this is from the potomac institute. it's about two hours. >> ladies and gentlemen, it's my privilege to welcome you to the potomac institute for policy studies today. we have for a long time here at the potomac institute been privileged to be the host for a series of seminars, studies and in fact publications on a variety of issues surrounding terrorism. the potomac institute for policy studies is not for profit think tank in the washington, d.c. area that focuses on the issues of science and technology and how science and technology affect our governance and our society, our health, if you will in the world that we live in. we begun focussing on the issues of terrorism in the mid to late '90s mostly because it became very apparent that this old form of warfare, terrorism which dates back in fact was in fact being reborn in the modern age due to the use of technology. and in fact, since we began studying terrorism in the late '90s, it became very evident that the terrorists of today found very novel ways of using techno

i want to thank the 30 potomac institute for having me out. i thank you all here for having me here this afternoon. >> i'm going to stay right here. >> that's okay. >> a footnote. you mentioned we don't only have to worry about al qaeda. this month of april, march they attack we have to keep in mind as you indicated. also it's 32 years after the failed american rescue mission in iran. so the past 30 years i think we had to deal with restoring american credibility and confidence. and this particular event, the mission to kin bin laden is a significant department. general. >> thank you. daughter's offer the same instant gratification for sons do for those that share my dilemma. as a marine i had to look it up just to make sure, where are you going? where does al qaeda want to go? where can al qaeda go? and where do we want al qaeda to go? fist, let's address what the death of bin laden meant. i'm not sure. i am sure the pressure of the military, the economic put on al qaeda has caused al qaeda to adopt. to morph or to mutate. most view bin laden

fade away, if in the light of who we, the potomac institute are and what we do, we're a science and technology, policy think tank where we look at the impacts of science and technology on our society. the impacts in regards to terrorism i'd like to sum up as a final word to today's conference. terrorism, as many have said here today, particularly general gray, terror up has been around since mankind. killing them publicly has been a tactic used by many, many people. the difference today, if i might comment that this is to me the legacy of al qaeda, is that the demonstration that a small group cannot just terrorize by killing a few. but by using technology, kill thousands. that was the difference of 9/11. it wasn't a terror act where they set off an ied and three or four people were killed or brought down a headquarters building and 330 were killed, as in the middle east, general gray commented on. this was an event where a small group, used modern technology to kill 3,000 people. and they demonstrated to the rest of the world how a small group of people can have a strategic effect. that's the

it's hosted by the potomac institute just after 3:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span3. >>> republican presidential candidate mitt romney is in southeastern virginia today. he's in the city of portsmouth where he'll be joined by virginia governor bob mcdonnell who will bring you they're remarks live starting at 1:15 eastern. former republican candidate and minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann will also be there. earlier she did endorse romney for the nomination. live on c-span again at 1:15 eastern. >>> also the libertarian party selects their president's knollny this weekend at the national convention in las vegas. live coverage starts tomorrow, 9:00 eastern a two-hour debate between the libertarian candidates including former new mexico governor and republican presidential candidate gary johnson. live coverage continues saturday at noon eastern with the presidential selection process. convention delegates will hear speeches by the candidates and then vote for their party's presidential nominee, all live on c-span. >>> and now from the bloom

the potomac institute, we were very fortunate to attract and keep at the institute professor yonah alexander, who heads the center for international center for terrorism studies. he is affiliated with the yale university center for legal studies. i am very privileged and happy to have a co-sponsor of this event, professor don wallace. professor alexander put together a book in 2000 that was published, and i believe in january and february of 2001, that profiled al qaeda. this book was published nine months before the events of 9/11, and i am proud to say before 9/11, we sold i think 340 copies. after 9/11, between september and december, we sold 150,000 copies. to date it is available in two dozen languages and around the world as one of the first volumes articulated what this network was and who are in it. when of the things that book featured most was a set of pictures that were obtained publicly on the members of al qaeda at the time, the famous original 53, which became the targets of the last couple of administrations. it has been the policy of the last couple administrations to target

ben sheepshead a terrorism expert at the potomac institute and said deconstructing the bomb will help u.s. officials build up airport security. >> the fact that they have this in tact means they can do's lot and improve the security of the aviation system. >> reporter: while intercepting the latest bomb was a victor, a challenge for security officials, though, that they intercept the next one as well. the latest version of the bomb is said to have been constructed without any parts. it might be obsolete if al qaeda is able to complete it and perfect it. they trying to perfect a surgical procedure to put a bomb in the body that won't be detectable. >>> new tonight, a suspected. >> i joy phone thief met his match inside a metro station today. the own e a woman out running errands on the day off and chased the woman on the grass. fox 5s paul wagner is live from metro headquarters. this sounds like an amazing story, paul. >> reporter: you have to see it and believe it, shawn. you will see jennifer chasing the man through the gallery place metro station. it happened after 10:00 this mornin

potomac institute for policy studies. i would like to know your definition of the word "victory" in afghanistan. what are the parameters of that victory, and white is the war protected? -- why is the war protracted? what are the reasons and how can we deal with that? >> thank you for asking. i am a student of vocabulary, and there are synonyms out there. let me zero in on the one question you asked about white it is taking so long. i would suggest it is taking so long because we are trying to do it right, and i really mean that. if we had started at one end of afghanistan and fundamentally overrun it, destroyed it, created a situation where we made it a near-certainty that the taliban cannot come back because there was nothing to come back to -- of course we could. but that is not who we are, not what afghanistan would expect from us, and not what any of afghanistan's neighbors would expect from us. because we tried to do it right, we had some starts and stops, and in some cases we made more progress than others. when i s

in the light of who we are and -- the potomac institute are and what we do, we are a science and technology think tank where we look at the impact or science and technology on our society. the impact in regard to terrorism, i would like to sum up as a final word at today's conference. terrorism as many have said here, terrorism has been around since the beginning of mankind. the ability of a few to terror as many by killing them publicly has been a tactic used by many people. the difference today, and if i might comment that this is, to me, the legacy of al qaeda, is the demonstration that a small group cannot just terrorized by killing a few but by using technology, killed thousands. that was the difference of 9/11. it was not a terror acts when people set off an ied and three people were killed or 330 were killed. degree or one that brought down the headquarters building and 300 were killed, like in the middle east. this is an event where a small group used modern technology to kill 3000 people and they demonstrated to the rest of the world how a small group of people could have a strateg

. >> thank you for the discussion, and i am from the potomac institute for policy studies. i would like just to know your definition for the word of that victory in afghanistan, what are the parameters of this victory and why the war has been protracted? why the most superior power on earth is taking that long to defeat the taliban? and what are the reasons for this and how can we deal with that? >> thanks for asking. i am a student, i am a student of vocabulary, and there are synonyms out there, victory, wind, success, you know? to heat. so let me zero in on the one question you ask about about why is it taking so long. that's a fair question. i would suggest to you it's taking so long because we're trying to do it right the and i really mean that. look, could we start at one end of afghanistan and fundamentally overrun it -- >> just a couple of minutes left in this discussion but you can see all of it at our website, c-span.org. live now to the brookings institution this morning for discussion on taxes by a group of economists will look at the bush era tax cuts which are

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> many people will head out kayaking, but the national park service wants to about waterord safety on the potomacis a new recreational has emergency workers concerned. >> jumping off the cliffs and falls. trying to outdo each other. they posted jumps on youtube and facebook. officials are warning jumpers only a $500 fine,