particularly useful because if you say al qaeda and its allies, it allows you to deal with al qaeda and therefore, we are not at war with you. if the taliban ever got around to saying al qaeda is a bad thing, 9/11 was a bad thing, they would be de- aligning themselves. they haven't done that. i'm not holding my breath they will. we've had this discussion before and i think they are rational actors. in a sort of kissinger like moment that they will not say those are what we thought was wrong. i don't think they're going to do that. >> host: it's rare you would see that kind of the moment. it's very rare like the japanese on the deck of the missouri that they signed instrument of surrender, and those with the route over the course of a generation. >> guest: i think al qaeda will peer out. one of the best lines in early on the george w. bush said, i presume it was written for him, that al qaeda was essentially going to be consigned to the dustbin of history at a certain point. he said it much better. the unmarked grave of discarded lies. it was a great line. and i think it's true. it is a

before 2001 al-qaeda was protected in be taliban-controlled afghanistan. al-qaeda and the taliban along with various associated groups still maintain an alliance based largely in the border region between afghanistan and pakistan. and the taliban continue to wage a brutal insurgency against the government in kabul in an effort to regain control of the country. the taliban and al-qaeda are distinct groups with distinct aims, but they are both our add adversaries and part of a syndicate of terror that must be broken. after he took office, president obama launched a thorough review of our policy and set out a clear goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-qaeda and prevent it from threatening america and our allies in the future. al-qaeda cannot be allowed to maintain its safe haven protected by the taliban and to continue plotting attacks while destabilizing nations that have known far too much war. from the tigress to the indus, the region will never live up to its full potential until it is free of al-qaeda and its creed of violence and hatred. that is an aspiration that should unite e

to that degree, there is a kernel of truth in the colonel's fears of al qaeda and that al qaeda might somehow be involved in an uprising against him. >> you met gaddafi on several occasions. many others have described him as a savvy, intelligent, as a deep thinker. it does not seem intelligent. he is attacking his own people. >> well, that is correct. the question is, who was attacking whom? who is being attacked? we want to say he is a villain. i think that is true. if you want to say it is barbarous that he is using heavy weapons against people round of libya, that is true. if you want to understand why he is doing it, we have to understand from his point view, the uprising started in benghazi, where clan rivals have tried to depose him. it was started by armed people who luted police stations and so on. from his points of view, it is an uprising. this has spread now. i am not trying to say what he thinks is the case. i'm trying to give perhaps insight on what it is he is thinking. what i want to make clear is i don't think this is simply a lunatic and a fool and a buffoon. if he we

, pakistan where al qaeda is? i'm not saying we should invade, but by your own longer genex docents to be in afghanistan. they think even more importantly al qaeda isn't really that big of a threat in the first place. they got lucky september 11. since then you can't point to any single success. the become an inspiration to people. it's not like you have a james bond bad guy in pakistan sending the type. but we persist with this war on terror with bush's policies under obama now and we are spreading the war of terror into gehman, somalia and elsewhere. gavin -- the yemeni government is the worst regimes now that it's been removed and we are tying ourselves to it. this is a regime in yemen fighting shia rebels. it invents the huge al qaeda threats of weapons and money and support from the u.s. to use against domestic opposition. so the northern secessionist -- where tattersall to them. we get ourselves deeper and deeper and with the national security. anyway, i guess i'll take questions now. [applause] >> thank you

we know that al qaeda and tunisian merge with al qaeda in saudi arabia in 2009.t is very much an insurgent group, resurgent in its effort to attack the united states in the west. it thrives in the in government areas of yemen. it conducted numerous attacks in 2010 in south yemen, particularly in the government's. most prominence extremists we know well. a u.s. citizen who provide spiritual sanction for those who may wish to commit suicide in the name of al qaeda. it also -- it also continues to provide propaganda efforts against the west. although didn't and under pressure, the voice is still heard. on the ninth of november 2010, he issued a of a new video. if you read it, which i did, it could be summed in two words -- kill americans. we have already addressed the hewlett-packard laserjet cartridges, but it has done something else. a published last year its first edition of a web-based journal of propaganda directed at inciting violence acts, especially young muslims, living in the united states, the united kingdom, and other western states. this is an electroni

