Peter Bergen Quotes

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

I am not opposed to government efforts to stop terrorist plots. We are still seared by the memory of 9/11, and we should be.

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.

In the fight against terrorism, national agencies keep full control over their police forces, security and intelligence agencies and judicial authorities.

Well, our position, and our chairman has talked about this extensively, is that we had a lot of intelligence prior to 9/11. We knew that two al Qaeda operatives who ultimately participated in the 9/11 disaster were in the United States. We didn't find them.

With terrorism becoming the increasing tactic of choice, the military component would become a smaller component of our national security system.

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

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.

Information-sharing between Western governments about the identities of those who have traveled to Syria and have received militant training is the key to preventing more incidents such as the one at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.

We need to be diligent in our neighborhoods, in America to keep an eye out for wherever there might be some kind of a terrorist cell that is festering that could potentially blow up.

In 2001, terrorism was fought in a completely different way.

The numbers of terrorists that we have caught coming - we actually don't catch them coming across the border. We usually catch them in some other context.

The fight against terrorism will not be over tomorrow or next month, or even next year. The fight will endure for years to come, and as the threat changes, so too must we adapt to these transformations.

I think the important thing to remember here is that we haven't been attacked again at home since September of 2001.

We must continue to ensure law enforcement has the necessary tools to combat terrorism here at home. We must also work with our allies and provide our military with the weapons and protective gear they need to defeat terrorism abroad.

Where the stakes are the highest, in the war on terror, we cannot possibly succeed without extraordinary international cooperation. Effective international police actions require the highest degree of intelligence sharing, planning and collaborative enforcement.

I did not want to provide a blueprint or roadmap for the terrorists, saying 'Here are our new security procedures'.

Since September 11, the U.S. has significantly improved its security to prevent another attack.

The war on terror, I believe, will be waged by effective intelligence and police work and cruise missiles.

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.

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.

I think, as a nation, we didn't learn our lessons from the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. We should have been more careful in a whole host of areas.

Remaining vigilant toward this ever-present threat means constantly learning how better to protect ourselves. But primarily it reminds us that we must fight and win the war on terror, so that we do not have to fight it here in America.

Since the tragedies, the Department of Homeland Security was established to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, and most importantly, to share intelligence information among government agencies and departments.