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American Morning

State Department Says Report of American Hostage in Afghanistan Being Taken Very Seriously

Aired January 16, 2002 - 07:36   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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The State Department this morning says the report of an American hostage in Afghanistan is being taken very seriously, but the details remain sketchy. Amanda Bowers says her husband, Clark, told her by satellite phone that he was kidnapped, along with a translator, by a tribal warlord in Kabul, and they're being held for ransom.

For the latest now, we go to Gary Tuchman, who is in Limestone County, Alabama, where the Bowers live -- good morning, Gary. What is the latest?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Anderson.

Amanda Bowers lives in this home behind me here in Limestone County, Alabama, with her husband of 10 years, Clark. But 37-year-old Clark Bowers has not been here very much since September 11. He has made two trips to Afghanistan for what he says are personal humanitarian missions. In the middle of his second trip last week, his wife received a startling phone call. Her husband said he had been kidnapped, and now Amanda Bowers says she has spent much of her time praying and getting together ransom money.

AMANDA BOWERS, WIFE OF REPORTED HOSTAGE: He told me that he had landed safely in Afghanistan, but that he and his Afghan interpreter had been abducted by someone whom Clark said was a tribal warlord. Clark reported he had been driven blindfolded around for several hours, and that he was being treated fairly well, although the interpreter that was with him had been roughed up. He then gave me instructions on getting money together to send to his abductors. Clark also said that he would call me back on Saturday to tell me where to send the money.

Well, that call was supposed to come last Saturday. Instead, it came Monday, two days ago, with those instructions. She won't talk about the instructions, saying the State Department has told her not to, but it's reported that the ransom is $25,000, not clear in any way, shape or form how you would send a ransom to Afghanistan.

Now, Amanda Bowers says the State Department has been very helpful. For its part, the State Department says it is taking this very seriously, but says it has not confirmed there has even been a kidnapping. Still as many questions, and information is very sketchy. In addition, a well-placed military source tells CNN's David Ensor that Mr. Bowers has a history of misrepresenting himself. Well, apparently, according to the source, he has in the past said he represents the team (ph) of Afghanistan. He has said that he is a professor at Harvard University, and he said that he has worked for a California congressman, Dana Rohrabacher. These things apparently are not true. It's important to stress that the source and the State Department is not saying this man hasn't been kidnapped. This information is just being pointed out -- Anderson.

COOPER: Gary, very briefly, does anybody know what Mr. Bowers does for a living, how he makes money? And why did he -- or why does his wife say he went to Afghanistan?

TUCHMAN: Mr. Bowers says he is a self-employed political consultant. And why did he go to Afghanistan? It just happens we kind of know it from the horse's mouth. In the beginning of October, he happened to do an interview with the CNN affiliate KDFW in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. And he told them why he wants to go to Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARK RUSSELL BOWERS, MISSING AMERICAN: You know, I believe, as someone who believes in God, I believe that the safest place for me to be is in the place that God would have me be. And for some crazy reason, he has seemed to lead me to all parts of the Earth, and if I can leave this Earth having done one small bit of good for someone else, I certainly have had a blessed life and have been given so many things by so many people. My parents have been wonderful, my family and my friends. I don't deserve any of that. And so, I want to give a little something back. If this is part of it, so be it. I don't have anything to fear from death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: I talked to Amanda Bowers via telephone last night. I asked her what she thought about what the State Department has said and what our sources said, and she told me -- quote: "I can't control what they say or do. I just place my faith in God" -- Anderson, back to you.

COOPER: All right, Gary Tuchman, thanks very much.

Now, if Clark Bowers has indeed been kidnapped in Afghanistan, what would it take to get him out? And is that the job of the United States?

Joining us now from Washington, Kelly McCann, CNN security analyst and president of Crucible Security -- thanks for being with us again, Mr. McCann.

KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, Anderson.

COOPER: Does this seem like a plausible story to you? MCCANN: It's an odd story, that's for sure. But there has been an increase in adventure tourism, in the war tourism we call it, globally. Our company is international in some of the worst places you can imagine, and we are always amazed at some of the people that we stumble over in those places and question why they are there at all.

He must have had means to be able to get airlift capability out of Istanbul to actually fly into Kabul, so there is obviously some means behind him in order to move material, equipment, et cetera. But if you're not with an NGO, a non-governmental organization and certainly acting alone, the U.S. government has absolutely no responsibility to mount an effort to get this guy rescued. So it's an odd situation.

COOPER: Yes, I don't mean to sound harsh, but I mean there are people who would say, you know, you buy your ticket and you take your chances.

MCCANN: That's exactly right. I mean, the bottom line is, for instance, why would we commit U.S. forces, millions of dollars of aircraft? Why would we potentially lose sources of sensitive information to use intelligence the way you need to when you mount a hostage recovery exercise or a hostage recovery operation for someone who is really kind of unconfirmed why he is there at all, when there are legitimate non-governmental organizations there? So it's definitely a strange case.

COOPER: If you can, give me a sense globally, how many Americans are kidnapped at any one time around the world? And how are the kidnappings usually resolved?

MCCANN: Well, typically, we know that there is normally anywhere between 30 and 50 or so Americans who go missing during a year. Some of them are criminal abductions, similar to this case, where criminals abduct you and it's for ransom, clearly, there are no political ramifications at all. Other ones are held by guerrilla groups, like Abu Sayyef down in the Mindanao area, et cetera.

So there are people out there, and there are also companies that actually go in and will negotiate the successful release of these people, and also kidnap and ransom insurance. Chubb, one of the largest insurance companies involved in that, actually gives you a package where they will pay the ransom, and they will also negotiate the price down. So those are valuable services to people who travel at risk.

COOPER: So this isn't like you see in the movie, "Proof of Life," or you might read about in, you know, or see in "Rambo" movies. There is generally not the commando raids to go in and rescue these hostages?

MCCANN: Not at all. In fact, "Proof of Life" was based on factual circumstances, but not certainly the exercise that went and got these people. Remember that you an outlaw. If American citizens, for instance, my company says, was to be contracted to carry weapons in a foreign country and had no authorization by the U.S. government or by the host nation, you are a felon. And so, you really start to cross the line in the people how are more mercenary than, you know, patriotic or anything else. There's an awful lot of international rules when you start involving guns and force. So this is a strange case, and I would be very, very surprised if any kind of operation is mounted at all.

COOOPER: All right. Kelly McCann, CNN security analyst -- thanks very much for joining us again this morning -- also president of Crucible Security.

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