the numbers of al-qaeda have always been small.it's a bit of red herring to just focus on the numbers because the strength of al-qaeda is to have a group for these ideas. so you see itself as an elite group that's trying to influence other people. the good news is that more and more muslims are turning againt it. that's beginning to change. >> charlie: the afghan star war. >> even 9/11 to some degree, a certain amount that america was got what it deserved. that was not an uncommon view. hour now that so many muslims are the victims of al-qaeda whether this saudi arabia or jordan or iraq or afghanistan, they've killed a lot of muslims. so the suicide in al-qaeda is dropping pretty precipitously. >> charlie: is there a reason why we have not had a suicide. >> i think it's common sense. why hasn't there been an american suicide attacker, something in the water and the united states doesn't persuade people to do this, perhaps. but something in the environment. but we have americans commit suicide in other countries now. for instance in

they hate al qaeda. they are fighting al qaeda themselves. we put them in a room and say we need to give you the rivals before we work with you. hunt out there and work with al qaeda insurgents where you could get hurt, but we need your weapons. we are not going to give you our weapons. we are saying, yes, you are. it just kind of backfires. when that happened, we kind of took a step back. all of the iraqis were saying we're not going to patrol with you, we want nothing to do with you. we want to go home. put us back on the truck. drive us out. we've been gone. they are going to figure out who it was. you got to remember the neighbors are al qaeda, supporting al qaeda. they realized that if we do an op with them and don't get them all, they are going to figure out who's not home? those are the guys that are with the americans. so what we ended up doing, we didn't have trucks. we lied to them. they were outside. they couldn't see outside. they didn't know that. we told them they didn't have trucks and convinced four of them to go with us. four

we know that al qaeda and tunisian merge with al qaeda in saudi arabia in 2009. it is very much an insurgent group, resurgent in its effort to attack the united states in the west. it thrives in the in government areas of yemen. it conducted numerous attacks in 2010 in south yemen, particularly in the government's. most prominence extremists we know well. a u.s. citizen who provide spiritual sanction for those who may wish to commit suicide in the name of al qaeda. it also -- it also continues to provide propaganda efforts against the west. although didn't and under pressure, the voice is still heard. on the ninth of november 2010, he issued a of a new video. if you read it, which i did, it could be summed in two words -- kill americans. we have already addressed the hewlett-packard laserjet cartridges, but it has done something else. a published last year its first edition of a web-based journal of propaganda directed at inciting violence acts, especially young muslims, living in the united states, the united kingdom, and other western states. this is an electro

a vision of the region free from al qaeda. have we have underscored from the beginning, pakistan plays a pivotal role. it is a nuclear-on the nation of nearly 170 million people with deep ties and strong interests in afghanistan. it was with pakistan that the united states and other countries supported the afghan people in their fight against the soviet occupation in the 1980's. and pakistan continues to host thousands of refugees from the current conflict. unfortunately, the historic distrust between pakistan and afghanistan remains a major cause of regional instability and those don't surf -- and does not serve the long-term interest of the people of either country. pakistan has legitimate concerns that should be understood and addressed by the afghan government under any reconciliation process, with steps that provide transparency and reassurance. but pakistan also has responsibilities of its own, including taking decisive steps to ensure that the afghan taliban cannot continue to conduct the insurgency from pakistani terri

al qaeda is a serious problem. i don't think that we have the language to explain that because it is a form of warfare but the nearest form of warfare in terms of historical terms is the war against the barbary pirates in the 18th-century which is certainly a war but it wasn't an interstate war and it wasn't going to destroy the republic. .. [applause] >> thank you so much for coming tonight. before i start i've wanted to thanks and special members of the audience. my aunt judy is here to listen, and a group of people who are cheered heroes of m

i'm curious the sat is of al qaeda -- in the status of al qaeda. when a failed state in somalia and potentially one in yemen. we are concerned they could become a failed state. i hope not. the region is extremely volatile. i am wondering what we are doing in terms of resources. do we have sufficient resources to understand what we are doing in the horn of africa and yemen? what is the situation there? the second situation is one that makes me nervous. pakistan is extremely crucial to what happens in the rest of the world, what happened in afghanistan. to it is one of the most dangerous places on the planet. you have a state that has enormous volatility and nuclear weapons. what can you tell us about the security of the nuclear weapons under the control of the state of pakistan? are we in decent shape there? what needs to be done tmake sure the weapons are sick. ? >> thank you very much -- weapons arsecured? >> thank you very much. we appreciate that. a couple of comments about the country's you bring up. it might be better if you want to get into m

