They Have a Strategy
During a press conference on August 28, Barack Obama had a rare moment of candor. “We don’t have a strategy yet,” the president said in response to a question about the prospect...
Fallujah
Syria Spillover: The Growing Threat of Terrorism and Sectarianism in the Middle East
Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Corker, and distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies,it is a...
Legislative Testimonies
The Arab Spring and Al-Qaeda’s Resurgence
Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member Smith, distinguished members of the committee, it is an honor to appear before you to discuss the state of al-Qaeda, its affiliates, and associated groups. My test...
Legislative Testimonies
The Arab Spring and Al-Qaeda’s Resurgence
Download the full testimony (PDF). Chairman McKeon...
Legislative Testimonies
Know Your Enemy
In the summer of 2008, Barack Obama, senator and presidential candidate, toured the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama had endeared himself to the antiwar left by denouncing President Bush’s d...
Op-eds
The Middle East’s Disappearing Borders
“The last year was a good one for al Qaeda, and for jihadism more broadly,” ...
Op-eds
The Meaning of Fallujah
Al-Qaeda is back in Fallujah and Ramadi, where we defeated them in the recent past. Everyone in the Middle East knew it, and they all knew al-Qaeda was on the ropes. Recruitment was more di...
Op-eds
Al-Qaeda’s Offensive Against Iraq’s Sahwa
Co-authored by Bridget Moreng Though it was largely considered a spent force at the time the U.S. withdrew from Iraq, al-Qaeda in Iraq’s (AQI) rebound is by now unden...
Op-eds
Syrian Government Accuses Rebels of Launching Chemical Attack
At least 26 people have been killed and more than 80 wounded in what may have been the first chemical attack in Syria's two-year-old civil war. The Syrian government has accused rebel fighte...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda in Iraq Suicide Bomber Attacks Awakening in Taji
Al Qaeda in Iraq executed its second major suicide attack against Iraqi security personnel in two days. Today, a suicide bomber attacked members of the Awakening in Taji, a city just north of Bag...
Op-eds
Abdullah Azzam Brigades Names Leader, Advises Against Attacks in Syria’s Cities
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al Qaeda-linked terror group that operates throughout Middle East, has named its leader for the first time and said it supports the Syrian revolution. The...
Op-eds
The Bin Laden Files
What the al Qaeda leader's final correspondence tells us about his legacy.
Op-eds
Understanding Journalist Nir Rosen’s Relationship with the Syrian Regime
Journalist Nir Rosen defended himself against accusations over the weekend that he’d collabora...
Op-eds
Adbullah Azzam Brigades Denies Responsibility for Damascus Suicide Attacks
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an affiliate of al Qaeda in Iraq that operates throughout the Middle East, has denied all involvement in the recent suicide attack in the Syrian capital that killed 4...
Op-eds
Death By a Thousand Cuts
See all those security lines? Just because al Qaeda's recent attacks haven't succeeded doesn't mean the terrorists are failing.
Op-eds
Iraq Then and Now: May 2004 Better than February 2003
As the aircraft landed on the carrier last year, I was personally amused by the idea that a U.S. president would perform such a feat. Regardless of the ensuing brouhaha, an American president in...
Op-eds
Operation Phantom Strike
How the U.S. military is demolishing al Qaeda in Iraq.
Op-eds
The Watchmen
In Anbar, the Marines do what they've always done.
Op-eds
Al-Qaeda’s Hope
As the sixth anniversary of September 11th, 2001 approaches, we should be grateful: al-Qaeda has not successfully attacked Americans a second time on American soil. We also should be distre...
Op-eds
US and Iraqi forces kill Al Masri and Baghdadi, al Qaeda in Iraq’s top two leaders
Iraq's Prime Minister and the US military confirmed that al Qaeda in Iraq's top two leaders have been killed during a raid in a remote region in the western province of Anbar....