Articles

Wednesday, Mar 05, 2003 NBC News, Katie Couric, Re Al Qaeda 2.0

With the arrests of top al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and one of his money men, US officials are hoping to gain important intelligence into future attacks planned by al-Qaeda operatives. Peter Bergen is the producer and host of “Al Qaeda 2.0,” a one-hour documentary on what the world might expect from al-Qaeda in the future.

Sunday, Mar 02, 2003 Arrest Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — A man believed to be the key planner of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — and linked to nearly every al Qaeda attack in the past five years — was in U.S. custody Sunday after he was captured in Pakistan.

Sunday, Mar 02, 2003 More on KSM arrest, CNN

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Let’s go ahead and get some “Insight & Input” now into what the arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed means.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We are welcoming your calls and your e-mails. You can e-mail us as wam@CNN.com. Our toll free number is 800-807-2620. Call us with your questions for our guests this morning.

Thursday, Feb 13, 2003 Timing of new OBL tape

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The tape which U.S. officials believe was recorded by Osama bin Laden. Among the many questions posed by the new terror tape, is there any meaning in the timing of its release? Could it mean an attack might be close at hand?

More than two and a half years after the attacks on Manhattan and Washington Osama bin Laden continues to influence the scope and targeting of the global jihad that al Qaeda put into motion with the 9/11 attacks. In October 2003 bin Laden released an audiotape calling for attacks on the Spain, Britain and Italy, all countries that are part of the coalition in Iraq. After that tape was released an al Qaeda affiliated group attacked an Italian police barracks in southern Iraq killing seventeen, Islamist militants in Istanbul carried out suicide attacks against a British bank and consulate killing some sixty people, seven Spanish intelligence agents were ambushed and killed in Iraq, and last month multiple bombs in Madrid killed 191.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The tape which U.S. officials believe was recorded by Osama bin Laden. Among the many questions posed by the new terror tape, is there any meaning in the timing of its release? Could it mean an attack might be close at hand?

This link gets you to the video of the discussion

cbc.ca/clips/ram-newsworld/smith_mylroie_bergen030205.ram

What is al Qaeda? It seems such a simple question: after all, it’s a term much bandied about by the public, politicians and pundits alike. Indeed, al Qaeda is now one of the best-known organizations in the world, with brand recognition seemingly only eclipsed by another successful franchise operation: McDonalds. Yet there is a great […]

This link between Islamist zealot and secular fascist just doesn’t add up Peter Bergen Thursday January 30, 2003The Guardian In his state of the union address President Bush returned to one of his favourite themes: Saddam Hussein “aids and protects” al-Qaida. Yet the evidence for this claim is somewhere between tenuous and non-existent. Every year […]

A suggested reading list for those who want to know more about al Qaeda, by topic Al Qaeda in general Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Age of Sacred Terror, (New York: Random House, 2002) Peter Bergen, Holy War, Inc. Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden (New York: Touchstone, 2002). (paperback edition) Rohan […]