what can this tell us about al qaeda? these guys don't seem to be fighting a global jihad here. >> bergen: no. i mean, it looks like they're fighting a local insurgency. i mean, they probably want to kill some european or american soldiers if they can. they'd probably be happy with killing some afghan policemen. >> smith: so it's like a local franchise of... >> bergen: yeah, i think... >> smith: ...of al qaeda. >> bergen: yeah. mean, thers alsorts .. you know, it's le being in the mafia. some people are made guys, some are sort of, you know... there's a very relatively small number of people who are actually really members of al qaeda. >> smith: what does it mean to be a member of al qaeda? >> bergen: well, in my view, a real member of al qaeda is somebody who's sworn a sort of religious oath of allegiance to bin laden not to... you don't swear an oath of allegiance to al qaeda; you swear a personal oath of allegiance to bin laden. it's not an easy thing to become a member of al qaeda. there are tens of thousands of insur

strategic heavyweight for al qaeda. he's been with the movement in essence from the start. he's been a key voice for al qaeda, especially in the context of the arab spring, the voice from al qaeda has been al-zawahiri's voice. so the fact that he is now leading the organization will try to coalesce the organization and try to reassert its significance and relevance in the middle east is incredibly important. >> given the disparate nature of al qaeda, so many offshoots across so many countries, can one man be a leader of this single organization? >> i think this is the major challenge for zawahiri, can he command this metastasized movement. can he command the lone wolves of those inspired via the internet the way bin laden has. i think that's a challenge because he's seen as a divisive character within al qaeda itself. but he is certainly going to try to reassert himself and the movement to keep the movement focused on its key strategic goals -- hitting the west and being relevant in the core of its constituency in the m

also directly undermines al qaeda's twist ideology.member the diversity of faith and background is not a weakness of america body strength, when we show muslim americans are part of our american family we expose al qaeda's lie that cultures must clash. we remember that islam is part of america. we show that america could never be at war with islam. these are our core principles and this is a strategy that has enabled us to put al qaeda under more pressure than at any time since 9/11. with our allies and partners we have thwarted attacks around the world. we have disrupted plot that home including the plots of nazzal l al-wazi to bomb in the subways in new york. we made them harder to transfer money and pushed out, finances to its weakest point in years. along with our partners in pakistan and yemen we have shown al qaeda it will enjoy no safe haven and made it harder for them to communicate and train. and to plot. its leadership ranks have been decimated with more key leaders eliminated in rapid succession that at any other time since

> the appointment of a new leader of al qaeda. he is a former c.i.a. officer that served in afghanistan and was a senior member of the 9/11 commission. he joins us on the line from minneapolis. ayman al-zawahiri is not as charismatic as osama bin laden, but he is said to be very intelligent. this does not come as a surprise as he has been appointed as the leader of al qaeda. >> it is not a surprise. he was the number 2 next to osama bin laden. he is someone that has been committed to violent extremism since he was a young boy. he is very dedicated to this. he is a dangerous man. nevertheless, he is inheriting an all qaeda that is very fragmented and is much weaker and much diminished from what it was before. >> it took six weeks to appoint him. is that an indication that al qaeda is not operating as efficiently as it once was? >> that is right. it is decentralized. the decision making is decentralized. they cannot group together very much. these are part of the pressures that the united states and allies have been put on al qaeda

we had senior al qaeda members transit iran. some have found haven in iran but perhaps under different degrees of arrest. iran has a history working with a wide range of groups that doesn't see eye to eye and certainly in this case there are often violently in disagreement, but iran is quite pragmatic. so we've seen in cooperation with that. we've seen a degree of cooperation since 9/11, but in my judgment it is a for ideological differences, iran is much more cautious in its terrorism than al qaeda and i would say he hates one another is the right word but they have other problems as well. but this is an area i think we're both iran and al qaeda for their own reasons have been trying to keep any relationship as secret as possible. it's politically damaging to both of them. >> there on iran and the cia canceled a program tracking the individuals and i was going to ask how you feel about the cia canceling that tracking program. >> and nomani have you tracking guerra al qaeda and individuals should always be a priority. i can't sp