we know that al qaeda and tunisian merge with al qaeda in saudi arabia in 2009. it is veryuch an insurgent group, resurgent i its effort to attack the united states in the west. it thrives in the in government areas of yemen. it conducted numerous attacks in 2010 in south yemen, particularly in the government's. most prominence extremists we know well. a u.s. citizen who provide spiritual sanction for those who may wish to commit suicide in the name of al qaeda. it also -- it also continues to provide propaganda efforts against the west. although didn't and under pressure, the voice is still heard. on the ninth of november 20, he issued a of a w video. if you read it, which i did, it could be summed in two words -- kill americans. we have already addressed the hewlett-packard laserjet cartridges, but it has done something else. a published last year its firs edition of a web-based journal of propaganda directed at inciting violence acts, especially young muslims, living the united states, the united kingdom, and other western states. this is an eleconic magazine,

i am confused about the relationship between the saudi royal family and al qaeda.can you explain that a little bit more, and particularly how -- what is in the interest of the saudi royal family to establish a al qaeda sales in the united states? how does that work? what is being done and how far has progressed? >> the saudis are inoffensive almost imperialists purveyor of islam. they are indeed the people who want to build a caliphate worldwide. bin laden is more of a defensive jihadists wanting to take back the land that he believes were taken from his mom to the co -- islam. it elsewhere are both sponsoring and paying for subversives activities and indeed, are trying to make the world entirely islamic over time. the relationship with bin laden and the saudis is always a cloudy one. they have disowned him. but i think you will accept things are never quite black and white in the arab world and especially in saudi arabia. parts of the royal family are said to still contribute money to bin laden and other islamists , certainly wealthy families and wealthy muslims a

that would leave al qaeda alone and on the run.ban chose to defy the international community and protect al qaeda. the was the wrong choice, and they have paid a heavy price. today, the escalating pressure of our military campaign is sharpening a similar decision for the taliban: break ties with al qaeda, renounce violence, and abide by the afghan constitution , and you can regional and afghan society; refuse and you will continue to face the consequences of being tied to al qaeda as an enemy of the international community. they cannot wait us out. they cannot defeat us. and they cannot be escape this choice. all three searches are part of the vision for transition in afghanistan that president obama reaffirmed in his december policy brief you and that nato endorsed in lisbon that the most recent summit. ultimately, afghans must take responsibility for their own future -- for providing security, for strengthening governance, and for reaching a political solution to the conflict. that transition will be formally launched next month,

i'm curious the sat is of al qaeda -- in the status of al qaeda. when a failed state in somalia and potentially one in yemen. we are concerned they could become a failed state. i hope not. the region is extremely volatile. i am wondering what we are doing in terms of resources. do we have sufficient resources to understand what we are doing in the horn of africand yemen? what is the situation there? the second situation is one that makes me nervous. pakistan is extremely crucial to what happens in the rest of the world, what happened in afghanistan. to it is one of the most dangerous places on the planet. you have a state that has enormous volatility and nuclear weapons. what can you tell us about the security of the nuclear weapons under the control of the state of pakistan? are we in decent shape there? what needs to be done to make sure the weapons are sick. ? >> thank you very much -- weapons are secured? >> thank you very much. we appreciate that. a couple of comments about the country's you bring up. it might be better if you want to get into

. >> solo les resta vigilar de cerca los acontecimientos igual que lo están haciendo al-qaeda, ha ma'sicias.com regresamos con nuestra entrevista la primera dama michel obama. >> vamos a una pausa en seguida se intensifico a un las diferencia entre el estado de arizona y el gobierno de barack obama le diremos qué hizo la gobernadora. >> un comité vota a favor de hay un nuevo conflicto entre el gobierno de el presidente barack obama y el estado de arizona. >> anunció una contrademanda lo acusa de incapacidad para detener a inmigrantes indocumentados y tiene que ver con la controvertida ley sb 1070. >> en un acto considerado sin precedente la gobernadora de el estado de arizona anunció una contrademanda con la que hace 8 meses el presidente barack obama logró que una corte federal detuviera parcialmente la ley sb 1070 la cual criminaliza a la inmigración y eltelo en el estado. >> quien acusó al gobierno federal de fracasar en su obligación de detener la inmigración indocumentada que viene de méxico y fallar en su deber de proteger a los habitantes de arizona. >> y dijo estar dispuesta a

