Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Vice President of Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Director of its Center for Terrorist Radicalization; author of My Year inside Radical Islam and Why al Qaeda Is Winning (forthcoming in August, 2011)
The Death and Deadly Legacy of Osama bin Laden It was Sunday's killing of Osama bin Laden that brought President Obama to New York City today. It's been ten years since the deadly attack on the World Trade Center, but the consequences of 9/11 live on. The US is still fighting two wars—and what about bin Laden's effort to bankrupt the superpower?
Obama Gets a Big Win, but Is Osama a Winner Too? President Obama laid a wreath at Ground Zero today, met with the families of victims and visited with police and firefighters. After Sunday's killing of the mastermind of 9/11, there's the sense of a turning point in the "war on terror," declared after the World Trade towers came down. But almost a decade later, tens of thousands have died in two ongoing wars, and the US is a nation transformed by increased security and stress on the economy. How much of a turning point is it? Did America leaders fail to understand the goals of Osama bin Laden? What's the legacy of a mass murderer? What is the appropriate way to remember what happened at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania?
FBI Makes an Arrest in a Case of Domestic Terrorism The Department of Justice says this was a case of domestic terrorism, that the plan would simulate the kind of bombings that took place in Europe. Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghan was arrested last week . He entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction . Investigators later described this as an advanced stage of a plot to detonate explosives made from beauty supply chemicals. The arrests come amid a flurry of other terrorist cases, including that of Michael Finton , a California-born convert who used the name Talib Islam, and Maher Husein Smadi , a 19-year-old Jordanian. But those cases apparently pale in comparison to what Zazi had planned, according to prosecutors.
FBI Makes an Arrest in a Case of Domestic Terrorism The Department of Justice says this was a case of domestic terrorism, that the plan would simulate the kind of bombings that took place in Europe. Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghan was arrested last week . He entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction . Investigators later described this as an advanced stage of a plot to detonate explosives made from beauty supply chemicals. The arrests come amid a flurry of other terrorist cases, including that of Michael Finton , a California-born convert who used the name Talib Islam, and Maher Husein Smadi , a 19-year-old Jordanian. But those cases apparently pale in comparison to what Zazi had planned, according to prosecutors.
A Resurgent Al Qaeda Late last year, President Bush declared that Osama bin Laden's " Al Qaeda is on the run ," but US and British intelligence now say it's back in business. Last month, former US Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress that both Al Qaeda and the Taliban have critical sanctuaries in Northwest Pakistan. Britain's MI-5 has said there's a Pakistani connection between the London subway bombings and threats against airliners bound for the US. This week, the New York Times reported that Al Qaeda leaders have reconstituted their terrorist training camps in Northwest Pakistan. Pakistan calls the assessment "absurd." Has Iraq has blinded the Bush Administration to Al Qaeda's resurgence. What's next for the war on terror? We talk with Pakistan's Ambassador to the US and a Pakistani journalist who tell very different stories, and a converted Muslim who worked for a charity that has since been linked to Al Qaeda.
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?