Peter Bergen
Peter Bergen
Peter Bergenis an American journalist, author, documentary producer, professor, think tank executive and CNN's national security analyst. Bergen has written or edited seven books: Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden, The Osama bin Laden I Know, The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and al-Qaeda, Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden From 9/11 to Abbottabad, Talibanistan: Negotiating the Borders Between Terror, Politics, and Religion, Drone Wars: Transforming Conflict, Law, and Policy, and United...
attack
The purported will states, 'Attack them on the sea. Attack them on the land. Attack them everywhere. Attack their economy,'
ability convince dealing money people talk
We can talk about the money, but what does the money really mean? We're dealing with someone who has the ability to convince people to be martyrs.
academic-research research losing
There's some pretty good academic research that suggest that what Americans don't like is losing.
media action creation
I am very suspicious of the notion that somehow bin Laden was a media creation... Bin Laden's actions made him into a big deal. Not the media.
drawing people als
At one point people in al Qaeda were actually drawing monthly paychecks when they were based in Sudan.
successful administration economics
Bin Laden comes out of a business background - he studied public administration and economics at university, and he worked for his family company, which was obviously a rather successful enterprise.
war stories world
Why should Americans care about the Nazi back story in World War II? If you don't have the Nazi back story in World War II, World War II is simply not comprehensible.
dad men years
The image we have of bin Laden in his final years in Abbottabad is of an aging man with a graying beard watching old footage of himself; just another suburban dad flipping though the channels with his remote.
cities half lasts
In February I secured permission to enter Osama bin Laden's compound in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad, where he was killed and where he had lived for the last half-decade of his life; the first, and only, journalist to do so.
organization trying als
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 is as a person, if you don't have a sense of what al Qaeda, the organization, was on 9/11, 9/11 appears to be more or less inexplicable.
thoughtful people kind
I've interviewed multiple people who know bin Laden... who tend to have a universal picture of what he's like, which is: modest, retiring, unassuming, kind of thoughtful - lots of things that don't fit with a mass murderer, which he is as well.
keys indulge-in leader
Bin Laden was 200 miles away from the area where all of these drone strikes were taking out his key leaders, he was able to indulge in his hobbies... and he was making occasional video tapes and audio tapes to the wider world.
offering style want
Most Muslims don't want to live in some Taliban-style utopia, which is what bin Laden and allied groups are offering.
civilians government harm helping proud
Where else in the world is a government helping the civilians they harm in conflict? Marla was very proud of this fact,