i mean is there anything here that we don't really know already that the taliban al qaeda are not the same people that they have a complex history that perhaps our strategies are only making them you know bringing them closer together right i mean there's several books are lawrence wright is a looming tower kind of made this argument about the relationship between the taliban and nine eleven and it was fractious and more the omar and bin laden didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things and bin laden. didn't keep him in the loop you know the taliban had no idea from the what we know about the nine eleven attacks that said that they did give them sanctuary. and since the war since the american invasion in two thousand and one you know there's been a large back and forth but the authors of this report have lived in kandahar since by then about two thousand and five or so so they're talking to taliban members talking to afghans and they're really getting real time intelligence from. people on the ground who are in the fight and who are saying that you know there are differences here that co

i'm curious the sat is of al qaeda -- in the status of al qaeda. when a failed state in somalia and potentially one in yemen. we are concerned they could become a failed state. i hope not. the region is extremely volatile. i am wondering what we are doing in terms of resources. do we have sufficient resources to understand what we are doing in the horn of africa and yemen? what is the situation there? the second situation is one that makes me nervous. pakistan is extremely crucial to what happens in the rest of the world, what happened in afghanistan. to it is one of the most dangerous places on the planet. you have a state that has enormous volatility and nuclear weapons. what can you tell us about the security of the nuclear weapons under the control of the state of pakistan? are we in decent shape there? what needs to be done to make sure the weapons are sick. ? >> thank you very much -- weapons are secured? >> thank you very much. we appreciate that. a couple of comments about the country's you bring up. it might be better if you want to get in

>> i consider al qaeda and the arabian peninsula with al awlaki, probably the more significant risk to the u.s. homeland. i'm hess tanltsz to rank them but they're certainly up there. >> would al awlaki be the one who has been the most successful as far as radicalizing through the internet? >> i think al awlaki certainly is the most well known english speaking idealogue speaking to fos in e homeland. i think al awlaki does have the greatest audience in the internet so in that sense he's the most important. >> how effective do you find inspire? >> it's a difficult question, mr. chairman. we obviously look at "inspire" it's spiffy, great graphics, in some sense speaks to individuals who are likely to be radicalized. there's very little new information in "inspire." to that extent, it is not, i don't think, something revolutionary and new in the substance, but in the way it conveys the message, it is useful and we tnk it is attractive to english speakers. >> how concerned are you about the possibility of messages being sent thugh "inspire?" >> i would take that more in a aclassified setti

al qaeda's leadership has weakened. safe havens in border regions are smaller and less secure, and its ability to prepare and conduct terrorist operations has been significantly degraded. but make no mistake, al qaeda remains a serious threat. but it is finding it tougher to raise money, train recruits, and planned attack felsite the region. just as importantly, we have given its taliban allies and sympathizers reason to question the wisdom of their loyalty. now let me turn to the second track. i know there are some on capitol hill and elsewhere who question whether we need anything more than guns, bombs, and troops to achieve our goals in afghanistan. as our commanders on the ground could be the first to say, however, that is a short-sighted and ultimately self-defeating the. we will never kill enough insurgents to end this war out right. the military campaign must proceed hand-in-hand with a robust civilian effort that helps the afghan government build credibility with its own people, offer alternative to the insurgen

yemen has become a major breeding ground for al qaeda.d train. the failed christmas day bomber who hid explosives in his underwear in 2009 trained here. last october, bombs disguised as toner cartridges were mailed from yemen. hiding somewhere in this country's southern provinces. the american-born radical cleric, anwar al awlaki. >> i think we regard al qaeda in yemen as way up there in the top level of threats. >> reporter: in the last five years, the u.s. has given yemen more than $250 million in aid. the majority going to the military. general yahya saleh, the nephew of yemen's president, is in charge of the country's security forces, including the 250 u.s.-trained counterterrorism troops. if you had to say how many al qaeda inner circle there are, what would you say? >> hundreds. >> reporter: hundreds? al qaeda is indeed stronger than ever. the yemenis are cooperating. but there is to strong intelligence setup here. in the remote provinces, the local tribes are protecting al qaeda. there is no way the u.s. is sending ground forces in

