http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0501/03/wbr.01.html-snip-
BLITZER: $350 million pledged by the U.S. government so far. Sounds like a big chunk of change. But in your opinion, is it enough?
COHEN: First of all, you're not even going to count the cost of delivering this military, the cost of fuel, the cost of the ships, the cost of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that's not included. So the actual figure will be much higher than the 350 million. I think the first mistake made was trying to put a dollar figure on what our assistance is going to be. In a time of crisis like this, you say, we'll do whatever we humanly can, whatever is possible. We're going to be there. That is the humane and responsible thing to do. So I think by putting a smaller price tag initially without understanding the dimensions of the problem, I think we created some perception that we weren't being forthcoming enough. That perception hopefully is turning around now with president Clinton and president Bush senior on their way to raise millions of dollars hopefully.
BLITZER: I want to show you a picture, an image that we captured earlier in Indonesia. Take a look at this. We'll put it up on the screen. An Indonesian, there he is, with an Osama bin Laden t-shirt. Clearly someone supporting Osama bin Laden is about to get a lot of U.S. assistance. Is this an issue at all that we should care about, that some of these people who will be getting U.S. assistance may be sympathetic to Osama bin Laden?
COHEN: It should be of no concern to us. We're doing this out of an act of generosity, charity, and humaneness. This is a humanitarian mission. Whatever the politics are involved should be secondary or not considered at all. We're there to help people without regard to their politics or philosophy. And to the extent that they're supporters of bin Laden, so be it. But the overwhelming majority of the people are in need of help. And so true to our own faith, our own values and virtues, we give aid to whomever needs it in a time of crisis and that should be the principal concern.
BLITZER: Is the U.S. military up to the job because going into this in Iraq and elsewhere there the word was the military was already stretched pretty thin.
COHEN: Well, the military is stretched thin. But we are calling upon our allies, the British, the Australians, the Pakistanis and others, the Japanese are all contributing now. The combination of all of these countries, should be enough, at least in the short-term. But there is no other country that has the kind of logistical support that the United States can provide. Airlifts, sealifts, there's no other country that can do this even as stretched thin as we are, we still can provide the kind of relief that we're seeing today.
BLITZER: What does it say to you that the biggest contributor so far, governments, Japan, United States, the World Bank, the western European nations. The Muslim nations are relatively modest, a million here and there. But Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim community. Some of these oil-rich Muslim nations in the Persian Gulf are giving only a little bit.
COHEN: I think they should be embarrassed by it. I think to the extent that they have the wealth, that they can afford to contribute state money, so to speak, to this effort. I think the attention you and others are devoting to it will hopefully call forth the better angels of human nature as well as their coffers to help their fellow Muslims in time of need.
BLITZER: We'll see if that happens. William Cohen. Thanks very much.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
