GLOBAL WAR ON

TERRORISMOrganized Crime?

By William P. Litynski

From the Grassy Knoll inKandahar, Afghanistan:Lone Gunman or Patsy?

The Assassination of Kandahar Kingpin and CIA agent (and drug dealer) Wali Karzai,the half-brother of Afghanistan President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai,

in Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 12, 2011

(Ahmad) Wali Karzai (left) appears with half-brother Hamid Karzai (right), the President of Afghanistan, in Kandahar, Afghanistan in October 2010. Wali Karzai, a one-time CIA collaborator, was assassinated by “lone gunman” Sardar Mohammad, Wali Karzai’s trusted bodyguard, inside his home in Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 12, 2011. CIA-trained al-Qaida terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed in a pre-dawn raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011. (AP Photo)

Prominent Afghan Political Leaders who were Assassinated

Gen. Khan Mohammed Mujahid

Police Chief of Kandahar;Assassinated in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan

on April 15, 2011

Mohammed Daud DaudPolice Chief of

Northern Afghanistan;Assassinated in a Taliban

suicide bomb attack in Taloqan, Afghanistan

on May 28, 2011

Ahmad Wali KarzaiHalf-brother of President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai;

Chairman of theKandahar Provincial Council;unofficial warlord (and drug

dealer) of Kandahar; longtime CIA collaborator;

Assassinated by “lone gunman” Sardar Mohammad inside his home in Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 12, 2011

Ghulam Haider HamidiMayor of Kandahar,

Afghanistan(2007–July 27, 2011)

Citizen of Afghanistan and naturalized citizen of the

United States of America;Assassinated by a suicide

bomber in Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 27, 2011

Ahmad Shah MassoudMinister of Defense of the

Islamic State of Afghanistan [Northern Alliance]

(June 1992–Sept. 9, 2001);a known Kremlin (Soviet)

collaborator during the Soviet-Afghan War;

Assassinated in a suicide attack on September 9, 2001

Abdul HaqAfghan Pashtun mujahideen

commander who fought against the Soviets and

Afghan communists during the Soviet-Afghan War;

Assassinated (executed) by the Taliban

on October 26, 2001

Abdul Sabur Farid Kohistani

Prime Minister of Afghanistan

(July 6, 1992-August 15, 1992);

Member of the upper house of the National Assembly of

Afghanistan;Assassinated in a shooting outside his home in Kabul,

Afghanistan on May 2, 2007

Burhanuddin RabbaniPresident of Afghanistan

(28 June 1992–27 Sept. 1996;13 Nov. 2001–22 Dec. 2001);

President of the Northern Alliance (27 Sept. 1996-

13 Nov. 2001);Assassinated in a suicide

bombing at his homein Kabul, Afghanistan

on September 20, 2011

Profile: Why Was The Afghan President's Brother Ahmad Wali Karzai So Controversial?By RFE/RLJuly 12, 2011

In the murky world of Afghan politics, there were few figures murkier -- yet more important -- than Ahmad Wali Karzai.

The younger, half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the 49-year-old Ahmad was universally considered to be the most powerful politician in Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-biggest city and the birthplace of the Taliban.

But the source of his power extended far beyond his official position as the head of Kandahar's elected provincial council.

And it was exactly questions over where his immense power and wealth came from that made him both so controversial and difficult to define.

That he was powerful, there is no doubt. Just last month, a delegation of tribal elders from Kandahar went to Kabul to lobby President Karzai to make Ahmad Wali the governor of Kandahar -- a step which would have given him virtually monopoly rule over the province.

One of Ahmad Wali Karzai's supporters, Agha Lalai Dastgiri, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan: "About 20 days ago a delegation representing all the tribes, more than 100 people, went to Kabul. They visited the president and asked him to appoint Ahmad Wali Karzai as Kandahar's governor, because the people think that would decrease and solve their problems."

Dastgiri is a member of the Kandahar Provincial Council and the head of the Kandahar Peace Commission.

One source of Ahmad Wali Karzai's power was undoubtedly his close family ties to his brother. Like the president, Ahmad Wali Karzai was an elder of the powerful Popalzai Pashtun tribe in southern Afghanistan and, with his brother, rose to power with U.S. support in the wake of Washington's 2001 invasion to topple the Taliban.

But while those important familial and regional ties may have helped him get elected to the Kandahar Provincial Council in 2005, he soon proved highly adept at amassing power and money on his own account.

When Ahmad Wali Karzai died on July 12 by an assassin's hand in his own heavily guarded home in the southern city, he was widely considered to be among Afghanistan's 10 richest men.

And the very fact that he had so much money immediately made it difficult to know even what might have motivated his killer -- Sardar Mohammad, a senior bodyguard trusted by the family -- to fatally shoot him in the head and chest before being shot dead by other guards.

Accusations Of Corruption

Among the most persistent charges leveled against Ahmad Wali Karzai -- both by critics and some allies -- were corruption and links to the drug trade.

In Western media, and Western capitals, he was so often portrayed as a symbol of cronyism that he became a lightning rod for criticism of all that is wrong with President Karzai's administration.

"The New York Times" reported last year that senior U.S. officials spent months weighing allegations against Ahmad Wali Karzai, including that he paid off Taliban insurgents, that he laundered money, that he seized government land, and that he reaped enormous profits by facilitating the shipment of opium through his region.

The top-level U.S. review of Ahmad Wali Karzai included a classified briefing presided over by General Stanley McChrystal on March 8, 2010, at NATO headquarters in Kabul.

But, the paper reported, the U.S. review ultimately concluded that the evidence, some compelling, some circumstantial, was not clear enough to persuade President Karzai to dismiss his brother.

And it was considered advisable to leave things in place in Kandahar as the United States itself prepared to launch a major operation to increase security in Kandahar, which began late last year and continues today.

Ahmad Wali Karzai consistently denied all allegations against him, saying they were politically motivated.

After "The New York Times" published an article in October 2008 headlined "Reports Link Karzai's Brother to Afghanistan Heroin Trade," he told reporters at a press conference that the accusation was "just a rumor."

He continued: "Up to this minute, nobody is able to prove it. So it is like a ghost. People say there is a ghost but you cannot see it, you cannot touch it, you cannot hear it, and [still] it is [supposedly] there. So all the accusations 'The New York Times' is saying in its report, I am ready to answer one by one."

Ahmad Wali Karzai told Britain's "Financial Times" last year: "It's very difficult to be the president's brother, believe me."

...And CIA Ties

But the late Kandahar kingpin's relations with Washington may have been still more complicated that the consistent criticism of him might suggest.

Just how complicated they could be was hinted at two years ago by a spate of media investigations into persistent rumors he had received regular payments from the CIA for much of the past eight years.

"The New York Times" reported in September 2009 that the U.S. intelligence agency paid him for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force -- the Kandahar Strike Force -- that conducts raids against suspected insurgents at the CIA's direction in and around Kandahar.

Similarly, the paper reported, Washington paid Karzai for allowing CIA and U.S. commandos to rent a large compound outside the city.

Ahmad Wali Karzai subsequently called the newspaper's report "ridiculous." White House spokesman Robert Gibbs refused to comment on any relationship between Karzai and the CIA, as did CIA spokesman George Little.

Power Vacuum In Kandahar

Now, with Ahmad Wali Karzai's assassination in Kandahar, Washington has lost someone who --depending upon which reports one finds credible -- was simultaneously both a partner and a liability for the West.

Just how much of each may become clearer as more details emerge of his death -- and the motives of his assassin. But for now, the bizarre circumstances of his shooting by a trusted associate only shroud his life in greater mystery than ever.

More immediately, Ahmad Wali Karzai's death plunges Kandahar into a power vacuum at a critical time for U.S. hopes to increase security in Kandahar as Washington prepares for an initial withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan next year.

Despite the steady criticism of Ahmad Wali Karzai as a polarizing figure in Kandahar who could complicate efforts to win over the population and supplant the Taliban, many U.S. and foreign officials have also at times recognized his huge reach within the city. He was seen as someone with the contacts to get things done, even if one had misgivings about his methods.

"The death is a huge loss, as it happened at a time that the power transition and national reconciliation is in progress," Khalid Pashtoon, a member of parliament from Kandahar and the first deputy of the lower house in the Afghan parliament, told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal. "In addition, the area is plagued by daily fighting and insecurity. Ahmad Karzai was an influential person in the whole area."

The latest assassination attempt was not the first targeting Ahmad Wali Karzai. There were at least two previous attacks against the provincial-council office in Kandahar that Karzai claimed were directed at him. One was in November 2008, another in April 2009. The attack in 2009, by four suicide bombers, killed 13 people.

Ahmad Wali Karzai, who was married and had five children, was born in Kandahar city in 1961 and moved to the United States in 1982, where he lived in Maryland and Virginia before moving to Chicago to run an Afghan restaurant. He returned to

Afghanistan in 1992.

Asked about the secret of his power in Kandahar, he told "The Washington Post" last year that decades of experience in Afghanistan was his only key:

"I know how to talk to the people," Ahmad Wali Karzai said. "I know how to deal with these tribes. I know what their needs are. I know how to address their needs. This is the skill I have learned."

Radio Free Afghanistan's correspondent Salih Mohammad Salih and Radio Mashaal's correspondent Hassiba Shaheed contributed to this report

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/profile_ahmad_wali_karzai/24263395.html

Afghan police stand guard next to the car of Afghan Vice President Abdul Qadir after Qadir's assassination in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July 6, 2002. His driver was also killed but the gunmen escaped. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Abdul Qadir, Vice President of Afghanistan (October 2001–July 6, 2002),was assassinated by a “lone gunman” in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 6, 2002.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (right) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen share a laugh during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. on February 16, 2011. The committee is hearing testimony on the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2012 national defense authorization budget request. (Getty Images)

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox (left) speaks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates on June 8, 2011 before a NATO defense ministers meeting at organization headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. NATO allies vowed on June 8 to keep up a relentless bombing campaign in Libya until Muammar Qaddafi stepped down, provide the necessary means to finish the job and help plan for a post-Qaddafi Libya. (Getty Images)

United States Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates (left) and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta smile at each other during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 2011. President Obama announced he is nominating Director of the CIA Leon Panetta as Secretary of Defense, commander for International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and U.S. forces in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus as Director of the CIA, Ryan Crocker as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Gen. John Allen as commander for ISAF and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. (Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (left) is awarded the Wazir Akbar Khan, the highest award the Afghan government can bestow, by Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on June 4, 2011. (Jason Reed, Pool via AP)

President Barack Obama meets with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Situation Room of the White House, April 25, 2011. Pictured clockwise from the President are: National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Attorney General Eric Holder; Director of National Intelligence James Clapper; John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Neal Wolin, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Susan Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations; Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; and Michèle Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama meets with his National Security Staff in the Situation Room of the White House on June 21, 2011. From left, are: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; General David Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Central Command; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen; Secretary of Defense Robert Gates; and Vice President Joe Biden. Donilon, Daley, Petraeus, and Gates are members of the Council on Foreign Relations.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with, clockwise from the President, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Lieutenant General John Allen, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, and United States Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker, in the Oval Office of the White House on July 5, 2011. Tom Donilon and Ryan Crocker are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa (center, wearing a blue vest) and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker (2nd left, wearing sunglasses) walk the grounds of the governor's palace in Kandahar, Afghanistan on April 23, 2012. Ryan Crocker is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a private political organization in New York City. Ryan Crocker served as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from July 25, 2011 until July 13, 2012. Ghulam Haider Hamidi, the Mayor of Kandahar, Afghanistan, was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 27, 2011. (Photo: U.S. Embassy Kabul Afghanistan/U.S. Department of State)

The shrine of Baba Wali (also known as Baba Saab) in the Arghandab area, on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan

American President Barack Obama (right) meets with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on March 1, 2011. CIA-trained al-Qaida terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed in a pre-dawn raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In this July 14, 2011, file photo, American soldiers board a U.S. military plane, as they leave Afghanistan, at the U.S. base in Bagram, located north of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Obama administration gave the first explicit signal on Tuesday, January 8, 2013, that it might leave no troops in Afghanistan after December 2014, an option that defies the Pentagon's view that thousands of troops may be needed to keep a lid on al-Qaida and to strengthen Afghan forces. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq, File)

Admiral Mike Mullen (left), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (right) are seen laughing during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. on February 16, 2011.

