Rumsfeld's Take on al Qaeda Today
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

"As we put pressure on and close a door here, they'll push and find a door somewhere else," the secretary said. He said that has been happening for more than a year now, and he expects it to continue. "We're behaving differently too," Rumsfeld said. "Just as they've gone to school on us, we've gone to school on them and have learned a good deal about how they operate and what they do."

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
Al Qaeda "has gone to school on us" and has adjusted to the constant U.S. pressure on the terrorist organization, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a Pentagon press conference Oct. 22.

"They are not back in business the way they were before," he said. "They've received a great deal of pressure -- financial, law enforcement, military pressure."

He said al Qaeda has dispersed from their former haunts, but is still operating in dozens of countries, including the United States. "There is no question ... they are capable of conducting an operation in the United States, just as they are in many other countries," Rumsfeld said.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

Dan