al qaeda is leader sheikh -- al qaeda is leadership has been affected. al qaeda's third ranking leader killed. one of the most dangerous commanders, reportedly killed. several all killed. the leader of the pakistani taliban, killed. the leader of al qaeda in east africa and the master made of the bombings of our embassies in africa, killed. all told, over the past 2.5 years, virtually every al qaeda affiliate has lost its leader or operational commander. more than half of the leadership has been eliminated. al qaeda is adapted and resilience. it has been forced to do so with less experienced individuals. that is why we have stepped up our efforts. if we hit al qaeda hard enough and often enough, there will come a time where they can no longer replenished their ranks. this is the direction in which you are headed to date. with the death of osama bin laden, we have struck our biggest blow against al qaeda get. we have taken up the founder who continues to direct his followers to attack the united states. most significantly, al qaeda's figure has inspired s

and al qaeda affiliates, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula here, al qaeda in iraq here. the council of foreign relations. they say 50 to 100 active al qaeda members in afghanistan, hundreds in algeria. al qaeda in iraq, some other jihadist groups. pakistan, 300 plus, somalia, yemen. what's your sense of obviously in comparison to 9/10, pre-9/11 al qaeda and today, it's weakened, fractured. but what about the army al qaeda -- >> the formal members of al qaeda have always been a small number. around 9/11 there were 200. you've got 300 in pakistan, 50 in afghanistan, those numbers are accurate. people influenced by al qaeda's ideas, you're looking at several thousand. you do the math here, you know, in somalia, several thousand people, you know, influenced by al qaeda's ideas. if you added it all up, you're looking at 20,000, 30,000 people, who have, you know, really subscribed to al qaeda's ideas. you know, prance a slightly larger group who are somewhat influenced by them. in pakistan, you have groups like the pakistani taliban, which have behaved in a more al qaeda-like

al qaeda is leader sheikh -- al qaeda is leadership has been affected. ranking leaderd killed. one of the most dangerous commanders, reportedly killed. several all killed. the leader of the pakistani taliban, killed. the leader of al qaeda in east africa and the master made of the bombings of our embassies in africa, killed. all told, over the past 2.5 years, virtually every al qaeda affiliate has lost its leader or operational commander. more than half of the leadership has been eliminated. al qaeda is adapted and resilience. it has been forced to do so with less experienced individuals. that is why we have stepped up our efforts. if we hit al qaeda hard enough and often enough, there will come a time where they can no longer replenished their ranks. this is the direction in which you are headed to date. with the death of osama bin laden, we have struck our biggest blow against al qaeda get. we have taken up the founder who continues to direct his followers to attack the united states. most significantly, al qaeda's figure has inspired so many others to violence. in his place,

will hunt down the new leader of al qaeda, zawahiri. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen, said he was not surprised by the choice of the egyptian militant to succeed bin laden, who shot by american forces in pakistan last month. our security correspondent reports. >> he is already a familiar figure. he worked with osama bin laden for many years and has given al qaeda much of its strategic direction and has long been the group's most visible spokesman. here he is just last week, saying the war with the west will go on. his appointment has been largely welcomed on jihadist web sites. bin laden and zawahiri collaborated closely. both have been fugitives and for years, hiding out in afghanistan and pakistan. zawahiri it is now named the fbi's most wanted terrorist. the leader of al qaeda. >> it is not a surprise he has moved into that position. he and his organization still threaten us. as we did both seek to capture and kill and succeeded in killing bin laden, we certainly will do the same thing with zawahiri. >>