>> i think it's a blow to al qaeda. i think that the more you see the people who are taking part in the revolutions, the desire for democracy and freedom they express, they have no interest in al qaeda's message. al qaeda's message is one of hatred and theocratic tyranny. they consider democracy an enemy. there's little sign, no sign that i have seen that there's any enthusiasm for al qaeda. the only danger we nice right now, with regard to al qaeda or any terrorist group is if libya completely implodes and becomes a failed state and they take up residence and operations there. i think the united states will need to get involved, i hope not to a great extent, but possibly more than people are imagining now. >> bob kagan, reza aslan and jake tapper, thank you very much. i'll be back from tripoli with a note at the end of the program. >>> meantime, after break, jake will be back with four governors from around the united states. jake? >>> we bring together four governors dealing with the realities of the states. two repub

we were attacked on 9/11 by al qaeda. al qaeda had bases in afghanistan. it made sense to go in and destroy those bases, and we did. we had every right. we had every duty to destroy bases which are being used to plot attacks against the united states. but the c.i.a. tells us there are now fewer than 100 al qaeda personnel in all of the country of afghanistan. congress and the american people helped greatly reduce u.s. involvement in iraq through the election in 2006 and 2008, we forced a new direction in iraq and helped bring thousands of troops home. we must now do the same in afghanistan. the intent of this amendment is to reduce the funding for afghanistan sufficiently to leave enough funds to provide for the safe and orderly withdrawal of our troops but not funding for our ongoing combat operations. the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf, earlier today said he would propose an amendment to establish a blue ribbon commission to examine our war effort and to ask the question of how best to fight the war. with all due respect, that is the wrong question. t

he kept al qaeda out, it is a check on al qaeda. he was awful to his own people, but in our national security interests at that point, he was probably good for us. >> the only functioning democracy in the middle east today is iraq. you could argue that the price we pay it was too high. i would ask if the price we paid in korea was too high for half a peninsula. >> i thought israel was of functioning democracy in the middle east. >> yes, it is. it has been an interesting winter so far. >> i was inside out with my neighbor for almost seven hours. >> that gentleman spent a night trapped in his truck on the lakeshore drive, along with other motorists. if global warming is a problem, why are we having such a tough winter? al gore told gail collins of "the new york times" that there is 4% more water vapor now than there was in the summer. it returns to earth as heavy rain and snow. >> if godzilla appeared this afternoon, al gore would say it is global warming. [laughter] look, everything is -- it is our religion, and in religion, everythi

i don't thk that is remostly the most likely avenue or al qaeda or al qaeda inspired terrorists to attack the country. the consequences would be so great, we have to invest significant resources to guard against them. >> to follow up on the el salvador issue should we be requiring american airlines not american airlines but american airlines to make sure they have strong kinds of security systems in place when they are doing the work offshore? it appears they do not and we don't require them to. >> representative, i need to know more about the el salvador situation but as i testified earlier, we are requiring 100% screeninof all in-bound at high-risk cargo on a passenger plane. those are terms that would -- that meet or require certain levels be met. we work with the american flag carriers on those. they are part of the system even from inrnational ports. >> congresswoman, i will add, if i could, the challenge you identify is uniqueeither to el salvador or aviation. this counterterrorism effort is a global effort. it's why we spend so much time on aviation security, port security, intelli

with respect to al qaeda's abilities we believe that al qaeda and the arabian peninsula, where anwar al laki is committed to weapons of mass destruction particularly chemical and biological weapons and we are focused on the availability of precursor elements in the homeland. chemical, biological and radiological materials. >> you would read their intention as i? >> yes. >> that occurred thread that is ongoing? >> the intent remains high in pakistan. >> foster that deep -- end, director mueller clearly involved about the gap in authority and law for the fbi and other national securitythe r the fbi and other national security agencies. talk about that understand our strategy for preventing an al qaeda attack. >> committee is aware in 1994 a statutes was passed that required communications carriers to be in a position to provide communications to the intelligence community with a court order. since that time communications have changed dramatically. no longer is it a telephone company that carries the communication. it could be google or facebook. it could be microsoft. any number of way

dijo que le preocupa la posibilidad que un grupo como al qaeda podría crear una peligrosa alianza poro. >> una de mis funciones es siempre pensar con antelación, hacer las preguntas del tipo ¿qué si al qaeda o una de sus afiliadas hicieron un arreglo formal con uno de los carteles en méxico para mover el dinero para mover el contrabando en el peor de los casos para mover auténticos terroristas hacia méxico y por nuestra frontera? así que siempre me estoy haciendo las preguntas y desde luego ambos países estados unidos y méxico quieren evitar que eso ocurra y no voy a sfek lugar sobre sucedió o no. >> pero es algo que le preocupa a su gobierno y al de méxico? >intérprete: exactamente. creo que es algo en lo que debemos pensar los dos. tenemos que pensar en como deben darse el intercambio de comercio entre nuestros países >> entre seguridad fronteriza destacó los esfuerzos que se hacen pero aclaró que se necesita cooperación por parte del congreso. >> el progreso que se ha hecho en la frontera suroeste ha sido bastante significativo durante dos últimas años. y creo que a juicio del pres

