Paula Zahn Live, August 11:
Just how strong is this al Qaeda possibility? Let's ask our top story experts tonight. CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen and Steve Emerson, who wrote "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us." Good to see both of you.
So Peter, you've just heard Kelli's report. How significant are those facts.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Kelli's report was, you know, I think it substantiates the notion that al Qaeda was involved. We have people going to training camps, meeting with explosive experts. There's some suggestion of al Qaeda command and control. Obviously the investigation, we we're only 24 hours into it. But if we had this set of facts coming out of the first London attacks, July 7th of 2005, which was initially treated, you may remember, entirely as homegrown terrorism. As time went on, it became more and more clear that this was really an al Qaeda operation. We would have made the conclusion very quickly that that first London attack was an al Qaeda operation. Now we believe that operation was an al Qaeda operation. I think this one is very similar. I think al Qaeda was trying to get something in the frame for the fifth anniversary of 9/11 and this was it.
ZAHN: I see you nodding in agreement. So there's no doubt in your mind that it has all of the hallmarks of an al Qaeda operation.
STEVE EMERSON, AUTHOR "AMERICAN JIHAD": That's the operative word, Paula, hallmarks. The problem right now is that since al Qaeda's ranks have been depleted in the last few years because of arrests, or because of detentions or arrests. Because they've gone undercover, underground, there have been new lieutenants appointed and we're not so sure about who they are in the al Qaeda organization. Therefore, when there are contacts made with these new lieutenants, U.S. intelligence is sort of hamstrung because it doesn't know really who is in the new generation of al Qaeda.
ZAHN: I know you also think we all get hamstrung in spending a lot of time about talking about whether al Qaeda conceived this plot. Because you think that al Qaeda has such an impact, that it's almost a state of mind that influences home grown terrorists out there.
EMERSON: Part of my reaction when I'm asked is it al Qaeda? Is it doesn't really matter. Because if you have militant Islamic theology that basically mandates suicide bombings or mandating attacks against the infidel, then if it's al Qaeda or it's home grown, the problem is the larger common denominator here of radical Islamic theology.
ZAHN: The scariest thing, I think, for all of us Americans watching this story unfold was that yesterday we were told it didn't look like there was any ties to a U.S. operation. And then we hear this morning from someone at the White House, and in fact the FBI is following up on leads of potential connections between cells here and perhaps the suspects involved in what happened yesterday.
BERGEN: Well I can't really comment on that Paula, but I'd like to pick up on what Steve said. I mean, I think, yes, the ideology is very important but on 9/11 we weren't attacked by an ideology, we were attacked by an organization. I think this London plot we just saw, my assumption is that most of the 24 people arrested are just throwaways, not very important.
ZAHN: One of them already released.
BERGEN: But two or three of the people who went to Pakistan, you only need two or three people who get the training on how to make bombs, how to run a cell. For those people to come back and basically have the operation, get moving with these sort of throwaways who are not that important, who are influenced by the ideology. So I think the organization remains important as much as the ideology. While agreeing the ideology is important?
ZAHN: Come back to what our concerns should be as Americans. Was that a red flag as far as you heard this morning, when we're talking about the FBI following up on some potential leads here.
EMERSON: I spoke to someone in the intelligence community who said there were hundreds leads that were followed-up or developed by the FBI as well as other agencies, that would be the CIA and the NSA. So it's clear that there were connections that they wanted to check out. Now, they haven't found any U.S. connection but that doesn't mean they can't find it in the future with the exploitation of the hard drives and the computers that they just found today.
ZAHN: Do you think this was linked potentially with the five- year mark as September 11 as Peter suggested at the top? EMERSON: I think it was probably linked to the five-year anniversary, with an attempt to have the attack occur before Labor Day, when they know that most Americans would be flying back from London to the United States.
ZAHN: Well, we appreciate you're helping us better understand what this investigation is revealing tonight. Thank you, Steve Emerson, Peter Bergen, appreciate your time.
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