what al qaeda facing now is essentially al qaeda central, essentially an unsuccessful terrorist attack since 2007 in britain. so the question for zawahiri is do i make a big, bold statement in the farland, right, sort of in the west or do i piggyback off the arab spring and what we now call at rab summer and the unrest in libya, yemen, and syria, and try to do sort of a near sight. and that is going to be a track call decision. al qaeda has been on the sidelines of the arab springs. the summer is looking like a lot of unrest and that is where al qaeda fits in well. >> in fact, daniel byman, the arab spring, many people arc lot of commentary that that even suggested kind of irrelevance for al qaeda in at rab world or at least partial irrelevance. >> at rab spring is mixed for al qaeda. the bad news for them is that it gives a completely different message that peaceful demonstrations can overthrow tyrannical regimes. al qaeda for years has pushed the idea that force and only forces the answer. on the other hand, though, the security services of these regimes were tremendously effective a

he talked about we made progress to al-qaeda, we went to pakistani and found al-qaeda. isn't he giving the united states enough credit for what has been done. >> he could have, quite honestly. it's a pretty amazing achievement by the u.s. forces accompanying the u.s. president speaking to the nation could take pride and give the forces credit for it. he gave a couple nice sentences about the troops but a lot is thanking them for their sacrifices and drawing appropriately on the wounded and on the killed. he didn't dwell quite as long on the achievement of the u.s. forces. this was more of a pivot by the president about the withdraw from afghanistan. he had an agreement with nato or the afghan government. there was a plan, a campaign plan. we would do the surge, keep a good number of forces while drawing down gradually. then there would be more of a draw down in 3013 and by 2014 the plan was to turn over security to the afghan forces. now he's accelerated that plan quite a lot. in you're actually taking charge, you set a different number forces and very much less flexibi

and there's a new focus on targeting al qaeda's most aggressive branch.t, according to the chairman of the house intelligence committee, mike rogers. >> this morning, when you are over your breakfast cereal, there is somebody in al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, planning an attack against the united states. >> reporter: that group is headed by anwar al awlaki. carried out by people who are flying under the radar. >> he is really reaching out to english speakers, to people, again, as we said, hold the right kind of paperwork or passports, that can get into the country. >> reporter: he was in direct contact with the ft. hood shooter before the november massacre. next month, his group sent the underwear bomber. ten months later the group tried to blow up u.s. planes with printer bombs. >> they are getting very innovative about how they try to defeat our countermeasures and carry out a successful attack. and that makes them incredibly dangerous. >> reporter: it's that danger that has america's top cops sweating what could be a long, hot summer. for "nightlin

the only leader that al qaeda had ever known. this was a victory for all who have served since 9/11. one soldier s smed it up well. the message, he said, is, we don't forget. you will be held accountable no matter how long it takes. the information that we recovered from bin laden's compound shows al qaeda under enormous strap. bin laden expressed concern that qaeda had been unable to replace senior terrorists that had been killeleand that al qaeda has failed in its effort to portray america as a nation at war with islam. thereby draining for widespread support al qaeda remains dangerous, and we must be vigilant against attacks. but we have put al qaeda on a path to defeat. and we will not relent until the job is done. in afghanistan, we've inflicted serious losses on the taliban. and taken a number of its strongholds. along with our surge, our al lis increased their commitments, which helped stabilize more of the skcountry. afghan security forces have gro grown by over 100,000 troops, and in some provinces, we have already begun

al qaeda remains dangerous, and we must be vigilant against attacks, but we have put al qaeda on a path to defeat, and we will not relent until the job is done. in afghanistan, we've inflicted serious losses on the taliban and taken a number of its stronged holds, along with our surge, our allies also increased their commitments, which helped stabilize more of the country. afghan security force anniversary grown by over 100,000 troops, and and in some prof vinces and municipalities we have begun to transfer responsibility for security to the afghan people. in the face of violence and intimidation, afghans are fighting and dying for their country, establishing local police forces, opening markets and schools, creating new opportunities for women and girls and trying to turn the page on decades of war. of course, huge challenges remain. this is the beginning but not the end of our effort to wind down this war. we'll have to do the hard work of keeping the gains that we've made while we draw down our forces and transition responsibility for security to the afghan government. in next may, i

