MR. RUSSERT: Let me stay on Afghanistan, because the front page of The Washington Post today, bin Laden, the trail is stone cold, according to intelligence officials. Do you agree with that?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: I dont. I, I, I havent read the article, I saw the headline. And, you know, theres the, the on again/off again approach, is the U.S. really serious about bin Laden? We are serious, weve stayed actively and aggressively involved in the hunt for bin Laden from the very beginning. Theres been no...
MR. RUSSERT: But this stuff here is real important. This article says that in 2002, the U.S. pulled its Special Operation forces out of Afghanistan and, and really did lower down the volume in seekingin going after Osama, which is at the exact time that President Bush said, I dont spend much time on him, talking about bin Laden.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: Hes not the only source of the problem, obviously, Tim. If you killed him tomorrow, youd still have a problem with al-Qaeda, with Zawahiri and the others. But bin Laden has been a top priority for us from the very beginning, he continues to be a top priority today. That hasnt changed. The president and I get periodic reports on our efforts in that regard. Theres been no lessening of our interest or of our activity with..
MR. RUSSERT: Pakistan has now a peace pact with the terrorists in the area where we think bin Laden is, creating what Richard Clarke, the former White House adviser on terrorism, calls a sanctuary. And reports from the RAND Corporation that the Pakistan CIA, the ISI, are in...
VICE PRES. CHENEY: ISID.
MR. RUSSERT: Yeah, are in cahoots with the Taliban. So if the Pakistanis arent willing to seek bin Laden, and have a peace pact with the terrorists, where are we?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: I dont buy the premature question, Tim. I, I think its wrong and I think the sources youve quoted are wrong. The fact is weve captured and killed more al-Qaeda in Pakistan than any place else in the world in the last five years. President Musharraf has been a great ally. There was, prior to 9/11, a close relationship between the Pakistan intelligence services and the Taliban. Pakistan was one of only three nations that recognized, diplomatically recognized the government of Afghanistan at that particular time. But the fact is Musharraf has put his neck on the line in order to be effective in going after the extremist elements including al-Qaeda and including the Taliban in Pakistan. There have been three attempts on his life, two of those by al-Qaeda over the course of the last three years. This is a man who has demonstrated great courage under very difficult political circumstances and has been a great ally for the United States.
So theres no question in that area along the Afghan/Pakistan border is something of a no mans land, it has been for centuries. Its extraordinarily rough territory. People there who move back and forth across the border, they were smuggling goods before there was concern about, about terrorism. But we need to continue to work the problem. Musharraf just visited Karzai in, in Kabul this past week, theyre both going to be here during the course of the U.N. General Assembly meetings over the course of the next few weeks. We worked that area very hard, and the Paks have been great allies in that effort.
