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Peter Bergen: Commentaries

Nearly five months ago, President Obama spoke to the nation from the White House and declared: "Our objective is clear. We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL (also known as ISIS) through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy."

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Should nations just pay ISIS ransom?updated Tue Jan 20 2015 18:34:50

The black-clad, masked British ISIS terrorist who has taken center stage in the group's hostage videos appeared in a new video on Tuesday threatening the lives of two Japanese hostages, Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa.

Is the U.S. at risk of a Paris-like attack?updated Fri Jan 16 2015 10:36:59

The difference between the scale of the European terrorist threat and the threat in the United States was underlined by Wednesday's arrest of Christopher Lee Cornell, a 20-year-old Ohio resident, who had been monitored by an FBI informant and was allegedly plotting an attack, inspired by ISIS, against the U.S. Capitol.

Does Islam fuel terrorism?updated Tue Jan 13 2015 08:40:57

Does Islam have anything to do with the terrorist atrocities in Paris last week? The short, uncomfortable, answer is: Of course it does.

The American who inspires terror from Paris to the U.S.updated Sun Jan 11 2015 18:58:55

The deadliest jihadist terrorist attack in Europe in a decade was inspired and perhaps even was instigated by an American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, who died in a CIA drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

Rise of the female jihadistsupdated Sat Jan 10 2015 14:40:19

The hunt is on for Hayat Boumeddiene, the 26-year-old woman wanted over Thursday's fatal shooting of a French policewoman. Early reports suggested she might have escaped Friday from a kosher grocery store in eastern Paris as French authorities mounted a rescue operation to free hostages being held there by Amedy Coulibaly, believed to be her boyfriend. However, CNN reports that no witness has publicly said the woman was actually at the scene of the siege, and now sources are saying she left France before the attack on the policewoman.

How the Kouachi brothers turned to terrorismupdated Fri Jan 09 2015 17:20:40

Said and Cherif Kouachi, who are the leading suspects in Wednesday's attack on the magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, grew up in a world of poor job prospects, life in the French equivalent of the projects and prison time that is not untypical for the French "underclass," which is disproportionately Muslim.

Americans have plotted to kill cartoonists who lampooned Islamupdated Wed Jan 07 2015 19:48:36

Watching the tragedies unfold in Copenhagen on Saturday and in Paris at the Charlie Hebdo magazine last month in which terrorists attacked cartoonists and journalists deemed to have insulted the Prophet Mohammed, Americans might take some comfort in the idea that this is the sort of attack that wouldn't likely involve a U.S. citizen or happen in the U.S.

Why U.S. needs to stay in Afghanistanupdated Mon Jan 05 2015 08:02:26

President Barack Obama says that the last American troops will leave Afghanistan at the end of 2016. This happens to roughly coincide with the end of his second term in office and also fulfills his campaign promise to wind down America's post-9/11 wars.

Pakistan's 9/11updated Tue Dec 16 2014 12:25:30

The slaughter of more than 130 children at a school by the Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday may prove as pivotal to Pakistan's national security policy as the 9/11 attacks were for the United States.

Did torture help lead to bin Laden?updated Wed Dec 10 2014 08:49:54

Did waterboarding and other coercive interrogation techniques that were used on al Qaeda detainees in CIA custody eventually lead to the Navy SEAL operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan early in the morning of May 2, 2011?

Why hostage rescues failupdated Mon Dec 08 2014 10:08:33

One of the most successful hostage rescues of the modern era took place on July 4, 1976, when Israeli commandos stormed Entebbe Airport in Uganda to rescue dozens of Israeli hostages held there by a Palestinian terrorist group.

Al Qaeda commander's American life and deathupdated Sun Dec 07 2014 12:37:50

In August 2008, Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan-American, and two friends from his high school in Queens flew from Newark, New Jersey, to Peshawar, Pakistan, where they hoped to join the Taliban.

Why ISIS is spreading across Muslim worldupdated Wed Nov 19 2014 15:11:27

In the many media stories about the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, much of the focus has rightly been on the thousands of foreign fighters ISIS has attracted, its brutal tactics and its robust social media presence.