the only leader that al qaeda had ever known. this was a victory for all who have served since 9/11. one soldier summed it up well. the message he said is we don't forget. you will be held accountable no matter how long it takes. the information that we recovered from bin laden's compound shows al qaeda under enormous strain. bin laden expressed concern that al qaeda had been unable to effectively replace senior terrorists that had been killed and that al qaeda has failed in its effort to portray america as a nation at war with islam thereby training more widespread support. al qaeda remains dangerous and we must be vigilant against attacks. but we have put al qaeda on a path to defeat and we will not relent until the job is done. in afghanistan, we've inflicted serious losses on the taliban and taken a number of its strong holds. along with our surge, our allies also increased their commitments which helped stabilize more of the country. afghan security forces have grown by over 100,000 troops and in some provinces and municipal

>> al qaeda is on decline.not carried out a successful attack since the 2005 london transportation bombings. going beyond al qaeda, it's no longer about one group, it's about a number of different entities. if al zawahiri can purport bin laden's propaganda, his doctrine, that is potentially dangerous with the rise of lone wolf terrorism. >> there's another story of terrorism, ba'asyir sentenced to 15 years in jail. how significant is this? >> it's important. the inmedonesian authorities trd twice before to prosecute him. he has supporters within indonesia, not just within the radical circles but the political circles. the grupp's infrastructure has been somewhat dismantled, its leaders have been picked off. abu bakar ba'asyir, his ideology is very influential. >> thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >>> we want to take you to russia and the economic forum where the crisis in greece is on everyone's lips there. john defterios joinspetersburg. >> the economic forum is just getting under way, zain. i had a chance to

this was really a key operatal strategic figure for al qaeda. so his loss is a major loss for al qaeda's connections in east africa. doesn't end the threat, certainly, from what we know in east africa or from al qaeda at large. but it is certainly a major blow to the movement. >> suarez: what is al shabob. >> a local militant group that has aligned itself with al qaeda it really emerged in earnest after the ethiopian invasion in somalia in 2006. gathering enthusiasm, supporters to fight the ethiopians. but in many ways they are extremist, islamist militants. they are currently fighting the transitional federal government. they have ties directly with al qaeda and they have started to train werners. we have seen this, for example w americans who have traveled to somalia. and so these are dangerous bunch. they've kill a number of somali officials including the interior minister last week. and so this is a dangerous part of the jihadi universe in east africa. >> suarez: so though the killing was accidental, the current government in mogadishu and i

al qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11. together with the pakistanis, we have taken out more than half of al qaeda's leadership. and thanks our intelligent professionals and special forces, we killed osama bin laden, the only leader that al qaeda had ever known. this was a victory for all who have served since 9/11. one soldier summed it up well. the message, he said, is we don't forget. you will be held accountable no matter how long it takes. the information that we recov recovered from bin laden's compound showed al qaeda under enormous restraint. there was concern that senior terrorists that had been killed wouldn't be replaced. and that widespread support would be drained. al qaeda remains dangerous and we must be vigilant against attacks. but we have put al qaeda on a path to defeat. and we will not relent until the job is done. in afghanistan we've enconflicted serious losses on the taliban -- inflicted serious losses on the tolz and taken a number of strongholds. along with the surge our allies increased their commi

al qaeda was ready to pull the plug at different points. after the 9/11 attacks, al qaeda initially thinks the u.s. will be afraid to strike and ultimately scattered into pakistan where many of them are later killed or captured. at this point, ksm is promoted to head of military operations, his friend and contact muhammad is killed by a predator drone in november 2001. he stages a series of dares attacks. which i detail in the book. in march of 2003, i reveal the story of how we found him, which is in turns very funny and strange story involving cell phones, text messages, and a crazy character who has dinner with ksm. he had to wonder around the nights in pakistan. eventually he's captured in the home of a prominent microbiologist. a famous figure in pakistani society. and the wife of the man who's home ksm was captured in is the leader -- local leader of the largest political party in pakistan. this is like capturing the unibomber in beverley hills in the home of two movie stars. of course, pakistan has no connection. it's surely a coinci