Prominent Council on Foreign Relations Members &Their Influence on Afghanistan

Henry A. ByroadeU.S. Ambassador to

Afghanistan(March 21, 1959-January 19, 1962)

Theodore L. Eliot Jr.U.S. Ambassador to

Afghanistan(November 21, 1973-

June 14, 1978)

Zalmay KhalilzadU.S. Ambassador to

Afghanistan (2003-2005);U.S. Ambassador to Iraq

(2005-2007)

Ryan C. CrockerU.S. Ambassador to

Afghanistan (2011-2012); U.S. Ambassador to Iraq

(2007-2009);U.S. Ambassador to

Pakistan (2004-2007)

James B. CunninghamU.S. Ambassador to

Afghanistan (2012-pres.); U.S. Ambassador to Israel

(2008-2011);U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong (2005-2008)

Richard C. HolbrookeSpecial Representative

for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2009-2010)

Nancy Jo PowellU.S. Ambassador to

Pakistan (2002-2004);U.S. Ambassador to India (April 24, 2012-present)

(Lt. Gen.) Karl EikenberryU.S. Ambassador to

Afghanistan (April 29, 2009-July 25, 2011);

Commander, Combined Forces Command-

Afghanistan (2005-2007)

Tatiana C. GfoellerU.S. Ambassador to

Kyrgyzstan (2008-2011); U.S. Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

(2004-2008)

Richard L. MorningstarU.S. Ambassador to

Azerbaijan (2012-present)

Gen. John P. AbizaidCommander of U.S. Central Command

(2003-2007)

Gen. Michael HaydenDirector of Central

Intelligence Agency (2006-2009)

Gen. Richard B. MyersChairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff(2001-2005)

Gen. David H. PetraeusCommander of U.S. Central Command

(2008-2010);Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (2010-2011)

Gen. Stanley McChrystalCommander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan

(2009-2010)

Condoleezza RiceU.S. Secretary of State (2005-2009); National

Security Advisor(2001-2005)

Robert M. GatesU.S. Secretary of Defense (2006-2011); Director of

Central Intelligence Agency (1991-1993)

Dick CheneyVice President of the

United States(2001-2009)

George J. TenetDirector of Central

Intelligence Agency (1997-2004)

John F. KerryU.S. Secretary of State

(2013-present)

Global War on Terrorism: In Their Own Words“WAR is a racket. It always has been.  It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.  A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small “inside” group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”– Smedley Darlington Butler, Retired Major General of the U.S. Marine Corps, War is a Racket

“Why, of course the people don't want war.  Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece?  Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England, nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany.  That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. …but voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”– Hermann Goering, in a conversation with U.S. Army Captain Gustave Gilbert in a prison cell during the Nuremberg trials, on April 18, 1946.  from Nuremberg Diary, by Gustave M. Gilbert

“But the safety of the people of America against dangers from foreign force depends not only on their forbearing to give just causes of war to other nations, but also on their placing and continuing themselves in such a situation as not to invite hostility or insult; for it need not be observed that there are pretended as well as just causes of war.  It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it; nay, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans. These and a variety of other motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people.”– John Jay, Federalist No. 4

“Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”– U.S. Congressman James Madison, from Political Observations, April 20, 1795

Left photo: American Army veterans protest against President George W. Bush and his Iraq War policies in Miami on January 20, 2005 as they honor American soldiers who have died in Iraq. Right photo: U.S. Army Corporal Pat Tillman, a former professional football player for Arizona Cardinals (National Football League), was killed in a fratricide in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. May he rest in peace.

Skull & Bones at Yale University:Secret Society or Criminal Syndicate?

The Order of Skull & Bones is a secret society at Yale University. The Order of Skull & Bones is also known as the “Brotherhood of Death.” Skull & Bones initiation rituals allegedly include individuals resting naked in a coffin and revealing their sex life to 14 fellow Bonesmen. (Source: Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power by Alexandra Robbins)

The Tomb, official headquarters of The Order of Skull & Bones, is located at Yale University on High Street in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Members of Skull & Bones and Their Occupation during the Global War on Terrorism (2001-present)

David L. BorenB.A. Yale 1963

President of University of Oklahoma (1994-present)

John Forbes KerryB.A. Yale 1966

U.S. Secretary of State (2013-present);

U.S. Senator (D-Mass., 1985-2013)

George H.W. BushB.A. Yale 1948

President of the United States (1989-1993);

Elder Statesman

George W. BushB.A. Yale 1968

President of the United States (2001-2009)

William H. Donaldson B.A. Yale 1953

Chairman of Securities and Exchange

Commission (2003-2005)

Frederick W. SmithB.A. Yale 1966

Chairman and CEO of FedEx Corp. (1975-pres.)

Stephen A. Schwarzman B.A. Yale 1969

Chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group

(1985-present)

George Harold Pfau Jr. B.S. Yale 1948

Senior Vice President of Paine Webber [acquired by UBS] (1979-c.2004)

William F. Buckley Jr.B.A. Yale 1950

Editor-at-Large of National Review

magazine (1991-2004)

Alexander T. Ercklentz B.A. Yale 1959

Partner of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.(1978-present)

George Herbert Walker III B.A. Yale 1953

U.S. Ambassador to Hungary (2003-2006)

Victor AsheB.A. Yale 1967

U.S. Ambassador to Poland (2004-2009)

Robert D. McCallum Jr. B.A. Yale 1968

U.S. Ambassador to Australia (2006-2009);

Associate U.S. Attorney General (2003-2006)

David Hoadley ThorneB.A. Yale 1966

U.S. Ambassador to Italy (2009-2013)

Douglas P. WoodlockB.A. Yale 1969

Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of

Massachusetts(1986-present)

William D. NordhausB.A. Yale 1963

Professor of Economics at Yale University(1973-present)

Austan GoolsbeeB.A. Yale 1991

Member (2009-2011) and Chairman (2010-2011) of the Council of Economic

Advisers

Robert W. KaganB.A. Yale 1980

Columnist for The Washington Post; Co-

Founder of Project for the New American Century

David Alan RichardsB.A. Yale 1967

Partner of McCarter & English [law firm in New

York City] (2001-present)

Jonathan C. RoseB.A. Yale 1963

Partner of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue [law firm]

(1977-1981, 1984-present)

U.S. President George W. Bush delivers a speech to crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, as the carrier steamed toward San Diego, California, U.S.A. on May 1, 2003. (Larry Downing/Reuters/Corbis)

“Well, I think I was unprepared for war.”– President George W. Bush, in an interview with ABC journalist Charlie Gibson on December 1, 2008

2004 American Presidential Election: A Staged Event? U.S. Senator John Kerry (left), presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, and incumbent President George W. Bush (right), presidential candidate for the Republican Party, laugh together during the 2004 presidential election. George W. Bush and John Kerry are members of Skull & Bones.

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”– U.S. President George W. Bush, in a speech in Washington, D.C. on August 5, 2004

“We are not going to achieve a new world order without paying for it in blood as well as in words and money.”– Arthur Schlesinger Jr., July/August 1995 issue of Foreign Affairs, “Back to the Womb?”, p. 8

“But why should we hear about body bags, and deaths, and how many, what day it’s gonna happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it’s, it’s not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?” – Former First Lady Barbara Bush, Good Morning America on ABC, March 18, 2003

TIM RUSSERT: You both were members of Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale. What does that tell us?

SEN. JOHN KERRY: Not much, because it’s a secret.

— Meet the Press on NBC,August 31, 2003

TIM RUSSERT: You were both in Skull and Bones, the secret society.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: It’s so secret we can’t talk about it.

— Meet the Press on NBC, February 7, 2004

“In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.” – U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

George H.W. Bush & ‘new world order’

“Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective – a new world order – can emerge: a new era – freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace.”– President George H.W. Bush, in a speech to Congress on September 11, 1990

“This is an historic moment. We have in this past year made great progress in ending the long era of conflict and cold war. We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order – a world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations. When we are successful -- and we will be – we have a real chance at this new world order, an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping role to fulfill the promise and vision of the U.N.’s founders.”– President George H.W. Bush, in a speech delivered in the Oval Office on January 16, 1991

“For two centuries we've done the hard work of freedom. And tonight we lead the world in facing down a threat to decency and humanity. What is at stake is more than one small country; it is a big idea – a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle, and worthy of our children’s future.”– President George H.W. Bush, State of the Union Address on January 29, 1991

“My vision of a new world order foresees a United Nations with a revitalized peacekeeping function.”– President George H.W. Bush, in a speech delivered at the Economic Club of New York in New York City on February 6, 1991

“The victory over Iraq was not waged as “a war to end all wars.” Even the new world order cannot guarantee an era of perpetual peace. But enduring peace must be our mission. Our success in the Gulf will shape not only the new world order we seek but our mission here at home.” – President George H.W. Bush, in a speech to Congress on March 6, 1991

Soviet Commissar Mikhail Gorbachev, President George H.W. Bush, and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan appear in a receiving line at a state dinner in Washington, D.C. on May 31, 1990. This photo appears in the book The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan. (Photo: George H.W. Bush Presidential Library)

President George W. Bush (left) and Vice President Dick Cheney listen to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Dick Cheney and Alan Greenspan are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Washington Post/White House/AP Photo)

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (right) congratulates Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan (left) after awarding him the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia on January 23, 2006. Donald H. Rumsfeld and Alan Greenspan attended the 2002 Bilderberg Meetings in Chantilly, Virginia, U.S.A. from May 30, 2002 to June 2, 2002. Alan Greenspan served as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve from August 11, 1987 to January 31, 2006 (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense/Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, U.S. Navy)

American National Debt during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) and American-Afghan War (2001-present):September 30, 1977 - $698,840,000,000.00*September 30, 1978 - $771,544,000,000.00*September 30, 1979 - $826,519,000,000.00*September 30, 1980 - $907,701,000,000.00*September 30, 1981 - $997,855,000,000.00*September 30, 1982 - $1,142,034,000,000.00*September 30, 1983 - $1,377,210,000,000.00*September 30, 1984 - $1,572,266,000,000.00*September 30, 1985 - $1,823,103,000,000.00*September 30, 1986 - $2,125,302,616,658.42September 30, 1987 - $2,350,276,890,953.00September 30, 1988 - $2,602,337,712,041.16September 29, 1989 - $2,857,430,960,187.32September 28, 1990 - $3,233,313,451,777.25September 30, 1991 - $3,665,303,351,697.03September 30, 1992 - $4,064,620,655,521.66September 30, 1993 - $4,411,488,883,139.38September 30, 1994 - $4,692,749,910,013.32

September 29, 1995 - $4,973,982,900,709.39September 30, 1996 - $5,224,810,939,135.73September 30, 1997 - $5,413,146,011,397.34September 30, 1998 - $5,526,193,008,897.62September 30, 1999 - $5,656,270,901,615.43September 30, 2000 - $5,674,178,209,886.86September 30, 2001 - $5,807,463,412,200.06September 30, 2002 - $6,228,235,965,597.16September 30, 2003 - $6,783,231,062,743.62September 30, 2004 - $7,379,052,696,330.32September 30, 2005 - $7,932,709,661,723.50September 30, 2006 - $8,506,973,899,215.23September 30, 2007 - $9,007,653,372,262.48September 30, 2008 - $10,024,724,896,912.49September 30, 2009 - $11,909,829,003,511.75September 30, 2010 - $13,561,623,030,891.79September 30, 2011 - $14,790,340,328,557.15September 30, 2012 - $16,066,241,407,385.89

Note: *Rounded to Millions. Includes legal tender notes, gold and silver certificates, etc. The first fiscal year for the U.S. Government started Jan. 1, 1789. Congress changed the beginning of the fiscal year from Jan. 1 to Jul. 1 in 1842, and finally from Jul. 1 to Oct. 1 in 1977 where it remains today. To find more historical information, visit The Public Debt Historical Information archives.

