Articles

By far the most serious charge that can be leveled against Bill Clinton is that his administration was derelict in its handling of the al Qaeda threat and therefore deserves much of the blame for the dreadful events of Sept. 11. If these charges were true, Clinton’s considerable accomplishments on the domestic economic front and foreign policy successes such as the Dayton peace accords would be utterly eclipsed, while even the harshest appraisals of the Lewinsky matter would be rendered moot. Moreover, a plausible argument that the Democrats screwed up the hunt for al Qaeda would have obvious implications for the election in 2004.

Some Lessons From London In the rapidly developing story of the Bush administration’s leaking of the name of a CIA operative to a columnist for the Washington Post the Bush White House would do well to consider how a similar scandal has damaged the credibility of its British ally, Tony Blair. In each case the […]

Al Qaeda and IraqUltimately what sold the American people on the Iraq war was the widely held belief that al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein?s regime had entered into an unholy alliance and were jointly responsible for the attacks two years ago in Washington and New York. A poll released by the Pew Research Center just […]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNNfn ANCHOR, STREET SWEEP: While the world remembers September 11th, the hunt is still on for Osama bin Laden. Wall Street especially is keen for updates on the hunt’s progress. At this time yesterday, markets tumbled after television networks aired a new tape apparently of the al Qaeda leader. Analysts are poring over the tape which they’re hoping will shed light on his whereabouts. Peter Bergen is CNN’s terrorism analyst. He joins me now to talk about this.

BUSH: We must never forget the lessons of September the 11th, 2001, a sobering reminder that oceans no longer can protect us from forces of evil who can’t stand what America stands for. (END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: A solemn vow from President Bush. Welcome back to “LATE EDITION.” Joining us now for some perspective on […]

As promised, here is part two of our interview with al Qaida expert Peter Bergen. Bergen is the author of Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden, and interviewed bin Laden in person in 1997. He is currently a fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC. (You can read […]

This evening we’re very pleased to run the first half of our interview with al Qaida expert Peter Bergen. Part two will run Friday afternoon. Bergen is the author of Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden, and interviewed bin Laden in person in 1997. He is currently a fellow at […]

Ultimately what sold the war in Iraq to the American people was the widely held belief that al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regime had entered into an unholy alliance. A poll released by the Pew Research Center just before the Iraq war showed that two out of three Americans believed Saddam “helped the terrorists in […]

In late April, two British middle-class men of Pakistani heritage walked into a busy jazz club near the U.S. Embassy in Israel on a suicide mission. One of the men had regularly attended meetings of al-Mahijiroun, a British Islamist group broadly sympathetic to the goals of al Qaeda. Once inside the club, the younger of the two succeeded in detonating a bomb, killing himself and three bystanders. The other man fled the scene.

CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen says, according to his sources, most fighters in Iraq are Saudis who entered from Syria.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Iraq is becoming a major “magnet” for al Qaeda terrorists, who now pose more of a threat than remnants of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, two analysts said Tuesday after a truck bomb killed 17 at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.