>> you had mentioned al-qaeda and the arabian peninsula, the single most dangerous location of al-qaeda. yemen looks to be heading toward chaos. can you give us more detail on how you see us proceeding moving forward dealing with yemen to try to get them more effective in fighting al-qaeda? >> thanks, bruce. all the elements present a serious threat. the peninsula is the most active. it gives us concern that they have been able to use yemen as a training area to launch these attacks against us. there is a fair amount of political turmoil right now in yemen. our position from a political standpoint is the gcc initiative is the best path forward to resolve yemen possess a crisis. we have worked with them over the past several years, building up their counter-terrorism capabilities. just like in pakistan where thousands of pakistanis have fallen prey to terrorist attacks, yen and security officers have died as a result of those attacks. there are many elements in yemen right now that are opposed to al-qaeda expanding its capability as well as its control of the territory. yemen is a patchw

is not a favor to us al-qaeda is threatening yemen. it is a shared interest that we have so it's not a something that they can use the blackmail us but our interest in yemen should be much broader than just al-qaeda it should be yemen's development it should be political political stability there if we have a narrow approach i think we're doomed to failure and i think you can go back historically and that's what i do in my book and show from all one two or four when we had a broad sustained approach that will not only targeted al qaeda but also supported yemeni political and economic development that is when we need our major gains against al qaeda and actually severely degraded its leaders in its ranks and in all four they constituted a negligible threat to the united states and the international community daniel pipes that i go to you let's let's really be optimistic super optimistic right now let's say let's say very somber leaves everyone says hey we've had enough and we can sit down we can talk we have civil society political soci

in bahrain you have iran benefitting and you have yemen and al qaeda concord. al qaeda. so in each of the situation except to nisha which is generally moderate is seeing some islamist stirrings in each of these countries the most likely beneficiary are islamists so you could see i think it sounds crazy but a push for hay three knute caliphate if you see the forces come to power in all these countries in the middle east you can see the push for unity and i can tell you iran for one is looking to unify the muslim world against israel first and america second. america is the ultimate prize. >> host: in your book you dhaka saturday people and the sunday people. the saturday people of course would be the israelis and the christians, the sunday people. but what is the future of israel under this scenario and specifically if you're benjamin netanyahu right now are you at a point where you're going to have to pull the trigger first because if he does, you know what the world reaction will be. >> guest: if he does, if it is an offensive operation or a defensive operation, fred, t

and much broader than al qaeda.this administration has tunnel vision when they talk about the war on terror a call with against islamist fascism. the talk strictly about al qaeda. the brotherhood is the granddaddy of them all when it comes to the islamic terrorist groups and they are getting stronger and stronger. iran, another topic, hezbollah. it's broader than al qaeda. >> host: it seems the analogy that might work for people figuring out how the pieces fit is to assume in a world war ii if we said we are at war as opposed to it furthers a subdivision we are going after it's fair to say that all al qaeda and hezbollah and al-shabaab and some of the authors learning about certainly hamas which is agreed descending of the brotherhood are just that. their children. the parent is the muslim brotherhood yet we continue to focus on the cuts. >> guest: as i said he belongs to the brotherhood before al qaeda and belong to that group for a reason. the brotherhood lays the groundwork and delete the groundwork for al qaeda

