to my time column this week, and let s get started. you ve heard my take. let s dig deeper now. i have two great scholars on al qaeda and terrorism. peter bergen is of course cnn s national security analyst, the author of many books on al qaeda. he produced the first tv interview of osama bin laden back in 1997. gregory johnsen is the author of the last refuge, yemen, al qaeda and america s war in arabia. welcome. peter, what triggered all of this as far as we understand it is the head of al qaeda sent a message to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, in yemen, asking them, you know, do some terrorism, please. yeah, do something. now, is that a sign of weakness or strength? it s a sign of just sending a message. i mean it s do something is pretty it s not like, you know, the end of the world is coming. and so far whatever that
muslims, who can most effectively battle al qaeda in the realm of ideas. the u.s. can help by building up the legitimacy and capacity of these governments in various ways by encouraging reform, providing aid, technical know-how. of course this would be the softest of the three strategies and would probably draw the most fire from obama s critics before they actually pursue it more fully. go to cnn.com/fareed for a link to my time column this week, and let s get started. you ve heard my take. let s dig deeper now. i have two great scholars on al qaeda and terrorism. peter bergen is of course cnn s national security analyst, the author of many books on al qaeda. he produced the first tv interview of osama bin laden back in 1997. gregory johnsen is the author of the last refuge, yemen, al qaeda and america s war in arabia.
the terror alert misguided? we ll take a look at those questions and examine al qaeda s new stronghold. and we ll ask the last man to try to achieve peace in the middle east whether the current attempt is worth it. ehud barak, the former prime minister of israel, weighs in. also president obama cancels a summit with russia s president putin. what is up with the russians? finally, before and after. a stark reminder of the ravages of war. but first, here s my take. the obama administration s warning about a possible al qaeda plot against american interests in the middle east has triggered a volley of attacks back home. for those who always suspected president obama was somehow soft in fighting the war on terror, this was vindication. the weekly standard, fox news, the wall street journal editorialists all piled on saying that the president had claimed al qaeda had been decimated al qaeda is on the run and we got bin laden. but this terror warning proved him wrong.
of war. but first, here s my take. the obama administration s warning about a possible al qaeda plot against american interests in the middle east has triggered a volley of attacks back home. for those who always suspected president obama was somehow soft in fighting the war on terror, this was vindication. the weekly standard, fox news, the wall street journal editorialists all piled on saying that the president had claimed al qaeda had been decimated al qaeda is on the run and we got bin laden. but this terror warning proved him wrong. now, in part the administration has only itself to blame. the state department issued a global travel alert for the entire month of august and explained that the attack could come anywhere. congressmen who were briefed by administration officials explained while al qaeda targets were in the arab world and in africa, there could also be attacks in europe or north america. now, if it is a global travel alert, then it isn t really a trav
0 the union. i m candy crowley in washington. head to cnn gaum.com/sotu for analysis and extras. stay with cnn throughout the day for updates on the rescue of hannah anderson. fareed zakaria gps starts next. this is gps, the global public square. welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world. i m fareed zakaria. on today s show, first up is al qaeda back? or were the embassy closures and the terror alert misguided? we ll take a look at those questions and examine al qaeda s new stronghold. and we ll ask the last man to try to achieve peace in the middle east whether the current attempt is worth it. ehud barak, the former prime minister of israel, weighs in. also president obama cancels a summit with russia s president putin. what is up with the russians? finally, before and after. a stark reminder of the ravages of war. but first, here s my take. the obama administration s warning about a possible al qaeda plot against american interests in the middle east