Did Robert O'Neill really kill bin Laden?updated Tue Nov 04 2014 18:24:50

Former Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill said in an interview with The Washington Post that he was the one who fired the final shot to kill Osama bin Laden in 2011.

First line of defense against terrorism: Mom and Dadupdated Wed Oct 29 2014 17:03:16

Last week, three teenage girls from Denver were alleged to have tried to join ISIS.

ISIS reveals its strategyupdated Mon Oct 20 2014 08:28:32

ISIS is looking to take over a good chunk of the Middle East -- if not the entire Muslim world. At least, that's the message the terrorist movement is sending in its English online magazine, Dabiq.

What lures Americans to Syria fightupdated Tue Oct 14 2014 07:25:25

Over the past two years, 12 Americans have been charged with supporting militant groups fighting in Syria or have died while fighting with such groups.

An Afghan miracleupdated Wed Oct 01 2014 14:56:24

Yep. You read the headline right.

Jihadist threat not as big as you thinkupdated Fri Sep 26 2014 12:31:19

Most Americans had never heard of the Khorasan group until this week, when President Barack Obama announced that U.S. airstrikes in Syria had targeted the "seasoned al-Qaeda operatives." U.S. officials said that the Khorasan group was actively plotting to conduct an attack in the United States or Europe.

America's wartime presidentupdated Tue Sep 23 2014 18:30:59

Quick: Which U.S. president has authorized wars of various kinds in seven Muslim countries?

Lone wolves are biggest terror threatupdated Tue Sep 23 2014 12:21:12

On Sunday, ISIS released a new audio recording calling for Muslims to kill Americans and Europeans. In it, an ISIS spokesman states, "If you can kill a disbelieving American or European, especially the spiteful and filthy French, or an Australian, or a Canadian or any other disbeliever, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be."

Hezbollah armed drone? Militants' new weapon updated Mon Sep 22 2014 13:48:56

Over this past weekend, Hezbollah, the militant Shiite group that is headquartered in Lebanon, reportedly used drones to bomb a building used by the al Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front, along Lebanon's border with Syria.

The British connection to ISIS beheadings updated Sun Sep 14 2014 13:07:25

He has beheaded again. The tall, masked British man with the London accent, working with ISIS.

ISIS threat to U.S. mostly hypeupdated Fri Sep 05 2014 11:02:41

ISIS has Americans worried. Two-thirds of those surveyed in a recent Pew Research poll said they consider the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to be a "major threat" to this country. But are such fears really justified?

The man who hunted bin Laden, Saddam and the piratesupdated Sat Aug 30 2014 11:15:18

On Thursday in Tampa, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel presided over a change of command ceremony during which Adm. William "Bill" McRaven handed over the reins of Special Operations Command to his successor, Gen. Joseph Votel.

An American's gateway to jihadupdated Fri Aug 29 2014 17:14:25

On Wednesday, a propaganda video appeared on the Internet featuring Moner Abu-Salha, the U.S. citizen from Florida who died conducting a suicide bomb attack in Syria for al Qaeda in May.

When Americans leave for jihadupdated Wed Aug 27 2014 12:26:48

Douglas McAuthur McCain grew up in the Minneapolis area. Aged 33, he died more than 6,000 miles to the east of his birthplace, fighting in Syria for ISIS, the group that calls itself the "Islamic State."

Now ISIS has drones?updated Sun Aug 24 2014 18:46:56

In a video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday purportedly by the terrorist group ISIS, various scenes of jihadist propaganda flash across the screen: militants reading verses from the Quran and examining a map of northern Syria, clips of violent clashes and explosions.

Should nations just pay ISIS ransom?updated Fri Aug 22 2014 16:34:34

The black-clad, masked British ISIS terrorist who has taken center stage in the group's hostage videos appeared in a new video on Tuesday threatening the lives of two Japanese hostages, Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa.

ISIS: Is it really a threat to the U.S.?updated Mon Aug 18 2014 08:24:25

U.S. officials are claiming that the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, is "now a credible alternative to al Qaeda."

