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Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, relatively few Americans had ever heard of a terrorist group called al Qaeda and its tall, bearded leader Osama bin Laden. The suicide hijackings that brought planes down that day in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania seemed to come out of nowhere. And in part because they felt taken by surprise, the vast majority of Americans cut President Bush a great deal of slack over these horrific incidents that happened on his watch. He and his administration were new on the job, and who could possibly have foreseen such attacks anyway?

The War on Iraq She Wrote by Peter BergenAmericans did not support the war in Iraq because Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator–we had known that for many years–but because President Bush had made the case that Saddam might hand off weapons of mass destruction to his terrorist allies to wreck havoc on the United […]

He’s Back More than two and a half years after the attacks on Manhattan and Washington Osama bin Laden continues to influence the scope of the global jihad that al Qaeda put into motion with the 9/11 attacks. In October bin Laden released an audiotape calling for attacks on Spain, Britain and Italy, because of […]

On Thursday, Condoleezza Rice, President Bushs national security adviser, is scheduled to testify under oath before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. The Op-Ed page invited two people with expertise in terrorism and national security to suggest questions for Dr. Rice.

WHITFIELD: Well, what does it mean for Mr. Musharraf and his allies, including the United States? CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen joins us live from our Washington bureau.Good to see you, Peter. PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Hi, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: All right. Well, how powerful are these words coming from al-Zawahiri, in terms of on […]

Let’s bring in our CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen who’s been watching all of these hearings all day long. There were some very dramatic moments in terms of missed opportunities and the criticism rather evenhanded going against Clinton administration officials and against Bush administration officials. What’s your bottom line thought of what you learned over […]

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, thanks very much for joining us. You must be tired after all that questioning on the Hill. We’ll continue this conversation.Our terrorism analyst Peter Bergen has been closely monitoring today’s testimony as well. He’s watching it all of it. Peter is here in Washington. Peter, what surprised you, if anything, during these […]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Al-Zawahiri may be involved in a fierce battle that’s been going on now for the past couple days. U.S. officials have told CNN that Pakistanis believe it is Ayman al- Zawahiri. U.S. officials have no independent confirmation of that right now. It’s the middle of the night, 2:30 a.m., along that border right now. But by daybreak, we do anticipate that Pakistani air assault will begin against these targets. Peter Bergen is our terrorism analyst. He’s an author on Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda and has interviewed Osama bin Laden. He’s joining us now live from Washington. Peter, how significant is Ayman al-Zawahiri?

The attacks in Madrid Thursday morning suggest that the Al Qaeda network remains very much in business. Despite the fact that two wars have been fought in the name of winning the “war on terrorism” and untold billions of dollars have been spent in an effort to break the back of Al Qaeda, the attacks came as a total surprise, killing more than 200 people.

Are They Winning?The complex multiple attacks in Madrid that killed some two hundred people as they went to work last Thursday morning demonstrate that the al Qaeda network remains very much in business. The attacks came with total surprise despite the fact that two wars have been fought in the name of winning the War […]