be contagious the leaders of both countries have blamed militants for the uprising specifically al-qaeda that's right both gadhafi and iraqi leader nuri al maliki will lead you are blaming al qaida for the unrest now copies even accuse the militants of supplying libyans with hallucination pills that will trick that into revolting and don't get me wrong here it's not like i'm defending al qaida i don't think they're the good guys and i feel sorry for them but come on right at least because that has some ties even very loose ones to what's going on don't just make it up out of thin air al qaeda hasn't been involved in these uprisings perhaps there should grant it's a little funny watching the young people of the middle east north africa unite on the way that they're responding clearly shows that they really have absolutely no idea what to do these jihadi story caught off guard they're sort of sending out mixed messages they'll say things like wells going to take down because he is an enemy of god then they turn around and they remind people not to ignore the koran because they may not like

>> smith: 50 years. >> so, they n rencilwith al qaeda.t's up to them. >> smith: america is losing interest. >> if they lose interest and they withdraw, i have no influence to stop it. none of us have any influence to stop it. >> smith: but? >> there will be disaster. and history has seen many disasters. >> next time on frontline... >> they still had iraq inside of them. >> i didn't even want to come home. >> you took a broken soldier and you sent him back. >> i didn't want to live anymore. >> you just feel like everybody's against you. if you don't know them, they're your enemy. >> frontline investigates the invisible scars of war. >> we give up part of our morality to go to war. >> it allows us to survive. it allows us to kill. >> "the wounded platoon." frontline's web site has more on tonight's stories, plus a web-exclusive video report on the embattled afghan town of musa qala, where u.s. war policy is being put to the test. >> if they cant make a success of musa qala, it's really hard to see how they can make a success of anywhere. >>

the american goal is that al qaeda should not be in afghanistan, but al qaeda is in yemen, somalia and cleveland. >> host: right. the point is if you look at south asia, do you disagree with those who consider pakistan and the pakistan and afghanistan to really be the most interesting part of the world? >> guest: i wouldn't want them as dangerously unstable. i think iran is potentially more but it's not worth having -- certainly the question is how do we get it back into shape? destabilizing pakistan to the point that it collapses i don't think would create the security making it the responsibility of pakistan which make it is is a more interesting outcome. the problem is that we have to ask more fundamental questions why are we in afghanistan? what was the strategy that president obama had in mind. president bush's strategy was a more modest one of holding the key areas and not trying to dominate the country. president obama ran his campaign by arguing we are in the wrong war. we are now in this war. it's not clear we have the forces necessary to bring this to conclusion. therefore, w

they have joined the al-qaeda network.number of threats that the united states had to defend against. the challenge for us is that they have gotten more sophisticated and they have gotten larger through their affiliates. and it means that their finances have gotten stronger because all of these affiliate's now pay into al-qaeda to sustain the efforts. when they say it places a bigger challenge today than 9/11, that's what they're talking about. host: in a written statement, mr. clapper suggested that the complexity of the threats and the ubiquity makes the challenge for intelligence community's even greater. what should americans feel about the level of safety or threats overall? guest: we always have to be concerned. 9/11 showed we were not ready for that attack. when you look at terrorism from a global point of view, we have to focus on how al-qaeda recruits individuals. that's why it's so important that we start working with the hearts and minds of different countries. for instance, in pakistan, afghanistan, trying to s

>> i consider al qaeda and the arabian peninsula with al awlaki, probably the more significant risk to the u.s. homeland. i'm hess tanltsz to rank them but they're certainly up there. >> would al awlaki be the one who has been the most successful as far as radicalizing through the internet? >> i think al awlaki certainly is the most well known english speaking idealogue speaking to folks in the homeland. i think al awlaki does have the greatest audience in the internet so in that sense he's the most important. >> how effective do you find inspire? >> it's a difficult question, mr. chairman. we obviously look at "inspire" it's spiffy, great graphics, in some sense speaks to individuals who are likely to be radicalized. there's very little new information in "inspire." to that extent, it is not, i don't think, something revolutionary and new in the substance, but in the way it conveys the message, it is useful and we think it is attractive to english speakers. >> how concerned are you about the possibility of messages being sent through "inspire?" >> i would take that more in a aclassifi

