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Cohen on de la Cruz's Release
Aired July 20, 2004 - 12:34 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.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Time now to welcome a regular contributor to YOUR WORLD TODAY, the former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen. He joins us now from our studios in New York.
Secretary Cohen, the Philippine hostage release, Manila's gamble with the kidnappers, really paid off here, but what are the consequences of this?
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, certainly, for Mr. de la Cruz, it was a happy outcome. With respect to the consequences, it very likely may lead to more kidnappings of other members of the coalition forces and, thereby, setting a precedent that would only encourage the kidnappers to do more. So an unhappy outcome for the coalition forces and perhaps even for President Arroyo domestically.
She has had a policy of not compromising or negotiating with terrorists in the Philippines. That may put more pressure on her now. They may be encouraged to take more hostages even domestically. So the outcome, I think, in the long term could be very damaging to the Philippine government.
VERJEE: What about on the Bush administration? Do you think it will damage efforts by the Bush administration to internationalize the Iraq project, to get more members of the coalition involved?
COHEN: I don't think it will have that impact. There are other countries who are increasing their contribution to the coalition forces; South Korea, by way of example.
So I think that other members will see the need to maintain a strong and united effort and not yield to the kind of terrorism or kidnapping or other type of tactics that may be employed against them.
They will always look for the weakest link. When they find they can't hid hard targets, they'll go to soft targets. When they can't hit soft targets, they'll go to individual kidnapping.
And so I think it's -- everyone recognizes that they must remain united and must remain strong in the face of this. Otherwise, it will only encourage more in the way of kidnapping.
VERJEE: When countries like Spain, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, now the Philippines have withdrawn, doesn't it underscore the fragility of the coalition in Iraq, that really one analyst said earlier that the reason it is so fragile is because none of these countries are in for the conviction of it, more so for the coercion by the U.S.
COHEN: Well, I think there's some truth to that statement, that a number of countries who joined did not have a deep commitment to the project itself and to the long-term rebuilding of Iraq, and so I think they yielded to domestic political pressure, understandable in terms of that pressure.
But, ultimately, it does create something of a public perception problem for them. In the future when called upon to make contributions, they either may not be inclined to do so, or, if they do so, it will be a question mark in terms of what their staying power is. So there are long- term consequences to this particular action.
VERJEE: The 9/11 commission report expected out on Thursday. Already, we're hearing that one of the things that's going to come out is that the U.S., the Bush administration focused on the wrong country. They should have focused on an al Qaeda link to Iran. What do you think of that?
COHEN: Well, I don't know what to make of it at this point because the speculation is that while al Qaeda individuals moved through Iran, there is no indication, according to the reports, that Iran played any kind of a contributory role to 9/11 itself.
I think it's been known for years that the Iranian government has supported both safe haven and also safe passage to terrorists moving through their country, but I don't know that any link has been established by the 9/11 commission indicating that they were in any way a part of this particular attack.
So I'm not sure what will come of it, other than that the al Qaeda connection both to -- in Iraq and Iran appears to be rather limited, if it exists at all.
VERJEE: The former American Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Thanks so much.
COHEN: My pleasure.
END
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Aired July 20, 2004 - 12:34:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Time now to welcome a regular contributor to YOUR WORLD TODAY, the former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen. He joins us now from our studios in New York.
Secretary Cohen, the Philippine hostage release, Manila's gamble with the kidnappers, really paid off here, but what are the consequences of this?
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, certainly, for Mr. de la Cruz, it was a happy outcome. With respect to the consequences, it very likely may lead to more kidnappings of other members of the coalition forces and, thereby, setting a precedent that would only encourage the kidnappers to do more. So an unhappy outcome for the coalition forces and perhaps even for President Arroyo domestically.
She has had a policy of not compromising or negotiating with terrorists in the Philippines. That may put more pressure on her now. They may be encouraged to take more hostages even domestically. So the outcome, I think, in the long term could be very damaging to the Philippine government.
VERJEE: What about on the Bush administration? Do you think it will damage efforts by the Bush administration to internationalize the Iraq project, to get more members of the coalition involved?
COHEN: I don't think it will have that impact. There are other countries who are increasing their contribution to the coalition forces; South Korea, by way of example.
So I think that other members will see the need to maintain a strong and united effort and not yield to the kind of terrorism or kidnapping or other type of tactics that may be employed against them.
They will always look for the weakest link. When they find they can't hid hard targets, they'll go to soft targets. When they can't hit soft targets, they'll go to individual kidnapping.
And so I think it's -- everyone recognizes that they must remain united and must remain strong in the face of this. Otherwise, it will only encourage more in the way of kidnapping.
VERJEE: When countries like Spain, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, now the Philippines have withdrawn, doesn't it underscore the fragility of the coalition in Iraq, that really one analyst said earlier that the reason it is so fragile is because none of these countries are in for the conviction of it, more so for the coercion by the U.S.
COHEN: Well, I think there's some truth to that statement, that a number of countries who joined did not have a deep commitment to the project itself and to the long-term rebuilding of Iraq, and so I think they yielded to domestic political pressure, understandable in terms of that pressure.
But, ultimately, it does create something of a public perception problem for them. In the future when called upon to make contributions, they either may not be inclined to do so, or, if they do so, it will be a question mark in terms of what their staying power is. So there are long- term consequences to this particular action.
VERJEE: The 9/11 commission report expected out on Thursday. Already, we're hearing that one of the things that's going to come out is that the U.S., the Bush administration focused on the wrong country. They should have focused on an al Qaeda link to Iran. What do you think of that?
COHEN: Well, I don't know what to make of it at this point because the speculation is that while al Qaeda individuals moved through Iran, there is no indication, according to the reports, that Iran played any kind of a contributory role to 9/11 itself.
I think it's been known for years that the Iranian government has supported both safe haven and also safe passage to terrorists moving through their country, but I don't know that any link has been established by the 9/11 commission indicating that they were in any way a part of this particular attack.
So I'm not sure what will come of it, other than that the al Qaeda connection both to -- in Iraq and Iran appears to be rather limited, if it exists at all.
VERJEE: The former American Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Thanks so much.
COHEN: My pleasure.
END
TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
