess what this means is that we're doing the right thing in Afghanistan in going for the Taliban and trying to get rid of the terrorist network. And on the basis that we know they're linked, this money trail shows that they have been absolutely linked.
ZAHN: Now this defector also said it was clear to him after the September 11 attacks...
BUTLER: Right.
ZAHN: ... that Osama bin Laden had something to do with those attacks (AUDIO GAP) he was not forewarned.
BUTLER: Absolutely. This defector says that on the next day, the 12th of September, they sat down and talked about it. They talked about how it had gone, you know, whether it had been successful or not. Clearly -- but we don't know the precise details, but clearly the fact of 11 September was not news to them. They knew that it was going to happen. They talked about it in a postmortem afterwards.
ZAHN: The other thing that's striking about this interview was this defector suggested that he had had problems with Osama bin Laden for many, many years, and it was also inamated (ph) that perhaps he had been giving information to the CIA all along. Now that, of course, is nothing that the CIA would confirm. What did you make of that portion of the article?
BUTLER: Well, I mean I don't honestly know. I mean obviously in this kind of murky network that those people operate, you're going to get a defector, you're going to get someone who is -- who's prepared to leak to the other side for whatever known advantage. We need to know more. It's not clear exactly what was happening. But what is clear is the link between al Qaeda, the Taliban and September 11. We now have that, I think, very clearly established.
ZAHN: Before we let you go this morning, we've talked a lot about the death of George Harrison. You knew George Harrison.
BUTLER: Yes, I met him, yes.
ZAHN: Just some reflections on what he meant to the music world, what he meant culturally.
BUTLER: Well music is very important to me. It's my great personal passion, and I thought he was a genius. I thought the song "Something," for example, "Here Comes the Sun," absolutely wonderful contributions to western culture.
Now let me be political about it. I deeply believe that one of the things that happened when we crossed the Channel in 1944 to defeat Hitler, truly important thing, was that we brought Glenn Miller and the Army-Air Force Band. It changed the world. I also think almost 40 -- you know 45 years later, one of the truly important things was the Beatles and George Harrison. And you know, it's one of the things we're fighting for today, Paula, is cultural expression, great music, freedom and we will miss him. He was a great man. ZAHN: And that is why you are our ambassador in residence, somehow you're able to seamlessly weave us through Iraq and Afghanistan...
BUTLER: Well, you know...
ZAHN: ... and now...
BUTLER: You know I...
ZAHN: ... make a connection...
BUTLER: ... have a son...
ZAHN: ... between politics and the Beatles.
BUTLER: I have a son who's a musician, and I tell him what I do in politics will pass but music will never. It will always be there. So we thank God for George Harrison.
ZAHN: And his music certainly will endure.
Richard Butler, thanks. Have a good weekend.
BUTLER: Thank you.
ZAHN: See you same time, same place Monday morning.
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