Source: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo4.htm

John Negroponte (left), the Director of National Intelligence, watches President George W. Bush (right) shakes hands with Central Intelligence Agency Director Porter Goss (center) in the Oval Office on Friday, May 5, 2006, after Porter Goss announced his resignation. All three men graduated from Yale University. (White House photo by Eric Draper)

The first Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Porter Goss, greets President George W. Bush at CIA Headquarters(Photo: Central Intelligence Agency)

‘Toward a New World Order’

A transcript of former President George Herbert Walker Bush'saddress to a joint session of Congress and the nation

From the National Archives September 11, 1990

Mr. President and Mr. Speaker and Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, fellow Americans, thank you very much for that warm welcome. We gather tonight, witness to events in the Persian Gulf as significant as they are tragic. In the early morning hours of August 2d, following negotiations and promises by Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein not to use force, a powerful Iraqi army invaded its trusting and much weaker neighbor, Kuwait. Within 3 days, 120,000 Iraqi troops with 850 tanks had poured into Kuwait and moved south to threaten Saudi Arabia. It was then that I decided to act to check that aggression.

At this moment, our brave servicemen and women stand watch in that distant desert and on distant seas, side by side with the forces of more than 20 other nations. They are some of the finest men and women of the United States of America. And they're doing one terrific job. These valiant Americans were ready at a moment's notice to leave their spouses and their children, to serve on the front line halfway around the world. They remind us who keeps America strong: they do. In the trying circumstances of the Gulf, the morale of our service men and women is excellent. In the face of danger, they're brave, they're well-trained, and dedicated.

A soldier, Private First Class Wade Merritt of Knoxville, Tennessee, now stationed in Saudi Arabia, wrote his parents of his worries, his love of family, and his hope for peace. But Wade also wrote, ``I am proud of my country and its firm stance against inhumane aggression. I am proud of my army and its men. I am proud to serve my country.'' Well, let me just say, Wade, America is proud of you and is grateful to every soldier, sailor, marine, and airman serving the cause of peace in the Persian Gulf. I also want to thank the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Powell; the Chiefs here tonight; our commander in the Persian Gulf, General Schwartzkopf; and the men and women of the Department of Defense. What a magnificent job you all are doing. And thank you very, very much from a grateful people. I wish I could say that their work is done. But we all know it's not.

So, if there ever was a time to put country before self and patriotism before party, the time is now. And let me thank all Americans, especially those here in this Chamber tonight, for your support for our armed forces and for their mission. That support will be even more important in the days to come. So, tonight I want to talk to you about what's at stake -- what we must do together to defend civilized values around the world and maintain our economic strength at home.

Our objectives in the Persian Gulf are clear, our goals defined and familiar: Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait completely, immediately, and without condition. Kuwait's legitimate government must be restored. The security and stability of the Persian Gulf must be assured. And American citizens abroad must be protected. These goals are not ours alone. They've been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council five times in as many weeks. Most countries share our concern for principle. And many have a stake in the stability of the Persian Gulf. This is not, as Saddam Hussein would have it, the United States against Iraq. It is Iraq against the world.

As you know, I've just returned from a very productive meeting with Soviet President Gorbachev. And I am pleased that we are working together to build a new relationship. In Helsinki, our joint statement affirmed to the world our shared resolve to counter Iraq's threat to peace. Let me quote: ``We are united in the belief that Iraq's aggression must not be tolerated. No peaceful international order is possible if larger states can devour their smaller neighbors.'' Clearly, no longer can a dictator count on East-West confrontation to stymie concerted United Nations action against aggression. A new partnership of nations has begun.

We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective -- a new world order -- can emerge: a new era -- freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which the nations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony. A hundred generations have searched for this elusive path to peace, while a thousand wars raged across the span of human endeavor. Today that new world is struggling to be born, a world quite different from the one we've known. A world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle. A world in which nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. A world where the strong respect the rights of the weak. This is the vision that I shared with President Gorbachev in Helsinki.

He and other leaders from Europe, the Gulf, and around the world understand that how we manage this crisis today could shape the future for generations to come.

The test we face is great, and so are the stakes. This is the first assault on the new world that we seek, the first test of our mettle. Had we not responded to this first provocation with clarity of purpose, if we do not continue to demonstrate our determination, it would be a signal to actual and potential despots around the world. America and the world must defend common vital interests -- and we will. America and the world must support the rule of law -- and we will. America and the world must stand up to aggression -- and we will. And one thing more: In the pursuit of these goals America will not be intimidated.

Vital issues of principle are at stake. Saddam Hussein is literally trying to wipe a country off the face of the Earth. We do not exaggerate. Nor do we exaggerate when we say Saddam Hussein will fail. Vital economic interests are at risk as well. Iraq itself controls some 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves. Iraq plus Kuwait controls twice that. An Iraq permitted to swallow Kuwait would have the economic and military power, as well as the arrogance, to intimidate and coerce its neighbors -- neighbors who control the lion's share of the world's remaining oil reserves. We cannot permit a resource so vital to be dominated by one so ruthless. And we won't.

Recent events have surely proven that there is no substitute for American leadership. In the face of tyranny, let no one doubt American credibility and reliability. Let no one doubt our staying power. We will stand by our friends. One way or another, the leader of Iraq must learn this fundamental truth. From the outset, acting hand in hand with others, we've sought to fashion the broadest possible international response to Iraq's aggression. The level of world cooperation and condemnation of Iraq is unprecedented. Armed forces from countries spanning four continents are there at the request of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia to deter and, if need be, to defend against attack. Moslems and non-Moslems, Arabs and non-Arabs, soldiers from many nations stand shoulder to shoulder, resolute against Saddam Hussein's ambitions.

We can now point to five United Nations Security Council resolutions that condemn Iraq's aggression. They call for Iraq's immediate and unconditional withdrawal, the restoration of Kuwait's legitimate government, and categorically reject Iraq's cynical and self-serving attempt to annex Kuwait. Finally, the United Nations has demanded the release of all foreign nationals held hostage against their will and in contravention of international law. It is a mockery of human decency to call these people “guests.” They are hostages, and the whole world knows it.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a dependable ally, said it all: ``We do not bargain over hostages. We will not stoop to the level of using human beings as bargaining chips ever.'' Of course, of course, our hearts go out to the hostages and to their families. But our policy cannot change, and it will not change. America and the world will not be blackmailed by this ruthless policy.

We're now in sight of a United Nations that performs as envisioned by its founders. We owe much to the outstanding leadership of Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar. The United Nations is backing up its words with action. The Security Council has imposed mandatory economic sanctions on Iraq, designed to force Iraq to relinquish the spoils of its illegal conquest. The Security Council has also taken the decisive step of authorizing the use of all means necessary to ensure compliance with these sanctions. Together with our friends and allies, ships of the United States Navy are today patrolling Mideast waters. They've already intercepted more than 700 ships to enforce the sanctions. Three regional leaders I spoke with just yesterday told me that these sanctions are working. Iraq is feeling the heat. We continue to hope that Iraq's leaders will recalculate just what their aggression has cost them. They are cut off from world trade, unable to sell their oil. And only a tiny fraction of goods gets through.

The communiqué with President Gorbachev made mention of what happens when the embargo is so effective that children of Iraq literally need milk or the sick truly need medicine. Then, under strict international supervision that guarantees the proper destination, then food will be permitted.

At home, the material cost of our leadership can be steep. That's why Secretary of State Baker and Treasury Secretary Brady have met with many world leaders to underscore that the burden of this collective effort must be shared. We are prepared to do our share and more to help carry that load; we insist that others do their share as well.

The response of most of our friends and allies has been good. To help defray costs, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE -- the United Arab Emirates -- have pledged to provide our deployed troops with all the food and fuel they need. Generous assistance will also be provided to stalwart front-line nations, such as Turkey and Egypt. I am also heartened to report that this international response extends to the neediest victims of this conflict -- those refugees. For our part, we've contributed $28 million for relief efforts. This is but a portion of what is needed. I commend, in particular, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and several European nations who have joined us in this purely humanitarian effort.

There's an energy-related cost to be borne as well. Oil-producing nations are already replacing lost Iraqi and Kuwaiti output. More than half of what was lost has been made up. And we're getting superb cooperation. If producers, including the United States, continue steps to expand oil and gas production, we can stabilize prices and guarantee against hardship. Additionally, we and several of our allies always have the option to extract oil from our strategic petroleum reserves if conditions warrant. As I've pointed out before, conservation efforts are essential to keep our energy needs as low as possible. And we must then take advantage of our energy sources across the board: coal, natural gas, hydro, and nuclear. Our failure to do these things has made us more dependent on foreign oil than ever before. Finally, let no one even contemplate profiteering from this crisis. We will not have it.

I cannot predict just how long it will take to convince Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. Sanctions will take time to have their full intended effect. We will continue to review all options with our allies, but let it be clear: we will not let this aggression stand.

Our interest, our involvement in the Gulf is not transitory. It predated Saddam Hussein's aggression and will survive it. Long after all our troops come home -- and we all hope it's soon, very soon -- there will be a lasting role for the United States in assisting the nations of the Persian Gulf. Our role then: to deter future aggression. Our role is to help our friends in their own self-defense. And something else: to curb the proliferation of chemical, biological, ballistic missile and, above all, nuclear technologies.

Let me also make clear that the United States has no quarrel with the Iraqi people. Our quarrel is with Iraq's dictator and with his aggression. Iraq will not be permitted to annex Kuwait. That's not a threat, that's not a boast, that's just the way it's going to be.

Our ability to function effectively as a great power abroad depends on how we conduct ourselves at home. Our economy, our Armed Forces, our energy dependence, and our cohesion all determine whether we can help our friends and stand up to our foes. For America to lead, America must remain strong and vital. Our world leadership and domestic strength are mutual and reinforcing; a woven piece, strongly bound as Old Glory. To revitalize our leadership, our leadership capacity, we must address our budget deficit -- not after election day, or next year, but now.

Higher oil prices slow our growth, and higher defense costs would only make our fiscal deficit problem worse. That deficit was already greater than it should have been -- a projected $232 billion for the coming year. It must -- it will -- be reduced.

To my friends in Congress, together we must act this very month -- before the next fiscal year begins on October 1st -- to get America's economic house in order. The Gulf situation helps us realize we are more economically vulnerable than we ever should be. Americans must never again enter any crisis, economic or military, with an excessive dependence on foreign oil and an excessive burden of Federal debt.

Most Americans are sick and tired of endless battles in the Congress and between the branches over budget matters. It is high time we pulled together and get the job done right. It's up to us to straighten this out. This job has four basic parts. First, the Congress should, this month, within a budget agreement, enact growth-oriented tax measures -- to help avoid recession in the short term and to increase savings, investment, productivity, and competitiveness for the longer term. These measures include extending incentives for research and experimentation; expanding the use of IRA's for new homeowners; establishing tax-deferred family savings accounts; creating incentives for the creation of enterprise zones and initiatives to encourage more domestic drilling; and, yes, reducing the tax rate on capital gains.

And second, the Congress should, this month, enact a prudent multiyear defense program, one that reflects not only the improvement in East-West relations but our broader responsibilities to deal with the continuing risks of outlaw action and regional conflict. Even with our obligations in the Gulf, a sound defense budget can have some reduction in real terms; and we're prepared to accept that. But to go beyond such levels, where cutting defense would threaten our vital margin of safety, is something I will never accept. The world is still dangerous. And surely, that is now clear. Stability's not secure. American interests are far reaching. Interdependence has increased. The consequences of regional instability can be global. This is no time to risk America's capacity to protect her vital interests.

And third, the Congress should, this month, enact measures to increase domestic energy production and energy conservation in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil. These measures should include my proposals to increase incentives for domestic oil and gas exploration, fuel-switching, and to accelerate the development of the Alaskan energy resources without damage to wildlife. As you know, when the oil embargo was imposed in the early 1970's, the United States imported almost 6 million barrels of oil a day. This year, before the Iraqi invasion, U.S. imports had risen to nearly 8 million barrels per day. And we'd moved in the wrong direction. And now we must act to correct that trend.