U.S. general's killing may be a bad omenupdated Wed Aug 06 2014 07:35:17

On Tuesday, an Afghan soldier killed a U.S. major general and wounded a German brigadier general, as well as up to 15 others, in an attack at the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The all-American al Qaeda suicide bomberupdated Thu Jul 31 2014 12:07:41

Seconds before he detonated the massive truck bomb that killed him and a number of Syrian soldiers two months ago, Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha radioed other fighters in al Qaeda to say, "I see paradise and I can smell paradise."

Bush's toxic legacy in Iraqupdated Fri Jun 13 2014 19:29:44

ISIS, the brutal insurgent/terrorist group formerly known as al Qaeda in Iraq, has seized much of western and northern Iraq and even threatens towns not far from Baghdad.

Right-wing extremists strike againupdated Tue Jun 10 2014 07:55:03

On Sunday, Jerad and Amanda Miller, a married couple, allegedly killed two police officers in an ambush at a Las Vegas pizza restaurant and then murdered another person in an adjacent Walmart. During the attack, the couple reportedly stated that their attack was part of a "revolution," according to Second Assistant Sheriff Kevin McMahill.

How big a terror risk are former Guantanamo prisoners?updated Thu Jun 05 2014 10:06:54

Following the Taliban prisoner swap that led to the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, told Fox News that 30% of the detainees released from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay "have already gone back into the fight."

Americans dying for al Qaedaupdated Sun Jun 01 2014 16:29:04

Nearly 13 years after the 9/11 attacks, many Americans were likely surprised to learn that one of their fellow citizens had committed suicide on behalf of al Qaeda in a massive bombing attack last week in northern Syria.

Obama says goodbye to American hubrisupdated Wed May 28 2014 15:00:59

What is the Obama Doctrine? As the President put it Wednesday, "Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail."

Obama has put Pakistan drone war on holdupdated Fri May 23 2014 08:51:43

A year ago, President Obama delivered a speech at the National Defense University in Washington in which he made the case that it was time to wind down the "boundless global war on terror " and "perpetual wartime footing" that has been a feature of American life since 9/11.

Drones will fill the skyupdated Tue May 13 2014 08:35:42

Drones are everywhere.

What's at stake in war against girls' kidnappers?updated Mon May 05 2014 17:00:31

Befitting its status as a fast-growing oil exporter, for Nigeria this week was to be a coming out party of sorts, as it hosts the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa. More than a thousand academic, business, civil society and political leaders are supposed to gather in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city, beginning on Wednesday, to discuss "inclusive growth and job creation."

Obama's high-stakes drone war in Yemenupdated Mon Apr 21 2014 12:51:12

Over the weekend the United States launched drone strikes in two different locations in Yemen, killing at least 15 militants as well as three civilians. At the same time, Yemeni ground forces began what have been termed "unprecedented" operations against al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen, which may also involve additional U.S. drone strikes, although that isn't clear right now.

U.S. right wing extremists more deadly than jihadistsupdated Mon Apr 14 2014 19:43:46

On Sunday, a man shot and killed a 14-year-old boy and his grandfather at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and then drove to a nearby Jewish retirement community where he shot and killed a third person. Police arrested a suspect, Frazier Glenn Cross, who shouted "Heil Hitler" after he was taken into custody.

The man who inspired the Boston bombingsupdated Fri Apr 11 2014 09:33:45

One year after the Boston Marathon bombings and almost three years after his death in a CIA drone strike in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki, the New Mexico-born American cleric who was an operational leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, continues to be a major influence on violent jihadist extremists in the United States.

Four things we learned about the Boston bombingupdated Tue Apr 08 2014 08:29:57

A year ago on April 15, two brothers of Chechen heritage who were raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, were alleged to have carried out a spectacular bombing at the Boston Marathon that killed three, wounded more than 200 and led to a massive manhunt that paralyzed the city and its suburbs for days.

11 things to know about world's biggest electionupdated Sun Apr 06 2014 18:15:37

India's general election, the largest democratic exercise in history, begins Monday. Voters will elect 543 members to the lower house of parliament, which will then select the country's next prime minister. Here are 11 things you need to know about the world's biggest election:

What if the Afghan elections actually work?updated Wed Apr 02 2014 08:37:55

Afghans will go to the polls on Saturday to elect their second president since the overthrow of the Taliban in the winter of 2001.

