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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Faye Bowers
Aired May 25, 2003 - 10:19 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR: Now the recent suspected al Qaeda attacks abroad and the U.S. intelligence information recently has led to heightened terror alert in the U.S. this Memorial Day weekend.
To help us evaluate these security concerns is Faye Bowers, who is a national security writer for the "Christian Science Monitor."
A whole lot going on this holiday weekend. Before we talk about, say, specifically this terror alert, let's talk about most recent reports now involving U.S. administration officials, who are saying they are suspending contacts with Iran because of suspected links to al Qaeda operations there and now in a suspected link between Iran al Qaeda cells and the most recent May 12 attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Do you see this as being a repeat, perhaps, of a prelude to the U.S.-backed war in Iraq?
FAYE BOWERS, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR:" It certainly sounds similar to that and also to the end, almost, of the Iraq war when U.S. officials, both Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, began warning Syrian officials about harboring Iraqi officials inside Syria.
WHITFIELD: This Tuesday, Bush administration officials are expected or scheduled, rather, to meet at the White House this Tuesday to talk specifically about this. What do you suppose, seriously, is going to be discussed?
BOWERS: Well, it's hard to know what they will discuss inside closed door meetings, but you know, I would imagine -- The Bush administration has long said that this war on terror is a long-term effort and it's going to take part in many stages, some that we will see and some that we won't.
But I think the very overt message is to these countries that possibly have al Qaeda members traveling through. They might not even supplying harbor to the al Qaeda operatives, but they may be allowing them to pass through unwittingly. And I think the U.S. is putting them on alert that they'd better watch this and not allow it to happen.
WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk now about the heightened state of alert. The heightened alert level now at orange this Memorial Day holiday weekend. Does it concern you that perhaps a message is being sent that on holidays such as this one, when there are large public gatherings, that perhaps the U.S. is much more vulnerable than usual and that's, in part, why there is an orange state of alert?
BOWERS: No. I don't think it has to do with the holiday, actually. I think it has to do with the amount of chatter they've been hearing that intelligence officials have heard from al Qaeda operatives throughout the world and the fact that Osama bin Laden's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, issued a tape last week with some very specific threats.
And intelligence officials and experts alike who have steadied this organization for years on end all say the same thing, that this is a very patient organization. And they will plan attacks on their timetable.
So I think it has to do with the intelligence that the agency is gathering rather than holiday or specific times of vulnerability in this country.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Faye Bowers of the "Christian Science Monitor." Thanks for joining us this Sunday.
BOWERS: You're welcome.
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 May 25, 2003 - 10:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR: Now the recent suspected al Qaeda attacks abroad and the U.S. intelligence information recently has led to heightened terror alert in the U.S. this Memorial Day weekend.
To help us evaluate these security concerns is Faye Bowers, who is a national security writer for the "Christian Science Monitor."
A whole lot going on this holiday weekend. Before we talk about, say, specifically this terror alert, let's talk about most recent reports now involving U.S. administration officials, who are saying they are suspending contacts with Iran because of suspected links to al Qaeda operations there and now in a suspected link between Iran al Qaeda cells and the most recent May 12 attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Do you see this as being a repeat, perhaps, of a prelude to the U.S.-backed war in Iraq?
FAYE BOWERS, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR:" It certainly sounds similar to that and also to the end, almost, of the Iraq war when U.S. officials, both Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, began warning Syrian officials about harboring Iraqi officials inside Syria.
WHITFIELD: This Tuesday, Bush administration officials are expected or scheduled, rather, to meet at the White House this Tuesday to talk specifically about this. What do you suppose, seriously, is going to be discussed?
BOWERS: Well, it's hard to know what they will discuss inside closed door meetings, but you know, I would imagine -- The Bush administration has long said that this war on terror is a long-term effort and it's going to take part in many stages, some that we will see and some that we won't.
But I think the very overt message is to these countries that possibly have al Qaeda members traveling through. They might not even supplying harbor to the al Qaeda operatives, but they may be allowing them to pass through unwittingly. And I think the U.S. is putting them on alert that they'd better watch this and not allow it to happen.
WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk now about the heightened state of alert. The heightened alert level now at orange this Memorial Day holiday weekend. Does it concern you that perhaps a message is being sent that on holidays such as this one, when there are large public gatherings, that perhaps the U.S. is much more vulnerable than usual and that's, in part, why there is an orange state of alert?
BOWERS: No. I don't think it has to do with the holiday, actually. I think it has to do with the amount of chatter they've been hearing that intelligence officials have heard from al Qaeda operatives throughout the world and the fact that Osama bin Laden's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, issued a tape last week with some very specific threats.
And intelligence officials and experts alike who have steadied this organization for years on end all say the same thing, that this is a very patient organization. And they will plan attacks on their timetable.
So I think it has to do with the intelligence that the agency is gathering rather than holiday or specific times of vulnerability in this country.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Faye Bowers of the "Christian Science Monitor." Thanks for joining us this Sunday.
BOWERS: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