And fourth, the Congress should, this month, enact a 5-year program to reduce the projected debt and deficits by $500 billion -- that's by half a trillion dollars. And if, with the Congress, we can develop a satisfactory program by the end of the month, we can avoid the ax of sequester -- deep across-the-board cuts that would threaten our military capacity and risk substantial domestic disruption. I want to be able to tell the American people that we have truly solved the deficit problem. And for me to do that, a budget agreement must meet these tests: It must include the measures I've recommended to increase economic growth and reduce dependence on foreign oil. It must be fair. All should contribute, but the burden should not be excessive for any one group of programs or people. It must address the growth of government's hidden liabilities. It must reform the budget process and, further, it must be real.

I urge Congress to provide a comprehensive 5-year deficit reduction program to me as a complete legislative package, with measures to assure that it can be fully enforced. America is tired of phony deficit reduction or promise-now, save-later plans. It is time for a program that is credible and real. And finally, to the extent that the deficit reduction program includes new revenue measures, it must avoid any measure that would threaten economic growth or turn us back toward the days of punishing income tax rates. That is one path we should not head down again.

I have been pleased with recent progress, although it has not always seemed so smooth. But now it's time to produce. I hope we can work out a responsible plan. But with or without agreement from the budget summit, I ask both Houses of the Congress to allow a straight up-or-down vote on a complete $500-billion deficit reduction package not later than September 28. If the Congress cannot get me a budget, then Americans will have to face a tough, mandated sequester. I'm hopeful, in fact, I'm confident that the Congress will do what it should. And I can assure you that we in the executive branch will do our part.

In the final analysis, our ability to meet our responsibilities abroad depends upon political will and consensus at home. This is never easy in democracies, for we govern only with the consent of the governed. And although free people in a free society are bound to have their differences, Americans traditionally come together in times of adversity and challenge.

Once again, Americans have stepped forward to share a tearful goodbye with their families before leaving for a strange and distant shore. At this very moment, they serve together with Arabs, Europeans, Asians, and Africans in defense of principle and the dream of a new world order. That's why they sweat and toil in the sand and the heat and the sun. If they can come together under such adversity, if old adversaries like the Soviet Union and the United States can work in common cause, then surely we who are so fortunate to be in this great Chamber -- Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives -- can come together to fulfill our responsibilities here. Thank you. Good night. And God bless the United States of America.

National Archives Note: The President spoke at 9:09 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide television and radio.

Source: http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/war/bushsr.htm

President George H.W. Bush’s Speech Announcing War Against IraqJanuary 16, 1991

On August 2, 1990, tanks and soldiers from Iraq crossed the border into neighboring Kuwait and seized the tiny, oil-rich nation. Iraqi troops then began massing along the border of Saudi Arabia. Within days, American troops were sent to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Shield, protecting Saudi Arabia from possible attack. On August 6th, the United Nations Security Council imposed a trade embargo and financial sanctions against Iraq and authorized the use of force by naval forces in the Persian Gulf to prevent any violations. President George Bush addressed a joint session of Congress a few weeks later and stated the U.S. could not allow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to seize control of vital oil resources in the Middle East. President Bush then doubled the size of Allied forces in the region to 430,000 soldiers. On November 29th, the U.N. Security Council authorized its member nations to use "all necessary means" to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait if they did not withdraw by a deadline of January 15, 1991. President Bush then ordered more troops to the Gulf to pressure Saddam Hussein into evacuating Kuwait. On January 9, 1991, Secretary of State James Baker met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz in Geneva for several hours in a last ditch effort to avoid war. The meeting ended in an impasse with Baker finally announcing the talks had failed. Three days later, the House of Representatives voted 250-183 and the U.S. Senate voted 52-47 to authorized President Bush to use military force. The January 15th deadline passed quietly, as the 545,000 Iraqi troops in and around Kuwait did not budge. By now 539,000 American troops were in the Gulf along with 270,000 Allied troops from more than two dozen nations, the largest assembly of land troops and air power since World War II. On January 17th, at 2:45 a.m., Baghdad time (6:45 p.m., January 16 - Eastern time), Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm as U.S. and Allied jets conducted a major bombing raid against Iraqi air defenses, communications systems, chemical weapons facilities, tanks and artillery. The air raid on Baghdad was broadcast live to a global audience by CNN correspondents perched on a city rooftop. This is the television speech President Bush gave shortly after the air attack had commenced.

Just 2 hours ago, allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. These attacks continue as I speak. Ground forces are not engaged.

This conflict started August 2nd when the dictator of Iraq invaded a small and helpless neighbor. Kuwait -- a member of the Arab League and a member of the United Nations -- was crushed; its people, brutalized. Five months ago, Saddam Hussein started this cruel war against Kuwait. Tonight, the battle has been joined.

This military action, taken in accord with United Nations resolutions and with the consent of the United States Congress, follows months of constant and virtually endless diplomatic activity on the part of the United Nations, the United States, and many, many other countries. Arab leaders sought what became known as an Arab solution, only to conclude that Saddam Hussein was unwilling to leave Kuwait. Others traveled to Baghdad in a variety of efforts to restore peace and justice. Our Secretary of State, James Baker, held an historic meeting in Geneva, only to be totally rebuffed. This past weekend, in a last-ditch effort, the Secretary-General of the United Nations went to the Middle East with peace in his heart -- his second such mission. And he came back from Baghdad with no progress at all in getting Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait.

Now the 28 countries with forces in the Gulf area have exhausted all reasonable efforts to reach a peaceful resolution -- have no choice but to drive Saddam from Kuwait by force. We will not fail.

As I report to you, air attacks are underway against military targets in Iraq. We are determined to knock out Saddam Hussein’s nuclear bomb potential. We will also destroy his chemical weapons facilities. Much of Saddam’s artillery and tanks will be destroyed. Our operations are designed to best protect the lives of all the coalition forces by targeting Saddam’s vast military arsenal. Initial reports from General Schwarzkopf are that our operations are proceeding according to plan.

Our objectives are clear: Saddam Hussein’s forces will leave Kuwait. The legitimate government of Kuwait will be restored to its rightful place, and Kuwait will once again be free. Iraq will eventually comply with all relevant United Nations resolutions, and then, when peace is restored, it is our hope that Iraq will live as a peaceful and cooperative member of the family of nations, thus enhancing the security and stability of the Gulf.

Some may ask: Why act now? Why not wait? The answer is clear: The world could wait no longer. Sanctions, though having some effect, showed no signs of accomplishing their objective. Sanctions were tried for well over 5 months, and we and our allies concluded that sanctions alone would not force Saddam from Kuwait.

While the world waited, Saddam Hussein systematically raped, pillaged, and plundered a tiny nation, no threat to his own. He subjected the people of Kuwait to unspeakable atrocities -- and among those maimed and murdered, innocent children.

While the world waited, Saddam sought to add to the chemical weapons arsenal he now possesses, an infinitely more dangerous weapon of mass destruction -- a nuclear weapon. And while the world waited, while the world talked peace and withdrawal, Saddam Hussein dug in and moved massive forces into Kuwait.

While the world waited, while Saddam stalled, more damage was being done to the fragile economies of the Third World, emerging democracies of Eastern Europe, to the entire world, including to our own economy.

The United States, together with the United Nations, exhausted every means at our disposal to bring this crisis to a peaceful end. However, Saddam clearly felt that by stalling and threatening and defying the United Nations, he could weaken the forces arrayed against him.

While the world waited, Saddam Hussein met every overture of peace with open contempt. While the world prayed for peace, Saddam prepared for war.

I had hoped that when the United States Congress, in historic debate, took its resolute action, Saddam would realize he could not prevail and would move out of Kuwait in accord with the United Nation resolutions. He did not do that. Instead, he remained intransigent, certain that time was on his side.

Saddam was warned over and over again to comply with the will of the United Nations: Leave Kuwait, or be driven out. Saddam has arrogantly rejected all warnings. Instead, he tried to make this a dispute between Iraq and the United States of America.

Well, he failed. Tonight, 28 nations -- countries from 5 continents, Europe and Asia, Africa, and the Arab League -- have forces in the Gulf area standing shoulder to shoulder against Saddam Hussein. These countries had hoped the use of force could be avoided. Regrettably, we now believe that only force will make him leave.

Prior to ordering our forces into battle, I instructed our military commanders to take every necessary step to prevail as quickly as possible, and with the greatest degree of protection possible for American and allied service men and women. I’ve told the American people before that this will not be another Vietnam, and I repeat this here tonight. Our troops will have the best possible support in the entire world, and they will not be asked to fight with one hand tied behind their back. I’m hopeful that this fighting will not go on for long and that casualties will be held to an absolute minimum.

This is an historic moment. We have in this past year made great progress in ending the long era of conflict and cold war. We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order -- a world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations. When we are successful -- and we will be -- we have a real chance at this new world order, an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping role to fulfill the promise and vision of the U.N.’s founders.

We have no argument with the people of Iraq. Indeed, for the innocents caught in this conflict, I pray for their safety. Our goal is not the conquest of Iraq. It is the liberation of Kuwait. It is my hope that somehow the Iraqi people can, even now, convince their dictator that he must lay down his arms, leave Kuwait, and let Iraq itself rejoin the family of peace-loving nations.

Thomas Paine wrote many years ago: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Those well-known words are so very true today. But even as planes of the multinational forces attack Iraq, I prefer to think of peace, not war. I am convinced not only that we will prevail but that out of the horror of combat will come the recognition that no nation can stand against a world united, no nation will be permitted to brutally assault its neighbor.

No President can easily commit our sons and daughters to war. They are the Nation's finest. Ours is an all-volunteer force, magnificently trained, highly motivated. The troops know why they're there. And listen to what they say, for they've said it better than any President or Prime Minister ever could.

Listen to Hollywood Huddleston, Marine lance corporal. He says, “Let’s free these people, so we can go home and be free again.” And he’s right. The terrible crimes and tortures committed by Saddam's henchmen against the innocent people of Kuwait are an affront to mankind and a challenge to the freedom of all.

Listen to one of our great officers out there, Marine Lieutenant General Walter Boomer. He said: “There are things worth fighting for. A world in which brutality and lawlessness are allowed to go unchecked isn't the kind of world we're going to want to live in.”

Listen to Master Sergeant J.P. Kendall of the 82nd Airborne: "We're here for more than just the price of a gallon of gas. What we're doing is going to chart the future of the world for the next 100 years. It's better to deal with this guy now than 5 years from now.”

And finally, we should all sit up and listen to Jackie Jones, an Army lieutenant, when she says, “If we let him get away with this, who knows what's going to be next?”

I have called upon Hollywood and Walter and J.P. and Jackie and all their courageous comrades-in-arms to do what must be done. Tonight, America and the world are deeply grateful to them and to their families. And let me say to everyone listening or watching tonight: When the troops we've sent in finish their work, I am determined to bring them home as soon as possible.

Tonight, as our forces fight, they and their families are in our prayers. May God bless each and every one of them, and the coalition forces at our side in the Gulf, and may He continue to bless our nation, the United States of America.

President George Bush - January 16, 1991

Source: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/bush-war.htm

The remains of an Iraqi soldier resting in peace during the First Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) in 1991

President George H. W. Bush’s State of the Union AddressDelivered on Tuesday, January 29, 1991

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, members of the United States Congress. I come to this house of the people to speak to you and all Americans, certain we stand at a defining hour.

Halfway around the world, we are engaged in a great struggle in the skies and on the seas and sands. We know why we're there. We are Americans—part of something larger than ourselves.

For two centuries we've done the hard work of freedom. And tonight we lead the world in facing down a threat to decency and humanity.

What is at stake is more than one small country, it is a big idea—a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle, and worthy of our children's future.

The community of nations has resolutely gathered to condemn and repel lawless aggression. Saddam Hussein's unprovoked invasion—his ruthless, systematic rape of a peaceful neighbor—violated everything the community of nations holds dear. The world has said this aggression would not stand, and it will not stand.

Together, we have resisted the trap of appeasement, cynicism and isolation that gives temptation to tyrants. The world has answered Saddam's invasion with 12 United Nations resolutions, starting with a demand for Iraq's immediate and unconditional withdrawal, and backed up by forces from 28 countries of six continents. With few exceptions, the world now stands as one.

The end of the cold war has been a victory for all humanity. A year and a half ago, in Germany, I said our goal was a Europe whole and free. Tonight, Germany is united. Europe has become whole and free, and America's leadership was instrumental in making it possible.

