ABC News Transcript
SHOW: WORLD NEWS WITH CHARLES GIBSON 6:30 PM EST
June 20, 2008 Friday
758 words
TERROR THREAT;
AL QAEDA
CHARLES GIBSON
PIERRE THOMAS (WASHINGTON, DC USA)
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS)
(Off-camera) Good evening. Intelligence officials say it is their number one concern. Caucasians from a European country who have graduated from an al Qaeda training camp. Such potential terrorists would be dressed in western clothing, drawing little notice as they board a plane bound for the US, coming to launch an attack. There’s no indication such an attack is imminent, but this scenario is of great concern to experts in and out of the government. ABC’s Pierre Thomas reports from Washington tonight. Pierre?
PIERRE THOMAS (ABC NEWS)
(Off-camera) Charlie, in recent weeks, government officials at the highest level have been warning that this threat is growing, and they have intensified efforts to block al Qaeda’s success in recruiting Europeans.
PIERRE THOMAS (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) This is Eric B. Intelligence officials believe he is a terrorist plotting attacks against US forces in Afghanistan and Europe. Eric B is a German national and he is Caucasian. The US says he represents the new breed of al Qaeda affiliated terrorists recruited in Europe.
REPRESENTATIVE PETE HOEKSTRA (REPUBLICAN
Well I think we ought to take it very seriously.
PIERRE THOMAS (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) US intelligence has determined dozens of Caucasian Europeans have trained in al Qaeda terrorist camps in Pakistan’s tribal regions in recent months.
REPRESENTATIVE PETE HOEKSTRA (REPUBLICAN
Westerners or western looking people have been in the region. They have been in contact with al Qaeda.
GRAPHICS: PAKISTAN
PIERRE THOMAS (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) The government suspects the western terrorists have been dispatched to plan attacks against Europe and possibly here in the US. They come from Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Romania and Estonia.
MIKE MCCONNELL (DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE)
They’re recruiting operatives from Europe? Why? If you’re from Europe, it doesn’t require a visa to fly to the United States.
GENERAL MICHAEL HAYDEN (CIA DIRECTOR)
They look western and they fit in.
ROBERT MUELLER (FBI DIRECTOR)
Our concern, great concern is that while it is happening in Europe, it is a one plane ticket away from occurring in the United States.
PIERRE THOMAS (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) And there is growing evidence some European recruits have gone operational. Two of the suspects arrested in a September 2007 plot to kill US soldiers in Germany were native Germans. This propaganda video shot from two different camera angles shows the March 3rd attack on an outpost in Afghanistan. That killed two US soldiers. The suspected suicide bomber, this man from Germany. He’s seen here casually preparing for his deadly mission. Members of Congress, including Republicans, say they are frustrated the Bush administration and Pakistan have not done more to shut down the camps.
REPRESENTATIVE PETE HOEKSTRA (REPUBLICAN
The result that we have today is not acceptable. You can’t have those camps in place in Pakistan.
PIERRE THOMAS (ABC NEWS)
(Off-camera) Charlie, officials in New York recently told me that those training camps in Pakistan, Ray Kelly, the police commissioner in particular, said those camps are a high priority and a big worry.
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS)
(Off-camera) All right, Pierre, so that’s the problem, but are there practical steps that Homeland Security officials can take to do something about it?
PIERRE THOMAS (ABC NEWS)
(Off-camera) Well one of the things they’re doing is they’re trying to kill as many of those operatives as they can using those drone planes in Afghanistan to hit them. Also, they are planning to step up the scrutiny of the roughly 30,000 or so Europeans that travel to the US every day.
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS)
(Off-camera) All right. Pierre Thomas reporting from Washington. Thanks.
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS)
(Off-camera) President Bush won a victory on Capitol Hill as lawmakers approved changes that he wants to a law dealing with antiterrorist surveillance. The house approved an amendment to FISA, that’s the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
GRAPHICS: FISA AMENDMENT
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) It would protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits if they took part in the administration’s warrantless eavesdropping program. Senate passage is expected as soon as next week.
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS)
(Off-camera) On Wall Street, stocks suffered major losses today.
GRAPHICS: STOCKS
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) The Dow dropped 220 points, the NASDAQ almost 56. The auto industry was a particular drag on the market today. Gas prices are taking a toll on the auto makers. (June 24, 2008 — Stefan Fobes)