al qaeda is not an afghan movement. it had a leader. the point that we ask now is how do we deal with this. the united states has a temporary presence in afghanistan what it is one year, five years, we are not going to be there. pakistan is a permanent interest in afghanistan. it doesn't want to have a hostile afghanistan. therefore, what it wants to or not has to take responsibility for afghanistan. the american goal is that al qaeda should not be in afghanistan. al qaeda is in yemen, somalia and cleveland. >> host: exactly right. if you look at south asia, do you disagree with those who consider pakistan and the pakistan-afghanistan to be the most unstable part of the world? >> guest: i would not quote them the most dangerous and unstable part of the world. i think iran is potentially more. it's not worth having -- the question is how do you give it back into shape? destabilizing pakistan to the point that it collapses i don't think would create security, making it the responsibly of pakistan, which make it, it is. it is a more intere

al qaeda was at an afghan movement. it happened to be there. the point we ask now is how do we deal with this. the united states is a temporary presence in afghanistan. whether it is one year or five years we are not going to be there permanently. pakistan is permanent interest in afghanistan. it does not want to have a hostile afghanistan. therefore what it wants to or not it has to take responsibility for afghanistan. the american goal is that al qaeda should not be in afghanistan in yemen, somalia and cleveland. >> host: if you look at south asia do you disagree with those who consider pakistan and the afghanistan to unstable part of the world? >> guest: iran is potentially more but it's not worth having. the question is how do we get it back into shape. destabilizing pakistan to the point of collapse i don't think would create the security making it a responsibility of pakistan, which we don't make it, it is, is an interesting outcome. the problem is that we have to ask the more fundamental question why are we in af

to target al qaeda within its borders. the most active al qaeda franchise. in jordan, where tensions are also simmering, their intelligence helped track the former leader of al qaeda in iraq, abu musab zarqawi, whom the u.s. killed in 2006. in saudi arabia, the government alerted the u.s. last october explosives hidden in toner cartridges. shipped by planes to chicago. >> these countries give us agents and intelligence and really are an extended arm of the cia and the u.s. defense department. >> diane, a real sense of deja vu at the white house today. with top officials calling their bahraini counterparts. asking them to show restraints. the bahraini government not seeming to get the message. we may have seen this movie recently before. >> all right, jake, so many tough and tricky questions for the white house. >>> back here in this country, it was quite a scene today as more than 100 people across the country, many of them doctors are under arrest tonight, charged in the biggest medicare fraud case in history. at time when money is tighter than ever, this t

our top prize for al qaeda and other jihadists so these resources can easily be used by terrorists to stage unprecedented scale attacks many european countries and the united states the still think in terms of colonial times they. made the influence over the internal situation one first understand that. is the major driving force across the region and those countries and people see attempts of the west to push. in easy to really collide the station and this chain of revolution will never end. a lot of us a lot to zurich to discuss the situation in the middle east with anthony while the founder and chief editor or a political side daily battle dot com and we're hearing moments ago colonel gadhafi is now blaming al qaeda leader osama bin ladin for igniting the revolt in libya do you on him they could be any truth to these claims. well i suppose it depends on how how much truth you believe in the fact in some of a lot actually still being alive today it's a convenient thing for gadhafi to do it seems to fit very well in with the general thrust of what i would call power elite plans and g

has implemented since september 11th, the threat of al qaeda has evolved. it is difficult for al qaeda to launch an attack similar to what happened on september 11th. obviously it's possible, but it's much more difficult for them and they realize that. they have adapted their strategy and their tactics so they are now recruiting from within the country and looking for people under the radar screen, people living here legally, people who have green cards, people who are citizens, people who have no known terrorist activities. the classic cham example of that would have been zhaozy in new york. small business in lower manhattan, brought back to afghanistan for training and attempted to blow up the new york subways. that's the type of person we have to be looking for. of the good side of that, i suppose, is that al qaeda feels it cannot launch a major attack from the outside. they cannot send the type of fully you trained and skilled terrorists to this country. the down side is these terrorists are people living under the radar screen who its very difficult to