The principle that has guided us is simple: our objective is to help the Baltic peoples achieve their aspirations, not to punish the Soviet Union. In our recent discussions with the Soviet leadership we have been given representations, which, if fulfilled, would result in the withdrawal of some Soviet forces, a reopening of dialogue with the republics, and a move away from violence.

We will watch carefully as the situation develops. And we will maintain our contact with the Soviet leadership to encourage continued commitment to democratization and reform.

If it is possible, I want to continue to build a lasting basis for U.S.-Soviet cooperation, for a more peaceful future for all mankind.

The triumph of democratic ideas in Eastern Europe and Latin America, and the continuing struggle for freedom elsewhere around the world all confirm the wisdom of our nation's founders.

Tonight, we work to achieve another victory, a victory over tyranny and savage aggression.

We in this Union enter the last decade of the 20th Century thankful for all our blessings, steadfast in our purpose, aware of our difficulties and responsive to our duties at home and around the world.

For two centuries, America has served the world as an inspiring example of freedom and democracy. For generations, America has led the struggle to preserve and extend the blessings of liberty. And today, in a rapidly changing world, American leadership is indispensable. Americans know that leadership brings burdens, and requires sacrifice.

But we also know why the hopes of humanity turn to us. We are Americans; we have a unique responsibility to do the hard work of freedom. And when we do, freedom works.

The conviction and courage we see in the Persian Gulf today is simply the American character in action. The indomitable spirit that is contributing to this victory for world peace and justice is the same spirit that gives us the power and the potential to meet our challenges at home.

We are resolute and resourceful. If we can selflessly confront evil for the sake of good in a land so far away, then surely we can make this land all it should be.

If anyone tells you America's best days are behind her, they're looking the wrong way.

Tonight, I come before this house, and the American people, with an appeal for renewal. This is not merely a call for new government initiatives, it is a call for new initiative in government, in our communities, and from every American—to prepare for the next American century.

America has always led by example. So who among us will set this example? Which of our citizens will lead us in this next American century? Everyone who steps forward today, to get one addict off drugs; to convince one troubled teen-ager not to give up on life; to comfort one AIDS patient; to help one hungry child.

We have within our reach the promise of renewed America. We can find meaning and reward by serving some purpose higher than ourselves—a shining purpose, the illumination of a thousand points of light. It is expressed by all who know the irresistible force of a child's hand, of a friend who stands by you and stays there—a volunteer's generous gesture, an idea that is simply right.

The problems before us may be different, but the key to solving them remains the same: it is the individual—the individual who steps forward. And the state of our Union is the union of each of us, one to the other: the sum of our friendships, marriages, families and communities.

We all have something to give. So if you know how to read, find someone who can't. If you've got a hammer, find a nail. If you're not hungry, not lonely, not in trouble—seek out someone who is.

Join the community of conscience. Do the hard work of freedom. That will define the state of our Union.

Since the birth of our nation, “we the people” has been the source of our strength. What government can do alone is limited, but the potential of the American people knows no limits.

We are a nation of rock-solid realism and clear-eyed idealism. We are Americans. We are the nation that believes in the future. We are the nation that can shape the future.

And we've begun to do just that, by strengthening the power and choice of individuals and families. Together, these last two years, we've put dollars for child care directly in the hands of parents instead of bureaucracies, unshackled the potential of Americans with diabilities, applied the creativity of the marketplace in the service of the environment, for clean air, and made homeownership possible for more Americans.

The strength of a democracy is not in bureaucracy, it is in the people and their communities. In everything we do, let us unleash the potential of our most precious resource—our citizens. We must return to families, communities, counties, cities, states and institutions of every kind, the power to chart their own destiny, and the freedom and opportunity provided by strong economic growth. That's what America is all about.

I know, tonight, in some regions of our country, people are in genuine economic distress. I hear them.

Earlier this month Kathy Blackwell of Massachusetts wrote me about what can happen when the economy slows down, saying, “My heart is aching, and I think that you should know—your people out here are hurting badly.”

I understand. And I'm not unrealistic about the future. But there are reasons to be optimistic about our economy.

First, we don't have to fight double-digit inflation. Second, most industries won't have to make big cuts in production because they don't have big inventories piled up. And third, our exports are running solid and strong. In fact, American businesses are exporting at a record rate.

So let's put these times in perspective. Together, since 1981, we've created almost 20 million jobs, cut inflation in half and cut interest rates in half.

Yes, the largest peacetime economic expansion in history has been temporarily interrupted. But our economy is still over twice as large as our closest competitor.

We will get this recession behind us and return to growth soon. We will get on our way to a new record of expansion, and achieve the competitive strength that will carry us into the next American century.

We should focus our efforts today on encouraging economic growth, investing in the future and giving power and opportunity to the individual.

We must begin with control of federal spending. That's why I'm submitting a budget that holds the growth in spending to less than the rate of inflation. And that's why, amid all the sound and fury of last year's budget debate, we put into law new, enforceable spending caps so that future spending debates will mean a battle of ideas, not a bidding war.

Though controversial, the budget agreement finally put the federal government on a pay-as-you-go basis, and cut the growth of debt by nearly $500 billion. And that frees funds for saving and job-creating investment.

Now, let's do more. My budget again includes tax-free family savings accounts; penalty-free withdrawals from I. R. A.'s for first-time homebuyers; and, to increase jobs and growth, a reduced tax for long-term capital gains.

I know their are differences among us about the impact and the effects of a capital gains incentive. So tonight I am asking the congressional leaders and the Federal Reserve to cooperate with us in a study, led by Chairman Alan Greenspan, to sort out our technical differences so that we can avoid a return to unproductive partisan bickering.

But just as our efforts will bring economic growth now and in the future, they must also be matched by long-term investments for the next American century.

That requires a forward-looking plan of action, and that's exactly what we will be sending to the Congress. We have prepared a detailed series of proposals, that include:

A budget that promotes investment in America's future—in children, education, infrastructure, space and high technology.

Legislation to achieve excellence in education, building on the partnership forged with the 50 governors at the education summit, enabling parents to choose their children's schools and helping to make America No. 1 in math and science.

A blueprint for a new national highway system, a critical investment in our transportation infrastructure. A research and development agenda that includes record levels of federal investment and a permanent tax credit to

strengthen private R and D and create jobs. A comprehensive national energy strategy that calls for energy conservation and efficiency, increased development and

greater use of alternative fuels. A banking reform plan to bring America's financial system into the 21st century, so that our banks remain safe and

secure and can continue to make job-creating loans for our factories, businesses, and homebuyers. I do think there has been too much pessimism. Sound banks should be making more sound loans, now. And interest rates should be lower, now.

In addition to these proposals, we must recognize that our economic strength depends upon being competitive in world markets. We must continue to expand America's exports. A successful Uruguay round of world trade negotiations will create more real jobs, and more real growth, for all nations. You and I know that if the playing field is level, America's workers and farmers can outwork and outproduce anyone, anytime, anywhere.

And with the Mexican free trade agreement and our Enterprise for the Americas Initiative we can help our partners strengthen their economies and move toward a free trade zone throughout this entire hemisphere.

The budget also includes a plan of action right here at home to put more power and opportunity in the hands of the individual. That means new incentives to create jobs in our inner cities by encouraging investment through enterprise zones. It also means tenant control and ownership of public housing. Freedom and the power to choose should not be the privilege of wealth. They are the birthright of every American.

Civil rights are also crucial to protecting equal opportunity. Every one of us has a responsibility to speak out against racism, bigotry, and hate. We will continue our vigorous enforcement of existing statutes, and I will once again press the Congress to strengthen the laws against employment discrimination without resorting to the use of unfair preferences.

We're determined to protect another fundamental civil right: freedom from crime and the fear that stalks our cities. The Attorney General will soon convene a crime summit of the nation's law-enforcement officials. And to help us support them we need a tough crime control legislation, and we need it now. As we fight crime, we will fully implement our national strategy for combatting drug abuse. Recent data show we are making progress, but much remains to be done. We will not rest until the day of the dealer is over, forever.

Good health care is every American's right and every American's responsibility. So we are proposing an aggression program of new prevention initiatives—for infants, for children, for adults, and for the elderly—to promote a healthier America and to help keep costs from spiraling.

It's time to give people more choice in government by reviving the ideal of the citizen politician who comes not to stay, but to serve. One of the reasons there is so much support for term limitations is that the American people are increasingly concerned about big-money influence in politics. We must look beyond the next election, to the next generation. The time has come to put the national interest ahead of the special interest—and totally eliminate political action committees.

That would truly put more competition in elections and more power in the hands of individuals. And where power cannot be put directly into the hands of the individual, it should be moved closer to the people—away from Washington.

The federal government too often treats government programs as if they are of Washington, by Washington, and for Washington. Once established, federal programs seem to become immortal.

It's time for a more dynamic program life cycle. Some programs should increase. Some should decrease. Some should be terminated. And some should be consolidated and turned over to the states.

My budget includes a list of programs for potential turnover totaling more than $20 billion. Working with Congress and the governors, I propose we select at least $15 billion in such programs and turn them over to the states in a single consolidated grant, fully funded, for flexible management by the states.

The value of this turnover approach is straightforward. It allows the federal government to reduce overhead. It allows states to manage more flexibly and more efficiently. It moves power and decision-making closer to the people. And it reinforces a theme of this administration: appreciation and encouragement of the innovative power of “states as laboratories.”

This nation was founded by leaders who understood that power belongs in the hands of the people. They planned for the future. And so must we—here and around the world.

As Americans, we know there are times when we must step forward and accept our responsibility to lead the world away from the dark chaos of dictators, toward the bright promise of a better day.

Almost 50 years ago, we began a long struggle against aggressive totalitarianism. Now we face another defining hour for America and the world.

There is no one more devoted, more committed to the hard work of freedom, than every soldier and sailor, every marine, airman and coastguardsman—every man and every woman now serving in the Persian Gulf.

Each of them has volunteered to provide for this nation's defense. And now they bravely struggle to earn for America and for the world and for future generations, a just and lasting peace.

Our commitment to them must be equal of their commitment to our country. They are truly America's finest.

The war in the Gulf is not a war we wanted. We worked hard to avoid war. For more than five months we, along with the Arab League, the European Community and the United Nations, tried every diplomatic avenue. UN secretary general Perez de Cuellar; presidents Gorbachev, Mitterand, Ozal, Mubarak, and Bendjedid; kings Fahd and Hassan; prime minsters Major and Andreotti—just to name a few—all worked for a solution. But time and again Saddam Hussein flatly rejected the path of diplomacy and peace.

The world well knows how this conflict began, and when: it began on August 2nd, when Saddam invaded and sacked a small, defenseless neighbor. And I am certain of how it will end. So that peace can prevail, we will prevail.

Tonight I'm pleased to report that we are on course. Iraq's capacity to sustain war is being destroyed. Our investment, our training, our planning—all are paying off. Time will not be Saddam's salvation.

Our purpose in the Persian Gulf remains constant: to drive Iraq out from Kuwait, to restore Kuwait's legitimate government, and to insure the stability and security of this critical region.

Let me make clear what I mean by the region's stability and security. We do not seek the destruction of Iraq, its culture or its people. Rather, we seek an Iraq that uses its great resources not to destroy, not to serve the ambitions of a tyrant, but to build a better life for itself and its neighbors. We seek a Persian Gulf where conflict is no longer the rule, where the strong are neither tempted nor able to intimidate the weak.

Most Americans know instinctively why we are in the Gulf. They know we had to stop Saddam now, not later. They know this brutal dictator will do anything, will use any weapon, will commit any outrage, no matter how many innocents must suffer.

They know we must make sure that control of the world's oil resources does not fall into his hands only to finance further aggression. They know that we need to build a new, enduring peace—based not on arms races and confrontation, but on shared principles and the rule of law.

And we all realize that our responsibility to be the catalyst for peace in the region does not end with the successful conclusion of this war.

Democracy brings the undeniable value of thoughtful dissent, and we have heard some dissenting voices here at home, some reckless, most responsible. But the fact that all the voices have the right to speak out is one of the reasons we've been united in principle and purpose for 200 years.

