CBS News The Early Show September 19, 2001

BRYANT GUMBEL: Retired General Brent Scowcroft is a former national security adviser. He's in Washington. General Scowcroft, good morning.

BRENT SCOWCROFT: Good morning, Bryant.

BRYANT GUMBEL: What's your take on this news that Mohamed Atta met with one of Iraq's top intelligence officials?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: Well, it's a little – it's a little puzzling. On the other hand, it could be a marriage of convenience. Both groups hate the United States. Bin Laden's people maybe wanted more financing. But they're not natural allies because bin Laden's people are really super-religious fanatics, and Saddam Hussein is head of the Ba'athist Party in Iraq, which is a socialist, anti-religious party. So they're not natural allies.

BRYANT GUMBEL: So is this a marriage of convenience?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: I – that's what I suspect. You know, they have a – they have a common enemy, and if they can cooperate tactically, I think they're – they probably would do it.

BRYANT GUMBEL: Would you think it odd to see competing ideologies targeting US interests?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: No, not really. Not really. Because they both – they're united in their hatred of the United States, and who we are and what we're doing in the region.

BRYANT GUMBEL: General, a lot of people are sure to view this report, too, with skepticism, as a US excuse to take out Saddam. Would you – would you suspect it would have to be heavily sold before the US could act on it?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: I think we have to be careful about that, because if it looks like we're using this terrible tragedy simply as an excuse to take another run at our old enemy, we'll lose a lot of support in the region, which we really need in order to have a comprehensive assault on terrorism.

BRYANT GUMBEL: Talk of Saddam, of course, reawakens debate about whether or not we should have taken Saddam out at the end of the Gulf War. Have – have you second-guessed that decision at all?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: I've second-guessed it many times and I come up with the same conclusion. If we had gone on and tried to take out Saddam, we would have been occupying an Arab land. We would have probably three times as many bin Ladens as we have now going after us.

BRYANT GUMBEL: Do you reject the idea that this war is a – is a natural extension of the Gulf War? That – the second act of some unfinished business?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: Yes, I do. I think, you know, there are two kinds of terrorists. One are the terrorists who resent our activities in the region – whether it's Israel, Iraq, Iran – and the others who resent who we are, the worst aspects in their mind of anti-religious modernism and so on. Those two kind of merge together, but they're both what we have to go after.

BRYANT GUMBEL: And are we dealing with in this case, do you think, the – the proponents of who we are?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: Yes. I do. Definitely.

BRYANT GUMBEL: And when do you expect, General, do you – do you think some form of retaliation will be seen? What – what's your timetable? What are you looking for?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: I think it's important first that we make sure that any retaliation serves the goals we're trying to – what we're trying to achieve. The Clinton administration retaliated after the bombings of our embassies in Africa, and the retaliation was ineffective, and thus we looked weak, like we didn't know what we do – what we were to do. So we have to make it effective, and one of the real problems, assuming that Osama bin Laden is – is our first target, and that's a reasonable thing to do – is to find him. We're using the Pakistanis, and – and hopefully the Taliban, to do it. If that doesn't work out, it's going to be hard. But we have to find him first, and then take him out.

BRYANT GUMBEL: Emotions are high right now. Nations are – are – are – are – are united behind us. How – how small is our – our window of opportunity here before some of that support starts to erode, some of that – some of that emotion fades?

BRENT SCOWCROFT: Well, it – it's very small. And in this respect, the coalition – the nations that we're trying to put together now, is similar to that of the Gulf War. And we had to nourish that every day, because people were joining who had very different perceptions of the problem and different objectives, and I think that's what we're going to face now. The president has a good start. He said be patient, it's a long war, it's a difficult war, but it's going to take all of our efforts to keep this coalition together. And it's very important to do so to smoke these people out.

BRYANT GUMBEL: All right. All right. General Brent Scowcroft, it's good to see you again, sir. Thank you.

BRENT SCOWCROFT: Nice to see you, Bryant.