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American Morning

Pacific Command Head Discusses Fighting al Qaeda in Indonesia

Aired March 22, 2002 - 08:24   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the war on terror, the Pentagon is concerned about al Qaeda members reorganizing in other countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. This morning more than 600 American troops are on the ground in the Philippines, where they're schooling soldiers there in counterterrorism. The U.S. Pacific Command has also been involved in joint military training exercises in Malaysia, in Singapore and in Thailand.

And lately, there have been reports the United States is considering sending troops to Indonesia. But now, the government there fears an anti-American backlash in the world's most populous Muslim country. Two hundred million Muslims in Indonesia. And a senior administration official has told the "New York Times" for the time being they've decided against sending the military there.

Adm. Dennis Blair is commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. All of this comes under his purview. And he joins us this morning from Washington, D.C.

Admiral, thank you. It's nice to have you with us.

ADM. DENNIS BLAIR, COMMANDER IN CHIEF, U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND: Nice to be with you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Can you update us on what's going on in the Philippines? The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are holding the Burnhams, that couple hostage there, have been for over a year. Do they, do the Abu Sayyaf have ties to al Qaeda? What role are American service people playing in the Philippines? Just kind of give us an update on the mission there.

BLAIR: Right. The Abu Sayyaf group was founded with a lot of assistance from the al Qaeda group. Specifically, the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden helped found it. It's been a fanatical and criminal terrorist organization for about five years now. The Philippines have been fighting it. We're helping them now with advisers and training and assistance and I think we're going to make them a lot more effective.

CAFFERTY: Are there hopes that we can -- we being the joint U.S.-Philippine military -- perhaps successfully get the release of the Burnhams, this couple that's been held hostage there for over a year? What's the status of their situation? BLAIR: They, I'm convinced that the Burnhams are still, they're still alive. I think that the assistance that we are giving to the Philippines will increase the chances of bringing them home, bringing them home alive and we are working with the Philippines, who have the primary responsibility to do that. And we're hopeful.

CAFFERTY: How much danger are our American troops in in the Philippines? Have they come under fire? And if so, are they allowed to return fire?

BLAIR: Our troops are not in the front lines. They're not riding point in patrols out in the Philippines. But they are working with them in their battalion headquarters on the island of Basilan and of course -- so there they are in some danger. Their orders are to defend themselves and to make sure that they don't come under any more danger than they have to. So they will, they will take care of themselves if they're in that sort of a situation.

CAFFERTY: In your opinion, Admiral, can the United States successfully prosecute the war on terrorism without eventually addressing the situation in Indonesia? It is thought that a large number of al Qaeda who fled from Afghanistan in the early days of the war there have seek -- sought sanctuary in Indonesia. They are there. They are conceivably regrouping, reforming, planning operations, whatever it is they're doing.

But can we be successful in the war against terrorism without going into Indonesia and going after the terrorists who are there? There are a lot of them.

BLAIR: The situation in Asia-Pacific region, Jack, is really one size does not fit all. We really work with each individual country who, and they're all with us in this war against terrorism. So in the Philippines we are providing advisers and equipment for troops. In the case of countries like Singapore and Malaysia, we're working on exchanging intelligence. In Indonesia, it's another situation. The FBI director, Mr. Mueller, was just done there talking about increasing police work. We do intelligence exchanges with them.

The military component will be fairly small. We do some exercises with the Philippine, with the Indonesians. And the terrorists from al Qaeda are in many places passing through Southeast Asia. So we need to go after them everywhere.

CAFFERTY: But would you agree that Indonesia has to be high on the list of priorities if the aim is to disrupt or destroy as many of the al Qaeda as possible? Again, even -- there are 200 million Muslims in Indonesia and they are, as I understand it, politically afraid of allowing too much American military presence there because they're afraid the government couldn't take the backlash. But the al Qaeda are there. What happens to them if we're not allowed eventually to go in there and go after them?

BLAIR: The Indonesian form of Islam is not the same as the Islam that you have in the Middle East. The great majority of Indonesian Muslims are happy to come to terms with a modern society. It's a secular sort of Islam. And the Indonesian government is strongly against terrorism. They do need assistance in many areas in becoming more effective. As you said, it's a huge country, lots of borders. So increased effectiveness with the police, better intel and then maybe some military component down the road is the way to success.

And I would emphasize, Jack, that our knowledge of exactly where the al Qaeda terrorists have gone and just what their local support is is developing all the time and although there are ties in Indonesia, there are also ties into Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, as we talked, and several other countries. So we're going after it across-the-board in a way unique to each country.

CAFFERTY: Well, it's a big assignment and it occurs over a vast area of land and sea. We wish you and your subordinates well in the prosecution of our mission there and I thank you very much, Admiral, for visiting with us here and giving us an update on AMERICAN MORNING. Thank you.

BLAIR: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Adm. Dennis Blair is the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, all of the forces throughout Asia and the special forces region.

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