Powell Says US can Link Bin Laden, al Qaeda to Attacks: CNN

The United States will be able to link Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda to the terror attacks in New York and Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday.

He warned that a campaign against the reclusive suspected terrorist and his network could cost lives.

"War is war and there will be casualties," said Powell, who pointed out "there is no such thing as zero-casualty conflict" in a fight against terrorism.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Powell said he is "absolutely convinced" bin Laden and al Qaeda are responsible for the aerial attacks that leveled the World Trade Center's twin towers and damaged the Pentagon on September 11.

"The network has to be ripped up and brought to justice," he said.

Bin Laden, said Powell, is "not someone to be admired. ... He is someone to be condemned as against civilization as we know it. He is a murderer. ... He has murdered thousands of people from around the world. ... That's what he should be seen as, a murderer."

Powell also emphasized the target of any U.S. retaliation would be bin Laden, not the Afghan people.

"We are interested in going after Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network, murderers of over 6,000 people in this incident, murderers in earlier incidents," he said. (Full story)








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