Our progress in this great struggle is the result of years of vigilance and a steadfast commitment to a strong defense. Now, with remarkable technological advances like the Patriot missile, we can defend the ballistic missile attacks aimed at innocent civilians.

Looking forward, I have directed that the S.D.I. program be refocused on providing protection from limited ballistic missile strikes, whatever their source. Let us pursue an S.D.I. program that can deal with any future threat to the United States, to our forces overseas and to our friends and allies.

The quality of American technology, thanks to the American worker, has enabled us to successfully deal with difficult military conditions, and help minimize the loss of life. We have given our men and women the very best. And they deserve it.

We all have a special place in our hearts for the families of men and women serving in the Gulf. They are represented here tonight, by Mrs. Norman Schwarzkopf. We are all very grateful to General Schwarzkopf and to all those serving with him. And I might also recognize one who came with Mrs. Schwarzkopf: Alma Powell, the wife of the distinguished Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And to the families, let me say, our forces in the Gulf will not stay there one day longer than is necessary to complete their mission.

The courage and success of the R.A.F. pilots—of the Kuwaiti, Saudi, French, Canadians, Italians, the pilots of Qatar and Bahrain—all are proof that for the first time since World War II, the international community is united. The leadership of the United Nations, once only a hoped-for ideal, is now confirming its founders' vision.

I am heartened that we are not being asked to bear alone the financial burden of this struggle. Last year, our friends and allies provided the bulk of the economic costs of Desert Shield, and having now received commitments of over $40 billion for the first three months of 1991, I am confident they will do no less as we move through Desert Storm.

But the world has to wonder what the dictator of Iraq is thinking. If he thinks that by targeting innocent civilians in Israel and Saudi Arabia, that he will gain an advantage—he is dead wrong. If he thinks that he will advance his cause through tragic and despicable environmental terrorism—he is dead wrong. And if he thinks that by abusing coalition P.O.W.s, he will benefit—he is dead wrong.

We will succeed in the Gulf. And when we do, the world community will have sent an enduring warning to any dictator or despot, present or future, who contemplates outlaw aggression.

The world can therefore seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order—where brutality will go unrewarded, and aggression will meet collective resistance.

Yes, the United States bears a major share of leadership in this effort. Among the nations of the world, only the United States of America has had both the moral standing, and the means to back it up. We are the only nation on this earth that could assemble the forces of peace.

This is the burden of leadership—and the strength that has made America the beacon of freedom in a searching world.

This nation has never found glory in war. Our people have never wanted to abandon the blessings of home and work, for distant lands and deadly conflict. If we fight in anger, it is only because we have to fight at all. And all of us yearn for a world where we will never have to fight again.

Each of us will measure, within ourselves, the value of this great struggle. Any cost in lives is beyond our power to measure. But the cost of closing our eyes to aggression is beyond mankind's power to imagine.

This we do know: Our cause is just. Our cause is moral. Our cause is right.

Let future generations understand the burden and the blessings of freedom. Let them say, we stood where duty required us to stand.

Let them know that together, we affirmed America, and the world, as a community of conscience.

The winds of change are with us now. The forces of freedom are united. We move toward the next century, more confident than ever, that we have the will at home and abroad, to do what must be done—the hard work of freedom.

May God bless the United States of America.(Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0900156.html)

Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Cessation of the Persian Gulf ConflictPresident George H.W. BushMarch 6, 1991

President George H.W. Bush addresses a joint session of Congress regarding the “end” of the first Persian Gulf War with Iraq at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on March 6, 1991. (Photo: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum)

Speaker Foley: Mr. President, it is customary at joint sessions for the Chair to present the President to the Members of Congress directly and without further comment. But I wish to depart from tradition tonight and express to you on behalf of the Congress and the country, and through you to the members of our Armed Forces, our warmest congratulations on the brilliant victory of the Desert Storm Operation.

Members of the Congress, I now have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the President of the United States.

The President: Mr. President. And Mr. Speaker, thank you, sir, for those very generous words spoken from the heart about the wonderful performance of our military.

Members of Congress, 5 short weeks ago I came to this House to speak to you about the state of the Union. We met then in time of war. Tonight, we meet in a world blessed by the promise of peace.

From the moment Operation Desert Storm commenced on January 16th until the time the guns fell silent at midnight 1 week ago, this nation has watched its sons and daughters with pride, watched over them with prayer. As Commander in Chief, I can report to you our armed forces fought with honor and valor. And as President, I can report to the Nation aggression is defeated. The war is over.

This is a victory for every country in the coalition, for the United Nations. A victory for unprecedented international cooperation and diplomacy, so well led by our Secretary of State, James Baker. It is a victory for the rule of law and for what is right.

Desert Storm's success belongs to the team that so ably leads our Armed Forces: our Secretary of Defense and our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dick Cheney and Colin Powell. And while you're standing -- [laughter] -- this military victory also belongs to the one the British call the “Man of the Match” -- the tower of calm at the eye of Desert Storm -- General Norman Schwarzkopf.

And recognizing this was a coalition effort, let us not forget Saudi General Khalid, Britain's General de la Billiere, or General Roquejeoffre of France, and all the others whose leadership played such a vital role. And most importantly, most importantly of all, all those who served in the field.

I thank the Members of this Congress -- support here for our troops in battle was overwhelming. And above all, I thank those whose unfailing love and support sustained our courageous men and women: I thank the American people.

Tonight, I come to this House to speak about the world -- the world after war. The recent challenge could not have been clearer. Saddam Hussein was the villain; Kuwait, the victim. To the aid of this small country came nations from North America and Europe, from Asia and South America, from Africa and the Arab world, all united against aggression. Our uncommon coalition must now work in common purpose: to forge a future that should never again be held hostage to the darker side of human nature.

Tonight in Iraq, Saddam walks amidst ruin. His war machine is crushed. His ability to threaten mass destruction is itself destroyed. His people have been lied to, denied the truth. And when his defeated legions come home, all Iraqis will see and feel the havoc he has wrought. And this I promise you: For all that Saddam has done to his own people, to the Kuwaitis, and to the entire world, Saddam and those around him are accountable.

All of us grieve for the victims of war, for the people of Kuwait and the suffering that scars the soul of that proud nation. We grieve for all our fallen soldiers and their families, for all the innocents caught up in this conflict. And, yes, we grieve for the people of Iraq, a people who have never been our enemy. My hope is that one day we will once again welcome them as friends into the community of nations. Our commitment to peace in the Middle East does not end with the liberation of Kuwait. So, tonight let me outline four key challenges to be met.

First, we must work together to create shared security arrangements in the region. Our friends and allies in the Middle East recognize that they will bear the bulk of the responsibility for regional security. But we want them to know that just as we stood with them to repel aggression, so now America stands ready to work with them to secure the peace. This does not mean stationing U.S. ground forces in the Arabian Peninsula, but it does mean American participation in joint exercises involving both air and ground forces. It means maintaining a capable U.S. naval presence in the region, just as we have for over 40 years. Let it be clear: Our vital national interests depend on a stable and secure Gulf.

Second, we must act to control the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles used to deliver them. It would be tragic if the nations of the Middle East and Persian Gulf were now, in the wake of war, to embark on a new arms race. Iraq requires special vigilance. Until Iraq convinces the world of its peaceful intentions -- that its leaders will not use new revenues to rearm and rebuild its menacing war machine -- Iraq must not have access to the instruments of war.

And third, we must work to create new opportunities for peace and stability in the Middle East. On the night I announced Operation Desert Storm, I expressed my hope that out of the horrors of war might come new momentum for peace. We've learned in the modern age geography cannot guarantee security, and security does not come from military power alone.

All of us know the depth of bitterness that has made the dispute between Israel and its neighbors so painful and intractable. Yet, in the conflict just concluded, Israel and many of the Arab States have for the first time found themselves confronting the same aggressor. By now, it should be plain to all parties that peacemaking in the Middle East requires compromise. At the same time, peace brings real benefits to everyone. We must do all that we can to close the gap between Israel and the Arab States -- and between Israelis and Palestinians. The tactics of terror lead absolutely nowhere. There can be no substitute for diplomacy.

A comprehensive peace must be grounded in United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and the principle of territory for peace. This principle must be elaborated to provide for Israel's security and recognition and at the same time for legitimate Palestinian political rights. Anything else would fail the twin test of fairness and security. The time has come to put an end to Arab-Israeli conflict.

The war with Iraq is over. The quest for solutions to the problems in Lebanon, in the Arab-Israeli dispute, and in the Gulf must go forward with new vigor and determination. And I guarantee you: No one will work harder for a stable peace in the region than we will.

Fourth, we must foster economic development for the sake of peace and progress. The Persian Gulf and Middle East form a region rich in natural resources with a wealth of untapped human potential. Resources once squandered on military might must be redirected to more peaceful ends. We are already addressing the immediate economic consequences of Iraq's aggression. Now, the challenge is to reach higher, to foster economic freedom and prosperity for all the people of the region.

By meeting these four challenges we can build a framework for peace. I've asked Secretary of State Baker to go to the Middle East to begin the process. He will go to listen, to probe, to offer suggestions -- to advance the search for peace and stability. I've also asked him to raise the plight of the hostages held in Lebanon. We have not forgotten them, and we will not forget them.

To all the challenges that confront this region of the world there is no single solution, no solely American answer. But we can make a difference. America will work tirelessly as a catalyst for positive change.

But we cannot lead a new world abroad if, at home, it's politics as usual on American defense and diplomacy. It's time to turn away from the temptation to protect unneeded weapons systems and obsolete bases. It's time to put an end to micromanagement of foreign and security assistance programs -- micromanagement that humiliates our friends and allies and hamstrings our diplomacy. It's time to rise above the parochial and the pork barrel, to do what is necessary, what's right, and what will enable this nation to play the leadership role required of us.

The consequences of the conflict in the Gulf reach far beyond the confines of the Middle East. Twice before in this century, an entire world was convulsed by war. Twice this century, out of the horrors of war hope emerged for enduring peace. Twice before, those hopes proved to be a distant dream, beyond the grasp of man. Until now, the world we've known has been a world divided -- a world of barbed wire and concrete block, conflict, and cold war.

Now, we can see a new world coming into view. A world in which there is the very real prospect of a new world order. In the words of Winston Churchill, a world order in which “the principles of justice and fair play protect the weak against the strong. . . .” A world where the United Nations, freed from cold war stalemate, is poised to fulfill the historic vision of its founders. A world in which freedom and respect for human rights find a home among all nations. The Gulf war put this new world to its first test. And my fellow Americans, we passed that test.

For the sake of our principles, for the sake of the Kuwaiti people, we stood our ground. Because the world would not look the other way, Ambassador al-Sabah, tonight Kuwait is free. And we're very happy about that.

Tonight, as our troops begin to come home, let us recognize that the hard work of freedom still calls us forward. We've learned the hard lessons of history. The victory over Iraq was not waged as “a war to end all wars.” Even the new world order cannot guarantee an era of perpetual peace. But enduring peace must be our mission. Our success in the Gulf will shape not only the new world order we seek but our mission here at home.

In the war just ended, there were clear-cut objectives -- timetables -- and, above all, an overriding imperative to achieve results. We must bring that same sense of self-discipline, that same sense of urgency, to the way we meet challenges here at home. In my State of the Union Address and in my budget, I defined a comprehensive agenda to prepare for the next American century.

Our first priority is to get this economy rolling again. The fear and uncertainty caused by the Gulf crisis were understandable. But now that the war is over, oil prices are down, interest rates are down, and confidence is rightly coming back. Americans can move forward to lend, spend, and invest in this, the strongest economy on Earth.

We must also enact the legislation that is key to building a better America. For example, in 1990, we enacted an historic Clean Air Act. And now we've proposed a national energy strategy. We passed a child-care bill that put power in the hands of parents. And today, we're ready to do the same thing with our schools and expand choice in education. We passed a crime bill that made a useful start in fighting crime and drugs. This year, we're sending to Congress our comprehensive crime package to finish the job. We passed the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. And now we've sent forward our civil rights bill. We also passed the aviation bill. This year, we've sent up our new highway bill. And these are just a few of our pending proposals for reform and renewal.

