Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein brutally repressed all forms of opposition to his regime, and before the Iraq War, al Qaeda had no… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Because 9/11 was carried out by 19 foreign-born Arab hijackers, many assume that all terrorists who attack the West are foreigners. — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Keeping a relatively small, predominantly U.S. Special Forces presence in Afghanistan to continue to train the Afghan army past December 2016 is… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
The deep problems that afflict the Middle East are not easy to fix, but they must be dealt with if we are… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
The money that bin Laden inherited was about 20 million dollars over the course of many years, not the much larger sums… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
The Sunni militants that make up ISIS are not the underlying problem in Syria and Iraq, but rather they are a symptom… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
It is very much in America's national security interests to ensure that the Taliban do not dominate Afghanistan and that neither ISIS… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
A decade and a half ago, the U.S. Air Force dropped massive 15,000-pound 'Daisy Cutter' bombs on the Tora Bora complex where… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
When ISIS and al Qaeda have attacked or plotted attacks in the West in the past decade or so, they have invariably… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Like the attack on Pearl Harbor, another hinge event in American history, 9/11 was a great tactical victory for America's enemies. But… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
In Syria, a no-fly zone targeted at Assad's air force and safe zones for refugees fleeing the fighting would help tamp down… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Common sense would tell you that the idea that Saudi Arabia was paying for bin Laden's expenses while he was living in… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Because of the 9/11 attacks, the framing of terrorism by politicians, the media, and the public too often in the past decade… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Abu Musab al-Suri is someone I got to know pretty well because he's a Syrian. Very bright guy, lived in London. He… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
When news of the first plane's hitting the World Trade Center reached them, bin Laden's followers exploded with joy. But shrewder members… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Adding to your list of enemies is never a sound strategy, yet ISIS' ferocious campaign against the Shia, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, and… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
A key flaw of the Obama administration's approach to Afghanistan has been constantly announcing proposed withdrawal dates for U.S. forces, which has… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
The Nazis and the Khmer Rouge went to great lengths to hide their crimes against humanity. Instead, ISIS posts its many crimes… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Most Muslims don't want to live in some Taliban-style utopia, which is what bin Laden and allied groups are offering. — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Bin Laden comes out of a business background - he studied public administration and economics at university, and he worked for his… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Typically, terrorist attacks produce a rally-around-the flag effect as was the case after 9/11 and the huge outpouring of public support that… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
I am very suspicious of the notion that somehow bin Laden was a media creation... Bin Laden's actions made him into a… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Nothing is more powerful than hearing from former members of the group that ISIS is not creating an Islamist utopia in the… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Imprisoned by its war on terror framework, the Bush administration supported Israel in a disastrous war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in the… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
It's hard to imagine any Muslim fessing up to their secret proclivity for Sharia law knowing they would be deported if they… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
The less the ISIS 'caliphate' exists as a physical entity, the less the group can claim it is the 'Islamic State' that… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
The image we have of bin Laden in his final years in Abbottabad is of an aging man with a graying beard… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
American jihadists are generally motivated by a mix of factors, including dislike of U.S. foreign policy in the Muslim world. — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Bush administration officials, of course, deny that they didn't take the threat urgently enough, but there is no debating that in their… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Again and again since 9/11, terror attacks in the West have been carried out by second-generation Muslims who are citizens of the… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
As early as 1993, members of bin Laden's group had been planning an attack on the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Contrary to what the Americans frequently reiterated, al-Qaeda did not have any relationship with Saddam Hussein or his regime. — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
9/11 was a sort of hinge event in American history, and all jihadi terrorist plots or attacks are kind of filtered through… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Think of ISIS as a pathogen that preys on weak hosts in the Muslim world. In fact, there is something of a… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Sheikh Rahman's fatwa was the first time that anyone associated with al Qaeda had given religious sanction to attacks on American aviation,… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
In quiet ways far too complex to hold Trump's interest, Muslims in the United States and around the world are helping every… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
How can you prevent an attack by returning foreign fighters if you are not cognizant of their names and links to ISIS? — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Afghanistan's winters in the north are legendarily harsh, and southern Afghanistan, by contrast, is bleak desert. These difficulties are compounded by the… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
Bin Laden's death is just a punctuation point on a set of problems they've had for a long time. I think the… — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
In short, the hunt for bin Laden could not have been accomplished without every form of American intelligence-gathering. — Peter Bergen Copy Share Image
So Pakistan is a country that I'm very fond of and have spent a lot of time, but it is a country where conspiracy… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
The Trump administration launched the cruise missile strikes in Syria, an act of war, without a U.N. resolution or Congressional authorization. — Peter Bergen Copy Share
The deep problems that afflict the Middle East are not easy to fix, but they must be dealt with if we are not to… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
The dirty little secret of the intelligence world is that much of what you really need to know isn't exactly a secret anyway. — Peter Bergen Copy Share
Abedi appears to be one of the many thousands of Western Muslims who have embraced militant Islam, often as a way of trying to… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
Trump has claimed he knows more about ISIS than America's leading generals. Clearly, this is also total nonsense; he doesn't seem to have done… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
If you don't understand what al Qaeda was trying to do on 9/11, if you don't have a sense of who Osama bin Laden… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
As early as 1993, members of bin Laden's group had been planning an attack on the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. — Peter Bergen Copy Share
The reality is that Trump's focus on immigrants is to misconceive of the terrorist problem that exists in the United States. — Peter Bergen Copy Share
ISIS despises the Russian government for its support of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and so it's no surprise that ISIS began targeting Russia… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
The Sunni militants that make up ISIS are not the underlying problem in Syria and Iraq, but rather they are a symptom of other… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
Keeping a relatively small, predominantly U.S. Special Forces presence in Afghanistan to continue to train the Afghan army past December 2016 is a wise… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
One of the themes of 'The Longest War,' my book, which came out before the Arab spring happened, was how al-Qaida and bin Laden… — Peter Bergen Copy Share
Because 9/11 was carried out by 19 foreign-born Arab hijackers, many assume that all terrorists who attack the West are foreigners. — Peter Bergen Copy Share
I was the only outsider to visit the Abbottabad compound where bin Laden lived before the Pakistani military demolished it. — Peter Bergen Copy Share
