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American Morning
Just How Accurate Was the Translation Supplied by U.S. Government?
Aired December 21, 2001 - 08:04 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More about the tape now of Osama bin Laden. Of course, it was released last week, and it has sparked strong reactions around the world. But just how accurate was the translation supplied by the U.S. government? An independent translator, hired by CNN, says some important details were left out.
Martin Savidge joins us now with details from CNN headquarters. And you heard, Marty, what Senator Lieberman had to say about this earlier this morning. He found it hard to believe that this was the case.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is interesting, Paula, and we'll get to that in a moment as to how this could have happened.
First of all, let me explain that this report comes to us from CNN national security correspondent, David Ensor. He had an independent translator and a Saudi dissident review the tape that now all of us have some to see. Why a Saudi dissident? Well, keep in mind that Osama bin Laden, himself, is a former Saudi, and it's possible that someone from his nation would pick up not only on language, but also on cultural inferences, which are very important when you are deciphering what someone says.
The government version of that account basically said that Osama bin Laden named one hijacker, Mohamed Atta. The CNN version finds out, in fact, that he names or infers to a total of nine. Bin Laden names Mohamed Atta, but he also names the brothers, Nawaf al Hazmi and Salam al Hazmi. And later he says that four other hijackers were from the same tribe, the Al Ghambi tribe. He also mentions that two others, both named al Shehri, were involved. Now, you take those additional names, add in Mohamed Atta, and you come up with a total of nine.
One of the criticisms to the U.S. translation in the Arab world immediately afterward was, yes, it might appear that Osama bin Laden is happy, maybe even gloating, but they didn't necessarily see the smoke from the gun, which the U.S. made a lot about. And the reason for that was, they said there isn't necessarily information that Osama couldn't have glommed onto after the fact, but in fact the CNN translation did find some specific information.
A story that Osama bin Laden retold saying that he told his associates before September 11, "When you hear a breaking news announcement on the radio, kneel immediately, and that means they have hit the World Trade Center." In other words, Osama bin Laden used the name of a target before the rest of the world would have known its importance.
And one other thing to point out to you, Paula, is the fact that when the U.S. government, the D.O.D. did this translation, they used four different translators, and those translators made an agreement. Due to the poor quality of the tape, they said, look, it's possible four people could hear some segments and come up with four different translations, and that would play hell with the credibility of the tape. We will say that if we cannot all four agree specifically, it will simply be labeled as "inaudible." That's what they did. In other words, when in doubt, leave it out. It's possible they might have picked up on some of this information -- one, two or three translators -- but if they didn't all agree, they didn't use it -- Paula.
ZAHN: So is that what you think we're to make of all of this, Marty, that this was simply missed, or is it a more sinister thing? Richard Butler, in an interview earlier today, said, you know, that there is a potential conspiracy here. He posed the question: conspiracy or snafu?
SAVIDGE: Well, the question on some of the Saudi information is still questionable as far as what the U.S. wanted to reveal. As far as the other information, the U.S. wanted to be above all criticism. As much as they might have wanted to reveal this additional information, because it does make Osama bin Laden look pretty bad, if they could not all agree, they simply erred on the side of caution. They had to. They knew how much this was political dynamite, and they didn't want it to explode in their own face.
ZAHN: Well, it will be interesting to see, with many Congress members at home, how much steam this story will pick up today. But as you know, Senator Lieberman seemed quite frustrated that there had been a problem in the translation, and he said he found it hard to believe, and he wants to know why this happened.
You haven't heard any chorus of voices like that so far this morning, have you?
SAVIDGE: Not so far, Paula, but it's still likely to build.
ZAHN: All right. Marty Savidge, thanks so much for that update.
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