Why the Saudis unfriended the U.S.updated Wed Mar 26 2014 07:43:58

The world's most powerful democracy and the world's most absolute monarchy have long been close, if unlikely, allies.

Get the government out of your phone recordsupdated Tue Mar 25 2014 16:29:37

The Obama administration is proposing to scrap the NSA's bulk collection of all Americans' phone call records.

Pakistan sheltered Bin Laden? Prove itupdated Fri Mar 21 2014 09:57:08

The New York Times magazine is running a bombshell story alleging that the Pakistanis knew all along that Osama bin Laden was living for years in his longtime hiding place in the northern Pakistan city of Abbottabad, where he was killed by a U.S. Navy SEAL team on May 2, 2011.

Did terrorists take control of Flight 370?updated Mon Mar 17 2014 10:59:54

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters over the weekend that "deliberate" action by somebody on board accounted for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 veering off course.

Plane takeovers a dangerous realityupdated Fri Mar 14 2014 15:37:52

There is still much that is mysterious about the fate of Malaysia Air Flight 370, but there is emerging consensus that the passenger jet bound for Beijing changed course, flying west over the Indian Ocean and flew for at least four hours. This tends to suggest that there was a human intervention, rather than a mechanical failure.

Dianne Feinstein is no bomb throwerupdated Tue Mar 11 2014 19:19:19

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is not a bomb thrower.

When passenger jets mysteriously disappearupdated Sun Mar 09 2014 19:38:58

Nothing gets conspiracy theorists going more than a passenger plane crashing under mysterious circumstances.

Cyberwar hits Ukraineupdated Fri Mar 07 2014 10:09:48

Ukrainian security officials are complaining that unknown attackers are interfering with the mobile phone services of members of Ukraine's parliament, making difficult political decisions about what to do about Russia's incursion last week into Crimea that much harder.

Forecasts of terrorist apocalypse? Never mindupdated Wed Feb 26 2014 10:45:20

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future" is an aphorism attributed to the great baseball player Yogi Berra.

Will the U.S. negotiate with terrorists?updated Wed Feb 19 2014 14:19:15

The U.S. government's long-stated position is that it won't negotiate with terrorists. But are there exceptions?

Target an American with drones?updated Tue Feb 11 2014 17:35:49

President Barack Obama is the first American president known to have authorized the assassination of a US citizen.

A terror group too brutal for al Qaeda?updated Tue Feb 04 2014 17:52:00

When even al Qaeda publicly rejects you because you are too brutal, it's likely a reasonable indicator that you are.

NSA and your phone records: What should Obama do?updated Wed Jan 15 2014 08:32:48

On Friday President Obama will address the nation about the NSA's controversial surveillance programs. He is expected to announce some substantive changes to those programs which collect data about the phone calls of every American.

Al Qaeda controls more territory than ever in Middle Eastupdated Tue Jan 07 2014 16:58:18

From around Aleppo in western Syria to small areas of Falluja in central Iraq, al Qaeda now controls territory that stretches more than 400 miles across the heart of the Middle East, according to English and Arab language news accounts as well as accounts on jihadist websites.

Would NSA surveillance have stopped 9/11 plot?updated Mon Dec 30 2013 07:47:11

The Obama administration has framed its defense of the controversial bulk collection of all American phone records as necessary to prevent a future 9/11.

Is al Qaeda outdoing the U.S. on truth telling?updated Mon Dec 23 2013 14:55:56

It has long been said that in war, "truth is the first casualty."

Hyping the terror threat?updated Tue Dec 03 2013 08:12:29

On Sunday's CNN "State of the Union" show, anchor Candy Crowley asked Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D- California), the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and her counterpart in the House, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan), a simple question: "Are we safer now than we were a year ago, two years ago, in general?"

Did Obama keep his drone promises?updated Fri Oct 25 2013 07:44:29

On May 23, President Barack Obama gave a major speech at the National Defense University in Washington stating his intention to recalibrate his counterterrorism strategy, which is now largely defined by a covert CIA drone program that has come under increased public and congressional scrutiny over the past couple of years.

Syrian war's brutality isn't going awayupdated Fri Oct 11 2013 16:57:21

A gruesome snuff video that has garnered more than 180,000 views on YouTube underlines just how grim the Syrian conflict has become.

