Cheney says killing bin Laden could trigger new terrorism

WASHINGTON -- The death of Osama bin Laden could trigger new terrorist attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday.

"The threat level is still pretty significant out there, especially if we come to the end of the road here for bin Laden in Afghanistan and we're successful in wrapping him up," Cheney said on CBS's "60 Minutes II."

"That, in and of itself, could be a signal that would trigger some kind of a revenge attack, if you will, by people loyal to bin Laden," he said. "So it doesn't end, necessarily, with him."

The Bush administration in recent days has sought to deflect attention away from bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and focus Americans and world audiences on the broader target of those who harbor terrorists.

Cheney warned that even bin Laden's death would not safeguard the United States against attacks, because "even if we sort of chop off the head, if you will, we may still find that the al-Qaida organization is there."

Must get him

But, Cheney said, "In the end, we can't wrap it up unless we do get him."

The United States is pursuing bin Laden, believed to be on the move in the shrinking but rugged parts of Afghanistan that the Taliban forces control.

Bin Laden is probably still in Afghanistan, but moving swiftly to stay ahead of his enemies, Cheney said. The Taliban, he said, is "in headlong retreat."

The vice president said the effort could be helped by what he characterized as growing resentment in Afghanistan toward bin Laden, who was a Saudi Arabian citizen until that country stripped him of his citizenship. Many of the Taliban's leaders are also Arab.

No longer welcome

"He represents this foreign element that was invited into the country by the Taliban," Cheney said. "And he's brought in a large Arab contingent with him, and that they are probably no longer welcome just about anyplace in Afghanistan."

The administration rejected the concept of "nation-building" when President Bush took office, but Cheney echoed the change of heart it has apparently had in the case of Afghanistan.

"We would like to see a government formed that is broadly representative of the country at large. We're prepared to work to do everything we can to support that kind of enterprise," Cheney said.

The vice president also offered a glimpse into his own under-the-radar movements in recent weeks, when he has often been spirited to an undisclosed "secure location."

He and others have often said that is to ensure he could succeed Bush if the president were harmed.

Wednesday, Cheney said a small group of people are being "preserved" to assume control of the government if necessary.

"We do it in a way so that we've preserved a core element that could, in fact, take over and operate the federal government should something happen to the president and his key advisers," he said.

Cheney defended a hunting trip he took last week to South Dakota.

"The key thing here was, I was away from the president, I wasn't in the same location he was," he said.

"It's not that I'm always underground, which is sort of the myth that's gotten created out there, but the point is that we're cautious about not being in the same space at the same time," Cheney said.

"Now, if I wanted to go spend a long weekend with a few friends on a pheasant hunt, it seems to me that's perfectly appropriate. And it's good for my psyche to get out and relax that way."