Lawrence Wright Quotes

Bin Laden studied economics and public administration before he turned to a life of jihad.

America and its allies are engaged in a war against a terrorist movement that spans all corners of the globe. It is sparked by radical ideologues that breed hatred, oppression, and violence against all of their declared enemies.

This is a formidable enemy. To dismiss it as a bunch of 'cowards' perpetuating 'senseless acts of violence' is complacent nonsense. People willing to kill thousands of innocents while they kill themselves are not cowards. They are deadly vicious warriors and need to be treated as such.

I would show up at a party for Al Qaeda if you said there's going to be a dinner.

Terrorists

I do not believe that the Sunni tribes have gone over to the Islamic State.

ISIL does something al-Qaida would never imagine: they test people by tasking them.

Islamists are nothing but guided missiles that pride themselves on taking out as many infidels as possible.

Al-Qaida is a cult of martyrdom.

You cannot negotiate with organizations that are based on an ideology whose core is to destroy the West and America.

ISIL is a terrorist army like we have never seen - they cannot be ignored.

Look at these ISIS people. These people are ruthless. They don't operate by any sort of normal civilized code. That's the world. There's a shadow world that exists out there.

ISIS is the new jihad - violent jihadist vanguard in the Middle East and globally.

The Taliban is resilient.

Well, you got to remember, bin Laden killed 3,000 Americans and, in some ways, he and his ideology killed tens of thousands of his fellow Muslims, including Pakistanis. I understand that that was provocative and complicated for Pakistan, but only if you accept the idea that he was an acceptable member of Pakistani society.

Al-Qa'ida is the antithesis of the peace, tolerance and humanity that is at the heart of Islam.

Pakistan now is like a horror film franchise. You know, it's 'Friday the 13th, Episode 63: The Terrorist from Pakistan.' And each time we hear of Pakistan it's in that context.

The terrorists hide behind Allah.

For many foreign fighters, the jihad in Iraq and Syria is a commuter war.

For all their current prestige, Osama bin Laden and the suicide bombers are still regarded in all but the most desperate districts of Gaza or Peshawar as romantics with little chance of more than symbolic victories, however bloody and brutal. That gives both the Middle East and the West a small and distant hope of security.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the parent organization of extreme ideology. They are the godfather of all terrorist organizations. They spread it all over the world.

I don't think you can rely on Iran. I don't think you can rely on other radicals like the Taliban. They dispatched Al Qaida to bomb New York and Washington. What were they thinking? Were they that stupid? They weren't stupid. There is an irrationality there, and there is madness in this method.

We need Hasan Nasrallah, millions of Hasan Nasrallahs. We need millions of Osama bin Ladens. We need millions of people armed with real active rage…. if self-defense, and defending our values, our identity, our culture, and our religion is terrorism, then we welcome every type of terrorism on the face of the earth.

Terrorists aren’t states; they are martyrs with no address.

The War on Terror is a religious war … We are dealing with a set of ideas that kill.