Good thing U.S. terrorist hunters weren't furloughedupdated Mon Oct 07 2013 07:30:14

On the sweltering evening of April 12, 2009, as dusk deepened over the Indian Ocean, several hundred miles off the coast of Somalia, three shots rang out. All the bullets found their targets -- three Somali pirates in a small lifeboat bobbing on the darkening sea.

Al-Shabaab backed by money from U.S.updated Sun Sep 29 2013 12:00:44

After the attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya, substantial attention was given to the some 40 Americans who have traveled to fight for Al-Shabaab in Somalia during the past several years.

Are mass murderers using Twitter as a tool?updated Thu Sep 26 2013 15:58:33

It was the first major terrorist attack in history in which the group that mounted the operation used Twitter to announce to the world it was responsible.

Al-Shabaab's American allies updated Mon Sep 23 2013 16:03:43

Of all al Qaeda's affiliated groups, the Somali terrorist organization Al-Shabaab has over the past several years had the deepest links to the United States. Some 15 Americans have died fighting for Al-Shabaab, as many as four of them as suicide bombers in Somalia, and an American citizen even took up a leadership role in the group.

How Al-Shabaab picks its targetsupdated Sat Sep 21 2013 21:48:54

Al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda's brutal Somali affiliate, has claimed credit for the attack by multiple gunmen at an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya that has already killed at least 59 people.

Tackling the military's insider threatupdated Thu Sep 19 2013 16:14:18

Aaron Alexis, the troubled civilian contractor and Navy veteran who killed a dozen fellow workers this week at the Washington Navy Yard, is far from the only veteran or active-duty serviceman to plan or carry out mayhem directed at U.S. military targets during the past decade.

Jihadist terrorism in America since 9/11updated Mon Sep 09 2013 21:27:05

We are about to mark the 12th anniversary of 9/11. Since then, al Qaeda and its affiliated groups haven't launched a successful attack in the United States.

Syria plunging Mideast into sectarian war?updated Wed Sep 04 2013 13:15:58

As they contemplate military action against Syria, one of many considerations members of Congress and Obama administration officials have to weigh is how a U.S. strike against the regime of Bashar al-Assad might effect the already complicated, even poisonous, state of Sunni-Shia relations in the region.

Obama on war: A realist and risk takerupdated Sun Sep 01 2013 21:03:19

Barack Obama came to Washington to end wars. Not to start them.

Al Qaeda's potent force in Syriaupdated Thu Aug 29 2013 12:56:39

Why has the Obama administration been so reluctant to intervene in Syria? There are a host of reasons -- American fatigue with war, President Barack Obama's disinclination to start another conflict in the Middle East, and the splintered, fractured opposition to Bashar al-Assad.

For U.S., Syria is truly a problem from hellupdated Mon Aug 26 2013 19:34:33

What is widely recognized as the most authoritative study of the United States' responses to mass killings around the world -- from the massacres of Armenians by the Turks a century ago, to the Holocaust, to the more recent Serbian atrocities against Bosnian Muslims and the ethnic cleansing of the Tutsis in Rwanda -- concluded that they all shared unfortunate commonalities:

Al Qaeda leader's 'I told you so' on Egyptupdated Thu Aug 15 2013 11:56:32

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian-born leader of al Qaeda, has seen this movie before: An Islamist party does well at the polling booth only to be overthrown by a military coup that then plunges the country into chaos.

What's behind timing of terror threatupdated Fri Aug 02 2013 16:54:33

On Friday the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert because of an unspecified al Qaeda threat. The location of that threat, the department said in a bulletin, is "particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula." As a result, an unprecedented 22 embassies and consulates in 17 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia closed for a day on Sunday.

Jihadists focus on prison breaksupdated Wed Jul 31 2013 14:44:26

In an attack orchestrated by a Pakistani Taliban commander, around 250 prisoners, most of them militants, were freed this week at the central prison in Dera Ismail Khan in northwestern Pakistan.

Al Qaeda's kinder, gentler image makeoverupdated Wed Jul 31 2013 07:52:21

An al Qaeda-produced video posted on a website in early July opens with uplifting images of smiling Syrian children and jovial old men listening to speeches delivered by al Qaeda militants.

