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American Morning
Iraqi Link to Al Qaeda?
Aired February 12, 2003 - 07:09 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: As we have just mentioned, the Bush administration sees the bin Laden tape as proof of a partnership between Iraq and al Qaeda, but others say the tape raises some difficult new questions about waging war against Iraq.
Let's turn to John King, who is standing by at the White House.
John, first off, what is the White House reaction to concerns that bin Laden could only gain from a U.S. attack on Iraq?
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, U.S. officials concede that a U.S. attack on Iraq would certainly foment more anti-American sentiment in the Middle East, and that Osama bin Laden certainly could benefit from that. But if you review the testimony of the FBI director and the CIA director and the secretary of state yesterday before Congress, they also say that they already see huge operational preparations by al Qaeda for more attacks on the United States and on U.S. allies overseas.
So, they say Osama bin Laden is already preparing, and that if he gets some sort of emotional or political boost in the region from a U.S. attack on Iraq, it will simply have to deal with that.
Here at the White House, they would say this president understands that challenge, but that as some put it, he has to prosecute two wars at once, and as others put it, they say the war against Iraq, if there is a military confrontation, and the war against al Qaeda is one in the same -- Paula.
ZAHN: Any American listening to any portion of this tape has got to be terrified. I'm curious if the White House had any specific reactions to specific chunks of Osama bin Laden's message.
KING: Well, they say certainly it is no surprise here that Osama bin Laden would urge the Iraqi people and urge all Muslims to rise up against the United States. The administration is making the case, as Secretary Powell did yesterday, that this proves a partnership between Osama bin Laden and Iraq. There are a number of skeptics to that. Mike Boettcher just touched on the point that Osama bin Laden is actually quite critical of the Iraqi government.
So, you certainly now have a rhetorical alliance, if you will. Osama bin Laden choosing Iraq, if there is a confrontation between Iraq and the United States, but many skeptics in Congress say there is no proof here of any operational alliance between al Qaeda and Iraq. And many in Congress are saying it is proof to them that this administration should focus on al Qaeda first and Iraq second. The Bush administration, though, says this is all one in the same in the war on terrorism, and that the president is determined to push forward on both fronts at the same time.
ZAHN: Yes, I understand the last part of that message. I'm just curious of they're offering any specific advice to Americans hearing these very pointed messages from Osama bin Laden? What are we supposed to do with all of this information?
KING: Well, you have advisories from the government in recent days that people should buy duct tape and plastic sheeting and have one room in their house perhaps to protect it from chemical attacks. We've had a run on stores here in the Washington area. You have missile battery buildups, as you mentioned at the top of the show. The other night here at the White House, an F-16 flew very low overhead on those combat air patrols.
So, the government is urging Americans to be on extra vigilant alert for the possibility of terrorist attacks here. They were saying that even before this tape was released. And they're worried, because in the past when we have had messages from Osama bin Laden, they often have come just before terrorist attacks, most of those attacks overseas, but there's a great concern there could be one here in the United States within the next week or so.
ZAHN: OK. Sorry to hear that. John King, thanks so much for that report from the White House.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 12, 2003 - 07:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As we have just mentioned, the Bush administration sees the bin Laden tape as proof of a partnership between Iraq and al Qaeda, but others say the tape raises some difficult new questions about waging war against Iraq.
Let's turn to John King, who is standing by at the White House.
John, first off, what is the White House reaction to concerns that bin Laden could only gain from a U.S. attack on Iraq?
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, U.S. officials concede that a U.S. attack on Iraq would certainly foment more anti-American sentiment in the Middle East, and that Osama bin Laden certainly could benefit from that. But if you review the testimony of the FBI director and the CIA director and the secretary of state yesterday before Congress, they also say that they already see huge operational preparations by al Qaeda for more attacks on the United States and on U.S. allies overseas.
So, they say Osama bin Laden is already preparing, and that if he gets some sort of emotional or political boost in the region from a U.S. attack on Iraq, it will simply have to deal with that.
Here at the White House, they would say this president understands that challenge, but that as some put it, he has to prosecute two wars at once, and as others put it, they say the war against Iraq, if there is a military confrontation, and the war against al Qaeda is one in the same -- Paula.
ZAHN: Any American listening to any portion of this tape has got to be terrified. I'm curious if the White House had any specific reactions to specific chunks of Osama bin Laden's message.
KING: Well, they say certainly it is no surprise here that Osama bin Laden would urge the Iraqi people and urge all Muslims to rise up against the United States. The administration is making the case, as Secretary Powell did yesterday, that this proves a partnership between Osama bin Laden and Iraq. There are a number of skeptics to that. Mike Boettcher just touched on the point that Osama bin Laden is actually quite critical of the Iraqi government.
So, you certainly now have a rhetorical alliance, if you will. Osama bin Laden choosing Iraq, if there is a confrontation between Iraq and the United States, but many skeptics in Congress say there is no proof here of any operational alliance between al Qaeda and Iraq. And many in Congress are saying it is proof to them that this administration should focus on al Qaeda first and Iraq second. The Bush administration, though, says this is all one in the same in the war on terrorism, and that the president is determined to push forward on both fronts at the same time.
ZAHN: Yes, I understand the last part of that message. I'm just curious of they're offering any specific advice to Americans hearing these very pointed messages from Osama bin Laden? What are we supposed to do with all of this information?
KING: Well, you have advisories from the government in recent days that people should buy duct tape and plastic sheeting and have one room in their house perhaps to protect it from chemical attacks. We've had a run on stores here in the Washington area. You have missile battery buildups, as you mentioned at the top of the show. The other night here at the White House, an F-16 flew very low overhead on those combat air patrols.
So, the government is urging Americans to be on extra vigilant alert for the possibility of terrorist attacks here. They were saying that even before this tape was released. And they're worried, because in the past when we have had messages from Osama bin Laden, they often have come just before terrorist attacks, most of those attacks overseas, but there's a great concern there could be one here in the United States within the next week or so.
ZAHN: OK. Sorry to hear that. John King, thanks so much for that report from the White House.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