So, tonight I call on the Congress to move forward aggressively on our domestic front. Let's begin with two initiatives we should be able to agree on quickly: transportation and crime. And then, let's build on success with those and enact the rest of our agenda. If our forces could win the ground war in 100 hours, then surely the Congress can pass this legislation in 100 days. Let that be a promise we make tonight to the American people.

When I spoke in this House about the state of our Union, I asked all of you: If we can selflessly confront evil for the sake of good in a land so far away, then surely we can make this land all that it should be. In the time since then, the brave men and women of Desert Storm accomplished more than even they may realize. They set out to confront an enemy abroad, and in the process, they transformed a nation at home. Think of the way they went about their mission -- with confidence and quiet pride. Think about their sense of duty, about all they taught us about our values, about ourselves.

We hear so often about our young people in turmoil -- how our children fall short, how our schools fail us, how American products and American workers are second-class. Well, don't you believe it. The America we saw in Desert Storm was first-class talent. And they did it using America's state-of-the-art technology. We saw the excellence embodied in the Patriot missile and the patriots who made it work. And we saw soldiers who know about honor and bravery and duty and country and the world-shaking power of these simple words. There is something noble and majestic about the pride, about the patriotism that we feel tonight.

So, to everyone here and everyone watching at home, think about the men and women of Desert Storm. Let us honor them with our gratitude. Let us comfort the families of the fallen and remember each precious life lost.

Let us learn from them as well. Let us honor those who have served us by serving others. Let us honor them as individuals -- men and women of every race, all creeds and colors -- by setting the face of this nation against discrimination, bigotry, and hate. Eliminate them.

I'm sure that many of you saw on the television the unforgettable scene of four terrified Iraqi soldiers surrendering. They emerged from their bunker broken, tears streaming from their eyes, fearing the worst. And then there was an American soldier. Remember what he said? He said: ``It's okay. You're all right now. You're all right now.'' That scene says a lot about America, a lot about who we are. Americans are a caring people. We are a good people, a generous people. Let us always be caring and good and generous in all we do.

Soon, very soon, our troops will begin the march we've all been waiting for -- their march home. And I have directed Secretary Cheney to begin the immediate return of American combat units from the Gulf. Less than 2 hours from now, the first planeload of American soldiers will lift off from Saudi Arabia, headed for the U.S.A. That plane will carry the men and women of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division bound for Fort Stewart, Georgia. This is just the beginning of a steady flow of American troops coming home. Let their return remind us that all those who have gone before are linked with us in the long line of freedom's march.

Americans have always tried to serve, to sacrifice nobly for what we believe to be right. Tonight, I ask every community in this country to make this coming Fourth of July a day of special celebration for our returning troops. They may have missed Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I can tell you this: For them and for their families, we can make this a holiday they'll never forget.

In a very real sense, this victory belongs to them -- to the privates and the pilots, to the sergeants and the supply officers, to the men and women in the machines and the men and women who made them work. It belongs to the regulars, to the reserves, to the National Guard. This victory belongs to the finest fighting force this nation has ever known in its history.

We went halfway around the world to do what is moral and just and right. We fought hard and, with others, we won the war. We lifted the yoke of aggression and tyranny from a small country that many Americans had never even heard of, and we ask nothing in return.

We're coming home now -- proud, confident, heads high. There is much that we must do, at home and abroad. And we will do it. We are Americans.

May God bless this great nation, the United States of America. Thank you all very, very much.

Note: The President spoke at 9:12 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the House of Representatives. In his remarks, he referred to Dan Quayle, President of the Senate; Secretary of State James A. Baker III; Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney; Colin L. Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf; Saudi commander Gen. Abdul Aziz bin Sultan; British commander Gen. Peter de la Billiere; French commander Gen. Michel Roquejeoffre; President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and Ambassador Saud Nasir al-Sabah of Kuwait. The address was broadcast live on nationwide television and radio.

Source: George H.W. Bush Presidential Libraryhttp://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=2767&year=1991&month=3

Mission accomplished? U.S. President George W. Bush delivers a speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, as the carrier steamed toward San Diego, California, U.S.A. Bush delivered a speech announcing the conclusion of America’s military operations against the Iraqi government and army led by Saddam Hussein.

The 9/11 Tragedy (September 11, 2001): Satanic Ritual?

United Airlines Flight 175 hits the World Trade Center South Tower in New York City at 9:03 A.M. on September 11, 2001.

American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. at 9:41 A.M. on September 11, 2001.

Front page photo: U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (left) takes questions from reporters as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf looks on during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. on February 13, 2002. Musharraf said he was 'reasonably sure' that kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is alive. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

President George W. Bush meets with his advisors after returning to the White House on Tuesday evening, September 11, 2001 following the 9/11 attacks. From left to right: Vice President Dick Cheney; Chief of Staff Andy Card; Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser; and Special Agent Carl Truscott of the U.S. Secret Service in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center of the White House.(Photo: National Archives)

President George W. Bush meets with his National Security Council in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center of the White House on Tuesday evening, September 11, 2001, soon after addressing the nation in a televised speech. (Photo: National Archives)

President George W. Bush (left) and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld look over the scene of destruction at the Pentagon on September 12, 2001. (Photo by R.D. Ward/U.S. Department of Defense)

President George W. Bush grasps the hand of his father, former President George H. W. Bush, at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on Friday, September 14, 2001, after speaking at the service for America's National Day of Prayer and Remembrance. Seated with the President from left are: Mrs. Barbara Bush, Former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton.(Photo: National Archives)

Global War on Terrorism in Afghanistan: Organized Crime?

President George W. Bush meets with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and his staff at the Pentagon on September 12, 2001. From left to right: Secretary of the Army Thomas E. White, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Bush, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.   (Photo by Helene C. Stikkel/U.S. Department of Defense)

Left: World Bank President James Wolfensohn talks to Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai at a dinner in Tokyo, Japan on January 21, 2002.

Right: World Bank President James Wolfensohn meets with Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad, Pakistan on February 7, 2005.

Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz talks with, from left, Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense; Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State; and Lewis Libby, Chief of Staff for the Vice President in the Cabinet Room of the White House on September 12, 2001. Wolfowitz, Powell, and Libby were members of the Council on Foreign Relations at the time of this photograph. (Photo: National Archives)

President George W. Bush meets with his National Security Council in the Cabinet Room of the White House on September 12, 2001. Seated with the President from left are: Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense; Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State; and Vice President Dick Cheney. (Photo: National Archives)

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (right) watches Douglas Feith (left), the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, shake hands with President George W. Bush at the Pentagon on September 12, 2001. Douglas Feith is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Donald Rumsfeld is a former member of the Council on Foreign Relations.(Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)(Source: War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism by Douglas J. Feith)

Michael Chertoff (right), the Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement, is seen talking to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft before a House committee on September 24, 2001. (Win McNamee/Reuters)

President George W. Bush's war cabinet meets at Camp David on September 15, 2001. Clockwise from left: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, Vice-President Cheney, Bush, Secretary of State Powell, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, CIA Director George Tenet, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry Shelton.(Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP)

President George W. Bush meets with the National Security Council in the Situation Room of the White House on September 20, 2001. Participants from left include: Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI; Lewis Libby, Chief of Staff to the Vice President; George Tenet, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); Attorney General John Ashcroft; Paul O'Neill, Secretary of Treasury; Vice President Dick Cheney; Colin Powell, Secretary of State; Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense; and Gen. Henry Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.(Photo: National Archives)

Hours before addressing Congress and the nation, President George W. Bush talks privately with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Blue Room at the White House on September 20, 2001. (Photo: National Archives)

President George W. Bush meets with Foreign Minister Saudi Al-Fail of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office on September 20, 2001. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Prince Bandar are seen standing in front of the President’s desk.(Photo: National Archives)

President George W. Bush meets with CIA Director George Tenet (right), National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice (above, left), and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card (lower left) at Camp David in Maryland on September 29, 2001 to discuss the invasion of Afghanistan.(Photo: National Archives)

President George W. Bush meets with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet, Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in the Oval Office of the White House on October 7, 2001. (Photo: National Archives)

President George W. Bush signs the USA Patriot Act in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on October 26, 2001. Standing behind the President from left are: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft; Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican-Utah; Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat-Vermont; Sen. Harry Reid, Democrat-Nevada; Representative James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, and Sen. Bob Graham, Democrat-Florida. (Photo: National Archives)

FBI Director Robert Mueller, CIA Director George Tenet, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge confer in the Cabinet Room of the White House on October 29, 2001. (Photo: National Archives)

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld talks to his assistants Douglas Feith (right, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy), Vice Admiral Edmund Giambastiani (black jacket), and Assistant Secretary of Defense William J. “Bill” Luti (background) during their flight to Saudi Arabia in October 2001. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)(Source: War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism by Douglas J. Feith)

Douglas Feith, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, watches Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld greet Sultan Qaboos bin Said in Oman in October 2001. (AP Photo/Salim Al Hashli)(Source: War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism by Douglas J. Feith)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, Vice President Dick Cheney, President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf prepare for dinner at the White House on September 27, 2006. Cheney and Rice are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (White House photo by Eric Draper)

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (left) talks to Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush at the Pentagon. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) and President George W. Bush (second from left) participate in a Video Teleconference with United States Provincial Reconstruction Team Leaders, National Guard Agriculture Development Team Representatives, and Afghan Governors in Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2008. They are joined by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (center), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen (second from right), and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte (right). (Getty Images)

President George W. Bush signs into law S. 3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday, October 17, 2006. Joining him on stage, from left are: Utah Rep. Chris Cannon, Indiana Rep. Steve Buyer, Wisconsin Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, and Sen. John Warner of Virginia. General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales are in the background. (White House photo by Paul Morse)

Douglas Feith (wearing glasses) and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz meet with Kevin Tebbit, the Permanent Under Secretary of the British Ministry of Defence, at the Pentagon on December 7, 2001. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns (left), the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, watches Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (center) shake hands with NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson on December 18, 2001. (NATO Photo)

Zalmay Khalilzad greets Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad (right) greets Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz at the Pentagon on December 14, 2004. Zalmay Khalilzad was the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan at the time of U.S. Army Corporal Pat Tillman’s death on April 22, 2004. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer shakes hands with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in Moscow in April 2004. (NATO Photo)

British Prime Minister Tony Blair toasts Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at a dinner in Moscow on November 21, 2000.(St. Petersburg Times)

Left photo: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan shakes hands with Iran’s ruler Mahoud Ahmadinejad (left) and President George W. Bush (right). (Left photo: (Hasan Sarbakhshian/Associated Press)

Right photo: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan meets with President George W. Bush upon his arrival to United Nations Headquarters in New York City on September 23, 2003.  (UN photo by Eskinder Debebe/State Department)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai shakes hands with Iran’s ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) and President George W. Bush (right).

Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is greeted by Afghanistan’s interim leader Dr. Hamid Karzai at Kabul International Airport during his visit to Afghanistan on April 2, 2002. (Photo: http://www.operations.mod.uk/fingal/photo_gallery_patrols.htm)

Afghanistan’s interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai (L), shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan during a joint press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan January 25, 2002. (Photo: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Douglas Feith, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, shakes hands with Afghanistan’s new president Hamid Karzai in January 2002 as Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and U.S. Air Force General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stand in the background. Feith, Wolfowitz, and Myers are members of the Council on Foreign Relations.(Photo by Robert D. Ward/U.S. Department of Defense)(Source: War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism by Douglas J. Feith)

Douglas Feith, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, talks to theh press at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan in September 2002. (Reuters) (Source: War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism by Douglas J. Feith)

CNN reporter Peter L. Bergen sits beside Arab terrorist and suspected CIA asset Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan on March 22, 1997. Peter L. Bergen is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Governor of Texas and Republican Party presidential candidate George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and Arab terrorist Sami Al-Arian (center, wearing a beard) smile for the camera on March 12, 2000.