there is a very strong al qaeda presence in yemen. the government is reporting that some areas of the country have been taken over by al qaeda. is that true, is that accurate? >> and where do you see this going, jeb? >> jeb, i appreciate you talking to us. stay safe. jeb said that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is gaining ground in yemen. this is the same group linked to various plots. i talked about its growing reach in yemen and other concerns with christopher dicky, middle east editor for "newsweek," also fareed zakaria, host of "gps" here on cnn and editor at large for "time" magazine. from a security stand point, what is yemen in crisis mean? it seems like it's on the brink of civil warp. >> it looks like it's on the brink of going from a fragile state to a failed state and many multiple civil wars. that's close to disastrous from an american point of view. that's the kind of situation that al qaeda and other groupks take advantage of. you have a vacuum of power, a place that the u.s. can't reach into very easily. and the next

there's a reason though that bin laden, and all of these al-qaeda leading lights before they formed al-qaedaas young mep, they were members of the muslim brotherhood. the brotherhood is the gateway to violent jihad. as many young american-muslims in america are discovering. >> host: you talk about the kind of -- the jihads, hezbollah, is that kind of a good cop-bad cop scenario know when they look well-dressed and well spoken and the nicest guy in the room sitting down with certainly president bush and president clinton, and president obama, high levels of defense department and homeland security saying we just want to help our community help you, and yet at the same time, you got bin laden being killed, and you have people saying we're winning this war. to me, there seems to be a very subtle fusion going on that makes us think we're winning when we're not? >> guest: that's true. this is -- bin laden is one part of it. al-qaeda still thrives, you but you have the likes of brotherhood, iran, hezbollah, and with the brotherhood in many cases you don't see them coming. if they gain power in e j

well al qaeda in the arabian peninsula was a threat before this current revolution in yemen and it has become more of a threat since it started simply because its operating space in the country has expanded but i doubt the president is intentionally exacerbating that threat he may seek tactical advantage from that but i don't think that he has an interest in opening the door to al qaeda in any case i don't think he's getting any benefit from that and in any case. the challenge remains to get beyond the current impasse and to deal with this threat in the long term ok daniel what do you think about that because this is even if there's. any evidence of this or that is true is that you know we have a leader in yemen that has been a very loyal american ally for a long time and if there's even any hints that he's trying to use this to keep himself in power which his critics are saying that he's doing right now i mean what does that say about how the u.s. is picking its allies in the region. well i would be a little less strong in my terminology going to a very loyal us ally ok. ok trying to

. al-qaeda has failed in its effort to portray america as a nation at war with islam. al-qaeda remains dangerous and we must be vigilant against attacks but we have put them on a path to defeat and we will not relentil the job is done. in afghanistan we inflicted serious losses on the taliban. along with our surge our allies increased their commitments. afghan security forces grown by over 100,000 troops and in some places we have already begun to transition forces to the afghan people. in the face of violence, afghans are fighting and dying for their country. establishing local police forces. opening markets and schools. creating new opportunities for women and girls and trying to turn the page on decades of war. of course, huge challenges remain. this is the beginning. but not the end of our effort to wind down this war. we will have to do the hard work of keeping the gains we have made while drawing down forces and transitioning to the afghan government. next may in chicago we will host a summit with our partners to shape the next phase of this transition. we do know that peace cann

the head of al qaeda.etting word that a man by the name of ilyas kashmiri has been killed. that name might not mean a lot to you. in the intelligence community, those seeking this man, it is a big deal. consider him the military brain of al qaeda. this would be another major blow to al qaeda and this man was killed, it appears, at least reports say, also in pakistan. i want to join now cnn's phil black, live for us in islamabad this morning. phil, if you can help us first of all, i tried to give some context, but how relevant of a kill would this be, give our audience some context, just about who this man is. >> yes, certainly, t.j. this is a big name in intelligence circles, certainly from a u.s. national security point of view. he was on their most wanted list, among the key targets of u.s. drones flying over the tribal regions of pakistan and it is now believed that he is, perhaps, one of the victims of a u.s. drone strike in that lawless pakistani tribal region, particularly in the area of south waziri

