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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 9, 2003

PRESS RELEASE

Aaron Cohen

Former Israel Defense Forces Counter-Terrorist Commando

ON

CNN

"PAULA ZAHN --NOW"

FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2004 AT 8:00PM EST

CNN/ Paula Zahn Interview With Aaron Cohen

ZAHN: Were the four American security contractors murdered and mutilated last week in Fallujah the victims of an ambush? That's what the first that employed them believes.

An executive at Blackwater USA has told "The New York Times" that its workers were lured into a trap by men who appeared to be part of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, a force trained by the American military. The Pentagon has not confirmed. It is still investigating what happened, but it raises new questions about the unique dangers facing Americans in Iraq.

Joining us from Los Angeles to talk about that is Aaron Cohen, former Israeli Army commando, Israeli and counterterrorism expert.

Good to see you, Aaron. Welcome.

AARON COHEN, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT: Hi, Paula.

ZAHN: Based on what you know about this case, is it your belief that they were attacked as part of a coordinated effort?

A. COHEN: Well, it's hard to tell because I'm not there. But I wouldn't put it past them to use deception as a tool to carry out their acts of violence. It's definitely possible.

ZAHN: With the amount of skepticism that one has in Iraq right now, are you surprised that trained security experts would actually put this kind of trust in the hands of Iraqi police forces?

A. COHEN: Well, I'm not surprised. And the reason why is because there is a lot of professional soldiers that are right now that are actually dealing and doing the security physically in Iraq at this time right now.

But the thing is that the security does not necessarily reflect the backgrounds of the individuals. They are very highly trained soldiers and they were hired as a result of that. But, specifically, the training and the tactics need to embody what the exact mission is going to be there.

ZAHN: So how are you trained to know who's the enemy and who's not?

A. COHEN: Well, Paula, it's really all about time in. They need good time there. They need good intelligence. They need make sure that they've asked themselves all the difficult questions before they begin to carry out security operations and make sure that all the security plans are in place before they begin to move.

ZAHN: So what do you see as the biggest threat facing the security forces in Iraq right now?

A. COHEN: I think the biggest threat right now is going to be the deception that's being used by these guerrilla forces.

You've got a lot of embattlement between the leadership trying to fight for positioning. And what that does is that elevates the alertness, or the alert level, to those individuals who are there, specifically because they don't exactly know who they're going to be dealing with. So they need to be extra cautious. They need to do everything they can possibly do to prepare themselves both tactfully and intelligence-wise to make sure that they've done everything to reduce the amount of risk.

The fact is, they don't know who the enemy is right now. There's so much confusion going on. These guys need to be extra, extra aware and make sure that they have done everything possible specifically in this urban environment, where close-quarters action is going to happen. They need the right equipment. And they need to, again, look at every different possibility to make sure they've done everything they can to be safe.

ZAHN: So basically, what you're saying, in spite of the training they've had, there really is no way to stop this from happening again?

A. COHEN: It's very unlikely. There is no 100 percent chance. The situation is very, very volatile. And they are going to need to do everything they can to be aware of their surroundings at all times, no matter what. There is a very high possibility that there will be a situation like this again, no question about it. These guys need to put themselves in a position where they've got a very, very high level of both intelligence for where they're going to be moving to and from and how they are going to respond tactically, specifically in that area or that urban environment where they're going to be very, very, very close to a potential attack.

ZAHN: How good do you think the intelligence is that they're getting?

A. COHEN: You know what? Again, it's kind of unfair for me to comment, because I don't know and I'm not there. Intelligence isn't an exact science. We've heard that before.

But I'll hope -- we hope that the information they're going to be getting is going to be very accurate, and the people that they're going to be working with and carrying out security operations with are going to be trustworthy. That's really all they can do.

ZAHN: Aaron Cohen, appreciate your insights tonight.

A. COHEN: Thank you, Paula. Thank you very much.

ZAHN: Thank you.

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