. >> we don't have any evidence that osama bin laden and al- qaeda per se are behind this. but gaddafi may actually have a point in that there is the hidden hand of islamism moving through all of these revolutions, and definitely in egypt from the very beginning in the form of the muslim brotherhood. you have iran making mischief in about rain and now in libya you have an al-qaeda affiliate operating inthe east called the libyan islamic liberation group. so bin laden is not directing this per se, but you cannot exclude the influence of very -- [everyone talking at once] >> the thing that moammar gaddafi who is laying blame on osama bin laden and gaddafi and the regime whenever anything goes wrong in that country, they blame al-qaeda. it's this umbrella name for anything and anyone who is against the regime. so i'm going to take what i just saw in that clip as just a mad man proving he is a mad man. >> he's deranged, john. but that's what makes him especially dangerous. >> the issue is, who is organize straighting or at least having a hidden hand in running or managing -- [e

hussein and had focused on afghanistan and had built up the state of afghanistan and had pursued al-qaeda in afghanistan, we would look at a very different situation today. >> i entirely agree with you. at the beginning when talibans were defeated with the help and support of the entire afghan nation in a very short time, it took them years, i mean, to regroup. so that all that time i think we could have spent more effectively to build afghan institutions and also very credible and strong national security force of the army and police both. >> charlie: you have said that that's your message to washington. >> yes. >> charlie: i think washington knows that. that's been the argument all awe long. the question is can they do it and can they do it by 2014 so they can withdraw american forces to a large extent? >> actually after all these years for the first time in this past year, year and-a-half, we are conducting a proper counter insurgency with both military. >> charlie: the arrival of the american troops. >> yes. and withed -- it is already having that effect. with the a announcement of th

the american goal is that al-qaeda should not be in afghanistan, but al-qaeda is in yemen, somalia, and cleveland. >> host: exactly. if you look at south asia, do you disagree with those who consider the pakistan to really be the most dangerously unstable part of the world right now? >> guest: i would not quote the most dangerously unstable, i think iran is more. it's certainly one, and the question is how do we get it back into shape? destabilizing pakistan to the point it collapses i don't think creates security. making it a responsibility of pakistan, which, you know, maybe it is, is a more interesting outcome, but the problem is that we have to ask more fundament questions. why are we in afghanistan? what was the strategy that president obama had in mind? president bush's strategy was a more modest one of holding key areas of not really trying to dominate the country. president obama argues we're in the wrorng war. we are now in this war. it's not clear we have the forces necessary to bring this to a conclusion. therefore, we are struck with a pakistan because if we withdrawal, in t

because the more we see democracy rising in the arab world the more we see that the fortunes of al qaeda just go disperse sink into the sand well i mean i'd make two points about that first of all the war on terror did have a major aspect in terms of the war of ideas and the idea of bringing a greater degree of freedom to the middle east that was the whole point but you had a very specific issues of two or three countries that had a agreed his leadership was the worst human rights violators the taleban and saddam hussein and they were also supporting terrorism of all sorts so it was really not a contradiction you could do both and i think that the former administration needs to get a lot of credit for reintroducing the word democracy and freedom into the lexicon of the middle east emotional even though even though we were there for the use of force democracy through the use of force. it's not fair well what we did was when we went into iraq afterwards we had elections that was a lot more than saddam ever did for his people so yes i mean sometimes we had the same thing in western europe a

al-qaeda in iraq remains weakened. despite many large-scale attacks against christian communities, overall levels of violence have been relatively low and steady compared to other areas. the country had a successful democratic election last year, and dee despite a payne painfully drawn-out period of political wrangling, a new government is now mostly formed in baghdad. as zrgses take place -- as demonstrations take place across the middle east, i don't think you will see those kind of demonstrations in iraq because the iraq people did have a chance to express their political will. despite iraq's progress, there remain serious questions about whether it will endure and what role our nation can and should play as iraq's partner to reinforced success. 2011 will be one of the most consequential years for iraq, and for our partnership, a year that will largely shape whether the country continues to emerge as a self-sustaining democratic partner of the united states or whether iraq tragically stumbles, sliding back into civi

wants to create a pro-al qaeda government in cairo. if there is a change in the regime there, they will look for a way to begin that process. >> reporter: and the fears go beyond terrorism to oil. what might happen to the price of oil? egypt does not export oil, but it refines massive amounts and, most importantly, is one of the world's most critical transit points. more than 1 million barrels of oil per day are pumped through the sumed pipeline, and nearly 2 million barrels pass through the suez canal. if those routes were closed, you would have to add 6,000 miles to the journey meaning time and money, which could directly affect our gas prices. >> that would mean prices going up. it could be anywhere from 10 cents a gallon to something substantially more than that. >> reporter: the effects are already being felt because of the instability there. in fact, listen to this. gas prices are expected to increase 10 to 20 cents by the beginning of march, diane. exactly what we don't need. >> so it's already under way. okay, martha. well, all