New view of drone death tollupdated Fri Jul 26 2013 07:57:39

The debate over the number of civilian casualties caused by CIA drone strikes in Pakistan is perhaps the most contentious issue in the often fraught U.S.-Pakistan relationship.

Al Qaeda in Yemen: On the ropesupdated Thu Jul 18 2013 11:44:00

On Wednesday, al Qaeda's virulent Yemeni affiliate which is known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed the death of the group's deputy leader and co-founder, Saeed al-Shihri, in a video message posted to jihadist websites.

From Benghazi to Boston: The state of the jihadupdated Tue Jul 16 2013 09:44:13

Every July in the lush, green mountains of Aspen, Colorado, many of the top present and former U.S. national security officials and other experts gather to discuss how the war against al Qaeda and its allies is going.

Abandon Afghanistan? A dumb ideaupdated Tue Jul 09 2013 13:54:09

President Barack Obama is seriously contemplating withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan sometime in 2014, a senior administration official told CNN's Jessica Yellin.

Bin Laden's life on the runupdated Tue Jul 09 2013 12:39:56

On Monday, Pakistan's long-awaited report into the death of Osama bin Laden in the city of Abbottabad two years ago was leaked in full to Al Jazeera.

Falling under the spell of a slain terroristupdated Fri Jun 28 2013 17:18:40

The U.S. drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American cleric who was born in New Mexico and who would go on to become an al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, did not silence his siren call to jihad.

What U.S. learned from listening in on terror group callsupdated Wed Jun 19 2013 08:49:38

Sometime in late 2007, Basaaly Saeed Moalin, a cabdriver living in San Diego, began to have a series of phone conversations with Aden Hashi Ayrow, one of the leaders of Al-Shabaab, a notorious Somali terrorist group.

Did NSA snooping stop 'dozens' of terrorist attacks?updated Mon Jun 17 2013 13:21:54

Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, asserted that his agency's massive acquisition of U.S. phone data and the contents of overseas Internet traffic that is provided by American tech companies has helped prevent "dozens of terrorist events."

Al Qaeda's boss asserts himselfupdated Tue Jun 11 2013 16:51:11

In the most comprehensive speech he has delivered on terrorism, President Barack Obama declared last month that the "core of al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan is on a path to defeat."

Terrorists target the militaryupdated Wed Jun 05 2013 21:28:25

At a hearing on Tuesday, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, for the first time publicly explained that he was motivated by a desire to protect the leadership of the Taliban -- in particular, Mullah Mohammed Omar, the overall leader of the movement.

Bush's war on terror is overupdated Fri May 24 2013 08:37:15

In the past few weeks, we've seen a British soldier hacked to death with a meat cleaver on the streets of London and bombers blowing up spectators at the Boston Marathon.

9 myths about drones and Guantanamoupdated Wed May 22 2013 08:42:32

On Thursday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech in Washington about his administration's counterterrorism policies, focusing on the rationale and legal framework for the controversial CIA drone program and his plans to wind down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

Terror threat from Gitmo prisoners is exaggeratedupdated Tue May 07 2013 12:04:04

The detainee hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay is entering its third month. Official reports say 100 of the detainees remaining at the detention camp are refusing food; lawyers for the detainees say the number is closer to 130. 

Al Qaeda's track record with chemical weaponsupdated Mon May 06 2013 17:13:04

On Monday, a U.N. official said that Syrian rebels had likely used the nerve agent sarin.

From bin Laden to Bostonupdated Tue Apr 30 2013 10:57:47

Killing the man proved easier than killing his ideology.

Agencies often miss warning signs of attacksupdated Sat Apr 27 2013 13:46:53

In her classic 1962 study, "Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision," Roberta Wohlstetter shows how the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base on December 7, 1941, should have been less surprising than it appeared at the time because there were warning signs known to the U.S. government that such an attack was possible.

Al Qaeda, Iran ... and Canada plot?updated Tue Apr 23 2013 11:15:47

The news that Canadian law enforcement on Monday arrested two men accused of planning to derail a passenger train in the Toronto area has attracted much attention, in part, because the plotters are also charged with "receiving support from al Qaeda elements in Iran."