Military

DATE=01/07/2003

TYPE=ON THE LINE

NUMBER=1-01257 SHORT #1

TITLE=THE YEAR IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM INTERNET=Yes

EDITOR=OFFICE OF POLICY 619-0037

CONTENT= INSERTS IN DALET SOD, SPECIAL 3

THEME: UP, HOLD UNDER AND FADE

Host: This is On the Line, and I'm ---------.

Al-Qaida, the terrorist network responsible for the September 11th, 2001, attacks in New York and outside Washington, no longer has a safe haven in Afghanistan. Its leaders are either dead or on the run. But al-Qaida is not out of business. Terror cells around the world continue to plot and carry out acts of sudden violence. The last year has seen terror bombings in Mombassa, Kenya; Bali, Indonesia; Karachi, Pakistan; Kabul, Afghanistan; Manila in the Philippines; and in Israel.

Author and defense analyst David Isby says that, even with these attacks, al-Qaida is on the run -- even in countries where the terrorists might have hoped to find shelter.

Isby: Certainly there has been greater cooperation than there was before nine-eleven and not just in Southeast Asia. We've seen, for example, the recent cooperation from Yemen, with the death of a number of senior al-Qaida leaders there. Places like Somalia, which were before only considered by the United States to be failed states, are now assuring the U-S that they're not being used by international terrorists. And part of this is a sincere desire to support the international war and another part is to not end up in the crosshairs themselves of the U-S armed forces. So, between the two, I think we have seen greater cooperation. There's a lot of way to go and that's going to take many years.

Host: Elaine Shannon is a correspondent for Time magazine. She points out the extensive cooperation the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism has had in most of Southeast Asia.

Shannon: Malaysia's been pretty aggressive, I believe, and Singapore very aggressive. And the Philippines and Singapore have arrested a bunch of people who were involved in two plots. Malaysia has also picked up a fellow who may have been involved in a plot in Singapore with a guy in the Philippines and may have been also on the periphery of nine-eleven. On the other hand, I do not believe that the C-I-A and F-B-I have had free access to some of the people that have been picked up there to question them.

Host: David Isby says that the mere fact of making arrests helps to disrupt terrorist networks because the terrorists have to assume that their plans and their identities have been revealed to authorities.

Isby: That's how you take a network apart, one stitch at a time. And one of the reasons why it's important to get the big fish, the people whose names are on the list, is because they tend to know more people, know more of the relationships. Again, just the fear that they're being compromised is often much more extensive than the damage you get from them directly.

Host: Shannon and Isby agree that dismantling al-Qaida is a task that will take years. For On the Line, I'm -----------.