George Packer Quotes

Counter-terrorism is not solely a military matter.

The common thread linking the major Islamic terrorist attacks that have recently occurred on our soil - 9/11, the Ft. Hood shooting, the Boston Bombing, the San Bernardino attack, the Orlando attack - is that they have involved immigrants or the children of immigrants. Clearly, new screening procedures are needed.

I think a lot of programs, policies have been put in place since 9/11, have prevented a 9/11-style attack. On the other hand, I think the threat has become greater, not lesser.

We fight terrorism. It threatens our sovereign, democratic, compassionate and decent way of life.

I believe the war on terror is the vital discussion of this decade and of our generation, probably. To win the war on terror, you need a good offense and a good defense. On defense, I regret to say, basically, this administration has not come close to doing what is necessary.

I think that the American people should rest assured and be assured that every federal agency that has a role to play in this terrorism is working overtime now, taking every necessary action to protect our great citizens.

The central role in the fight against terrorism is with national authorities.

I think the American people believe in stopping and preventing terrorism pretty much at any cost.

However, we do not lack anti-terrorist laws. I do not believe that the recent London bombs were the result of any deficiencies in our legal system.

We must fight and win the battle against terror overseas so we never have to fight it here at home.

They do believe that if we do not wage this war against terror in places like Baghdad and Kabul, we are more likely to have it waged in Baltimore and Kansas.

Terrorism as a force is gone. As individuals they are all around and we will continue to look for them.

It's because we need to determine who in this country is poised, positioned to commit terrorist acts.

We are in a war on terrorism. We need to conduct that war and take it to the terrorists, not here at home.

The anguish in London is a vivid reminder of why we cannot relent in taking the steps necessary to defend our homeland from the present terrorist threat.

Look, we constantly live looking at the issue of the threat of terrorism.

Terrorism is escalating to the point that Americans soon may have to choose between civil liberties and more intrusive means of protection.

Of all the tasks of government, the most basic is to protect its citizens from violence.

Al-Qa’ida members -- including some who are US citizens --have resided in or traveled to the US for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks.

The primary goal of the War on Terror is to prevent an attack from happening.

There's no national strategy to deal with combating terrorism and foreign fighters.

The hard reality is that attacks by vehicles in public places are very hard to defend against in a free and open society. The best defense against such attacks is good intelligence, and that often comes from inside the Muslim community.

The new age of terrorism isn't on the battlefield: it's in your own backyard. Whether it's at a concert in France or a restaurant in the United States, terrorism doesn't have to happen in a military installation by any stretch of the imagination.

I think, in the wake of Sept. 11, it's important for the American public to understand that to the extent that there are individuals within the United States who would undertake terrorist attacks, that we are doing something to address that.

We have to make sure we control who enters our country. And we have to sustain and increase our efforts to fight the terrorists at their source, both on the ground and in the battle for hearts and minds.