Transcript
PHIL GORDON: This is obviously a well timed panel. We've just gone through the sixth anniversary of 9/11 and I think that affords us a good opportunity to look back and ask ourselves how we're doing, is the approach we're taking successful, is it working, and I think that the broad judgment on that issue is that it's not working nearly as well as it ought to be or that we need it to be. There hasn't been a terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11, which is obviously a major accomplishment and good news. But more broadly, there have been more than twice as many major terrorist attacks around the world in the six years since 9/11 than in the six years prior to that. Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman Zawahiri, are still at large; al Qaeda is reorganizing itself on the Afghan/Pakistan border.
. . .We're bogged down in Iraq with no solution in sight, which has become a haven and possibly a producer of terrorists rather than reducing the number. I think when you look at that balance sheet over six years, you have to conclude that we are not in this war on terror where we would like to be six years after it was launched.
Now, if that's right, the obvious question to ask is why. What are we doing that isn't working? What might we do differently? And there are various perspectives on that issue, and no doubt, you will hear some on this panel, as we heard some on the previous one.
Some argue that it's just a matter of time, that we've adopted the right approach, but this is a challenging problem, and it's not fair to judge a grand strategy for transforming the Middle East and making America safe after six years, and we need to give it more time. Fair enough, and that can be argued, although, as I've said, I think it's -- enough evidence is in that we're not on the right track.
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