do you really want the country to go al qaeda? >> and al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, they're very creative in their terror. >> he's a great publicist and a good terrorist. he's been very successful at that. you have to remember that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is a small organization, just a few hundred people. >> if it becomes a failed state, already large parts of the country are beyond government control or very limited government control, then what? they become as a more efficient somalia? >> then we have a real mess on our hands. there's also a risk of a lot of displaced people. this is a country running out of money and water. it's running out of fuel and everything. it's certainly running out of order. you could just have an enormous imploding population, 24 million people with no place to go and nothing to do. >> the place they'll try to go is saudi arabia. all this turmoil in the middle east, there are two places you need to worry about for americans particularly. saudi arabia because of the oil, and yemen becau

al-qaeda. what happens when al-qaeda steals a bomb and tries to detonate it on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. mr. patterson answers that in a thriller that features of lineup of interesting characters including a u.s. intelligence figure named brook chandler who may or may not save the day. mr. patterson was a lawyer before becoming a lawyer serving at one point as an assistant attorney general for the state of ohio. he also worked as a lawyer with the securities and exchange commission. he has been chairman of the organization common cause and has written for such publications as the times of london and the "washington post." many of his works have been international bestsellers and i dare say that "the devil's light" will join that list. please welcome richard north patterson. [applause] >> it's great to see and you have read your book. "the devil's light" doesn't refer to osama bin laden's flashlight but amid for a nuclear weapon, and this is a very serious subject and people who know your c

100 al qaeda still present there.resence that we have there, i assure you they will go to other places as well and they are strong and scattered. and that's really what i believe is a nation building presence and it's time to rebuild america. i've got a lot of needs in west virginia and we can do an awful lot with help and assistance. >> there are hundreds and billions of dollars at stake. this year, next year, and the year after. this is in today's wall street journal. congressional officials say they expect 25,000 troops to remain in the country after the 2014 hand over focused on assisting security forces and carrying out counterterrorism missions against the taliban and al qaeda. you're a member of the congress and u.s. senate. even after 2014 the u.s. wants to keep 25,000 troops in afghanistan? >> not directly. i think everything alluded to that has happened. that's the presence that i do have. let me tell you something that took me over the top. when i found out that china was one of the only countries in there

, al qaeda in yemen, if you will.ter some of these key al qaeda leaders in yemen. very concerning to u.s. officials, they say, because they believe al qaeda in yemen does pose a threat to the united states. you only have to remember the underwear bomber case of december 2009, a man who tried to blow up a detroit-bound airliner and was inspired, to say the least, by al qaeda in yemen. the unrest on the streets of yemen that we see almost every day now is causing some concern as well because, as the central government perhaps is less able to control the country, al qaeda finds a vacuum, steps in and begins to exert its power more and more. at this hour on capitol hill, leon panetta, the cia director, is testifying to become the secretary of defense. he is talking about al qaeda and saying it is an immediate threat to the united states. al qaeda in yemen and a media threat to the united states, all part of the reason you are seeing this resumption of air strikes over yemen. >> barbara, how does the white house square thi

the spiritual adviser for al qaeda is in the present system. meetings are not properly monitored because of the ratios of chaplains and prison guards. the efforts to reduce crime mitigate risk engaging communities to -- high risk people, high risk places, high- risk activities. this model can be translated into the prison system. it needs to be looked at from a whole government, ultimately approach utilizing non- governmental offices, community volunteers, and leadership organizations. with the muslim american umma in the united states be proud of what converts are learning about islam in prison? in some cases, they would be shocked and dismayed. one of my greatest concerns is the issue of convergent threats. we are seeing convergence in the areas of gangs, cartels, organized crime, terrorism, and human trafficking. just as isolated communities can become incubators of violent extremism, so can presence. if left unchecked, presents can and do become incubators of radical extremism. in 2005 after the london bombings, prior to that, after 30 year