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American Morning

Al Qaeda-Iraq Plan

Aired February 09, 2004 - 08:34   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk a little bit about al Qaeda. An operative in Iraq was trying to get al Qaeda to help him start war between Iraqi Muslim sects. That's according to a front- page story in this morning's "New York Times."
Reporter Dexter Filkins wrote the story. He joins us this morning from Baghdad.

Mr. Filkins, nice to have you. Thanks for being with us.

DEXTER FILKINS, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Thanks.

O'BRIEN: You talk about American officials holding onto a document that they believe was written by a Jordanian operative in Iraq. And basically, it's asking al Qaeda for help in waging this sectarian war. What do you think this memo says about the relationship between al Qaeda and the folks in Iraq?

FILKINS: Well, it doesn't really prove anything other than the fact that these operatives in Iraq want some help. And to me, that was the fascinating thing about the document. It was sort of part business plan and part plea for help. I mean, basically, they were saying, it's really hard here. We're not getting a lot of support. We think we're losing. Here is this sort of last-ditch plan that we can come up with. Can you help?

O'BRIEN: Paint the scenario, the kind of help that they are asking for in this memo.

FILKINS: Well, it's a little complicated, but what they are saying is -- I mean, predominantly al Qaeda and the religious extremists, who are believed to be operating in Iraq, are Sunni Muslims. They are a majority here. And the Shiite Muslims are the majority.

And what the plan says is, we'll start doing suicide bombings and start attacking the Shiites, and we'll attack them so hard and so often that they'll crack down on the Sunnis, and then the Sunnis will come to us and they'll flock to us. And this was basically a plea to al Qaeda for their approval and for possibly for their support.

So, I think the other thing they said, which was kind of interesting, was they said we are running out of time. We need to do this quickly. We need to do it before we lose, and we need to do it before the Americans transfer sovereignty to the Iraqis on June 30.

So, it was -- again, to me, what was so fascinating about the document, assuming it was authentic, was that it was a stark admission that things were not going very well for them.

O'BRIEN: At the same time, there have got to be concerns about what's being proposed in this document. Is there any sense that this plan could actually work?

FILKINS: Well, you know, if you think back to just, for example, to August, there was a suicide bombing in Najaf that killed 80 people, and the target was Ayatollah Hakim (ph), you know, one of the big leaders of the Shiite community. So, they've already been doing these things. And it's not clear who undertook that bombing.

But it doesn't take too many people to do a suicide bombing. And so, I think what we're going to see is over the next several weeks whether of all this plays out.

O'BRIEN: So, do you think then that al Qaeda could and would or might be agreeable to tackling this? Or, are you saying that's something we're not going to know for the next couple of weeks?

FILKINS: I don't think we're going to know. I mean, you can be sure that al Qaeda didn't get this letter. I mean, apparently the courier was captured in Iraq on his way to Afghanistan, where he told -- he said under interrogation he was taking it to the inner circle of the al Qaeda leadership, which is a fascinating thing to learn.

But it's not clear from the letter, you know, what's going to happen. It's a very deferential letter, and they're saying, you know, we realize that you're the big fish, and we're not competing with you, but we are at your disposal. And you just tell us what you need to do, and here are our ideas. And so, I don't think we're going to know. You know, we're not going to know for some time.

O'BRIEN: It's a fascinating article on the front page of "The New York Times" today. Dexter Filkins joining us this morning. Thanks for being with us.

FILKINS: Thanks.

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 9, 2004 - 08:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk a little bit about al Qaeda. An operative in Iraq was trying to get al Qaeda to help him start war between Iraqi Muslim sects. That's according to a front- page story in this morning's "New York Times."
Reporter Dexter Filkins wrote the story. He joins us this morning from Baghdad.

Mr. Filkins, nice to have you. Thanks for being with us.

DEXTER FILKINS, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Thanks.

O'BRIEN: You talk about American officials holding onto a document that they believe was written by a Jordanian operative in Iraq. And basically, it's asking al Qaeda for help in waging this sectarian war. What do you think this memo says about the relationship between al Qaeda and the folks in Iraq?

FILKINS: Well, it doesn't really prove anything other than the fact that these operatives in Iraq want some help. And to me, that was the fascinating thing about the document. It was sort of part business plan and part plea for help. I mean, basically, they were saying, it's really hard here. We're not getting a lot of support. We think we're losing. Here is this sort of last-ditch plan that we can come up with. Can you help?

O'BRIEN: Paint the scenario, the kind of help that they are asking for in this memo.

FILKINS: Well, it's a little complicated, but what they are saying is -- I mean, predominantly al Qaeda and the religious extremists, who are believed to be operating in Iraq, are Sunni Muslims. They are a majority here. And the Shiite Muslims are the majority.

And what the plan says is, we'll start doing suicide bombings and start attacking the Shiites, and we'll attack them so hard and so often that they'll crack down on the Sunnis, and then the Sunnis will come to us and they'll flock to us. And this was basically a plea to al Qaeda for their approval and for possibly for their support.

So, I think the other thing they said, which was kind of interesting, was they said we are running out of time. We need to do this quickly. We need to do it before we lose, and we need to do it before the Americans transfer sovereignty to the Iraqis on June 30.

So, it was -- again, to me, what was so fascinating about the document, assuming it was authentic, was that it was a stark admission that things were not going very well for them.

O'BRIEN: At the same time, there have got to be concerns about what's being proposed in this document. Is there any sense that this plan could actually work?

FILKINS: Well, you know, if you think back to just, for example, to August, there was a suicide bombing in Najaf that killed 80 people, and the target was Ayatollah Hakim (ph), you know, one of the big leaders of the Shiite community. So, they've already been doing these things. And it's not clear who undertook that bombing.

But it doesn't take too many people to do a suicide bombing. And so, I think what we're going to see is over the next several weeks whether of all this plays out.

O'BRIEN: So, do you think then that al Qaeda could and would or might be agreeable to tackling this? Or, are you saying that's something we're not going to know for the next couple of weeks?

FILKINS: I don't think we're going to know. I mean, you can be sure that al Qaeda didn't get this letter. I mean, apparently the courier was captured in Iraq on his way to Afghanistan, where he told -- he said under interrogation he was taking it to the inner circle of the al Qaeda leadership, which is a fascinating thing to learn.

But it's not clear from the letter, you know, what's going to happen. It's a very deferential letter, and they're saying, you know, we realize that you're the big fish, and we're not competing with you, but we are at your disposal. And you just tell us what you need to do, and here are our ideas. And so, I don't think we're going to know. You know, we're not going to know for some time.

O'BRIEN: It's a fascinating article on the front page of "The New York Times" today. Dexter Filkins joining us this morning. Thanks for being with us.

FILKINS: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.