“Next door to Sharjah is Dubai, the center of CIA spying in the region, according to U.S. intelligence sources. Dubai’s Dolphin Energy Ltd., was on quarter-owned by Enron before the firm’s collapse. Dolphin’s CEO was UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahayan. In July 2001, Osama bin Laden was reported to have received kidney treatment at the American Hospital in Dubai with the blessing of the Dubai and UAE governments. At the time of his hospitalization, Bin Laden was reported by the French newspaper Le Figaro and Radio France International to have been visited on July 12, 2001, by Larry Mitchell, the CIA chief in Dubai, who was said to have had close contacts with all the Gulf royal families. Mitchell was reportedly called back to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia on July 15, 2001. Oddly, Carlyle owned a 42 percent stake in Le Figaro at the time it reported on the Bin Laden meeting with the CIA in Dubai.”– Jaded Tasks: Brass Plates, Black Ops, & Big Oil, The Blood Politics of George Bush & Co. by Wayne Madsen, p. 120

The Bin Laden Family in Sweden

Council on Foreign Relations members invite members of the Islamic Alliance of Afghanistan to the Harold Pratt House in New York City in 1987. (Photo: Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report)

George H.W. Bush greets Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.

The Texas Troika greets the Big “O”. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates (left), former Secretary of State James A. Baker III (second from left), and former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara greet President Barack Obama as he arrives in College Station, Texas on October 16, 2009, prior to attending the Points of Light Foundation forum held at Texas A&M University.(U.S. Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison)

In this handout image provided by the Department of Defense (DOD), former President George H. W. Bush (L), Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (C) and Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett sit with President Barack Obama (R) before the Points of Light Foundation forum held at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas on October 16, 2009. President Obama joined former president Bush and more than 2,000 service leaders to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Points of Light movement and issue a new call to Americans to serve in their communities. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense/Handout/Getty Images North America)

Army General John Abizaid (left), the Commander of U.S. Central Command, and Marine Corps General James L. Jones, the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe and NATO, wait for a meeting to begin on July 26, 2006. (NATO Photo)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, left, speaks with U.S. Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, center, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, and U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, right, during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Bratislava, Slovakia on October 23, 2009. Gates, Stavridis, and McChrystal are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (U.S. Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison)

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (left) greets U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the Commander of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan, at Bagram airfield in Afghanistan on January 17, 2007. Both men were members of the Council on Foreign Relations at the time this photo was taken. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense/Cherie A. Thurlby)

U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, Commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, chats with Republican presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, and Sen. John Warner, R-VA, (L to R) prior to a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the situation in Iraq on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on April 8, 2008. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) http://www.upi.com/topic/David_Petraeus/photos/pg-8/

U.S. Army General David H. Petraeus, nominee for reapportionment to be commander of United States Central Command, makes his way to his seat prior to his confirmation hearing before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on May 22, 2008.(UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) http://www.upi.com/topic/David_Petraeus/photos/pg-10/

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (fifth from right) meets with Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 13, 2012. (Photo: Office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan)

Karl W. Eikenberry (right), the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, speaks with Richard Holbrooke, the American special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan (center), and Carl Bildt (left), the Foreign Minister of Sweden, during a meeting at a U.S. military base in Ghazni, Afghanistan on July 24, 2009, prior to Afghanistan’s upcoming presidential election. Carl Bildt and Richard Holbrooke are regular Bilderberg Meetings participants. Karl W. Eikenberry and Richard Holbrooke are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (AP Photo)

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, right, is greeted by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, left, the head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, at Camp Bastion in Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan on Saturday, August 29, 2009. Prime Minister Gordon Brown flew Saturday to the city of Lashkar Gah, where British troops have been waging a tough fight against Taliban insurgents. Brown promised British troops more help to overcome the threat of Taliban roadside bombs that have killed and wounded many British soldiers this summer. (AP Photo) http://www.daylife.com/photo/0dXHbFsgKodVM?q=mcchrystal+gordon+brown

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, second from left, share a laugh as they arrive to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee during the fiscal year 2009 war supplemental hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on April 30, 2009. (AP Photo)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton provides remarks during talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari during trilateral consultations with Afghanistan and Pakistan at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on May 6, 2009. (U.S. State Department photo by Michael Gross) http://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/3583503398/

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates walks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 8, 2009. Gates is on his first trip back to southwest Asia after President Obama decided to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.   (Photo: DoD photo by Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison, U.S. Air Force. (Released))http://www.defense.gov/photos/newsphoto.aspx?newsphotoid=12000

A view of the Haji Abdul Rahman Mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan (Photo: U.S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (center) meets with U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal (right) in Afghanistan on November 19, 2009. (U.S. State Department photo by Daniel Wilkinson)

President Barack Obama, right, is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Eikenberry, center, and Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, en route to an unannounced visit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, March 28, 2010. Karl W. Eikenberry and Stanley McChrystal are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (AP Photo)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (right) speaks with U.S. And NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal (left) and other NATO officers at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 10, 2010. (Reuters)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (C), U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke (L), and U.S. Army General David Petraeus (R), Commander of U.S. Central Command, arrive for a conference at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 11, 2010. Holbrooke and Petraeus attended a two-day conference reviewing U.S. civilian and military involvement in Afghanistan for the coming year. Richard Holbrooke and David Petraeus are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Reuters) http://www.daylife.com/photo/08DmdDlalC1Wt?q=david+petraeus

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hosts a dinner in honor of President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai at the Blair House, Washington, D.C. on May 10, 2010. Left to right: James L. Jones, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, unidentified, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, unidentified Afghan diplomat, Richard Holbrooke, unidentified Afghan diplomat, Hillary Rodham Clinton, unidentified Afghan diplomat, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Eikenberry. Gates, McChrystal, Holbrooke, and Eikenberry are members of the Council on Foreign Relations, an internationalist organization in New York City.(U.S. State Department Photo/Public Domain) http://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/4602338044/

President Barack Obama holds a bilateral meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., May 12, 2010. Participants include: Lt. Gen. Douglas (Doug) Lute, Special Assistant for Afghanistan and Pakistan, General Stanley McChrystal, Commander International Security Assistance Force, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Advisor Gen. James L. Jones, Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, and United States Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry. Afghans participants include: Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, Dr. Rangin Spanta, Said Tayeb Jawad, Gen. Rahim Wardak, Mohammed Haneef Atmar, Dr. Hazrat Zakhilwal, Mohammed Asif Rahimi, Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, and Mahammad Masoom Sanekzai.

Pakistani Shaheen II missile picture (Photo: http://www.armyrecognition.com/News/2006/November/Military_News_november_2006_UK.htm)

Pakistan’s missiles are displayed in a military parade. Pakistan’s government maintains nuclear weapons.

Individuals captured by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq are detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.(Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba

Camp X-Ray at the U.S. military prison for ‘enemy combatants’ in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Getty Images)

Left to right: Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers, former Commander of the U.S. Central Command retired Gen. John Abizaid, and past Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command Gen. Bryan Brown take an oath before testifying to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the combat fratricide of NFL football player and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman on Capitol Hill on August 1, 2007. Rumsfeld, Myers, and Abizaid are (or were) members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

AFGHANISTAN & DRUGS

U.S. Army soldiers patrol a suspected opium poppy farm in Afghanistan in the “global war on terrorism.”(Photo: http://www.nocaptionneeded.com/index.php?s=fixate)

Soldiers in Afghanistan observe a village.

Afghan drug addicts smoke heroin in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 30, 2013. The United Nations said the country is the world's largest producer of opium, the raw ingredient in heroin, and the year 2012 provided about 75 percent of the global crop - a figure that may jump to 90 percent this year due to increased cultivation. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)http://news.yahoo.com/photos/afghanistan-opium-1384387817-slideshow/

ISAF (NATO) soldiers look for suspected Taliban rebels in Afghanistan.

An Afghan drug addict smokes opium in a foul smelling river bed in the center of Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, November 9, 2013. More than 1 million Afghans are addicts, living in squalor in its cities, sleeping on the street, in garbage-filled dried river beds reeking of human waste. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)http://news.yahoo.com/photos/afghanistan-opium-1384387817-slideshow/

Afghan farmers collect raw opium as they work in a poppy field in Khogyani district of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday, May 10, 2013. Opium poppy cultivation has been increasing for a third year in a row and is heading for a record high, the U.N. said in a report. Poppy cultivation is also dramatically increasing in areas of the southern Taliban heartland, the report showed, especially in regions where thousands of U.S.-led coalition troops have been withdrawn or are in the process of departing. The report indicates that whatever international efforts have been made to wean local farmers off the crop have failed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) http://news.yahoo.com/photos/afghanistan-opium-1384387817-slideshow/

Afghan poppy farmers prepare the soil for their poppy seeds in fields in Cham Kalai village in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, a Taliban stronghold, on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Poppy cultivation in Nangarhar province, where Cham Kaai is located, jumped 400 percent in 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)http://news.yahoo.com/photos/afghanistan-opium-1384387817-slideshow/

Afghan opiate use has doubled in 5 years, UN saysBy HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer; June 21, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan – Drug addicts as young as a month old. Mothers who calm their children by blowing opium smoke in their faces. Whole communities hooked on heroin with few opportunities for treatment.

Use of opiates such as heroin and opium has doubled in Afghanistan in the last five years, the U.N. said Monday, as hundreds of thousands of Afghans turn to drugs to escape the misery of poverty and war.

Nearly 3 percent of Afghans aged 15 to 64 are addicted to opiates, according to a study by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The U.N. defines addicts as regular users.

That puts Afghanistan, along with Russia and Iran, as the top three countries for opiate drug use worldwide, according to Sarah Waller, an official of the U.N.'s drug office in Kabul. She said a 2005 survey found about 1.4 percent of Afghan adults were opiate addicts.

The data suggest that even as the U.S. and its allies pour billions of dollars into programs to try to wean the Afghan economy off of drug money, opium and heroin have become more entrenched in the lives of ordinary Afghans. That creates yet another barrier to international efforts to combat the drug trade, which helps pay for the Taliban insurgency.

"The human face of Afghanistan's drug problem is not only seen on the streets of Moscow, London or Paris. It is in the eyes of its own citizens, dependent on a daily dose of opium and heroin above all — but also cannabis, painkillers and tranquilizers," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world's opium, the main ingredient in heroin, and is the global leader in hashish production. Drug crops have helped finance insurgents and encourage corruption, particularly in the south where the Taliban control cultivation of opium poppies and smuggling routes.

The Afghan government and its international backers have made a massive effort in recent years to discourage farmers from growing opium poppy, and its cultivation dropped 22 percent last year. Some of the drop is likely due to lower market prices, but the government has said it also shows that the Afghan war on drugs is having some success. Twenty of the country's 34 provinces were declared poppy-free in 2009.

Yet almost 1 million Afghans — 8 percent of the 15 to 64 age group — are regular drug users — addicted to opiates, as well as cannabis and tranquilizers, according to the report, which was based on surveys of about 2,500 drug users, community leaders, teachers and doctors.

By comparison, 0.7 percent of the population in neighboring Pakistan and 0.58 percent of Americans aged 15-64 were regular opiate users, according to the most recent U.N. data.

Treatment facilities in Afghanistan are rare. Only 10 percent of drug users surveyed had received any treatment, though 90 percent said they wanted it, according to the survey.

At one facility, the Sanja Amaj Women's Treatment Center in Kabul, a few dozen women and children are treated every day. The women wait on cots to see doctors while children spend the day coloring, playing and being tutored in a nursery.

Nearly all of the children are addicts, said Abdul Bair Ibrahimi, the coordinator for child care at Sanja Amaj. There are a number of 5- and 4-year-old addicts. The youngest they have ever seen was 1 month old.

The Associated Press toured the center in February and talked to a middle-aged woman who said she started using opium during Taliban rule, which ended with the U.S.-led invasion of 2001.

"I lost my brothers during the fighting and life was miserable. My brother-in-law used opium. He saw me crying and suggested I try it," said Shirin Gul. Then, two years ago, a nephew came to live at her house who was a heroin addict and she switched to the harder drug. She was at the treatment facility for the second time, having relapsed.

Her 15-year-old daughter, Gul Paris, was also being treated for heroin addiction. She said she started on the drug by stealing small amounts from her mother or brother.

"I didn't know if it was bad for me or not," the girl said, sitting barefoot on a bed, wearing a blue gown and a lavender headscarf. She had relapsed two months earlier, she said, after her brother started using it again.

According to the U.N. report, the number of regular opium users jumped 53 percent to 230,000 in 2009 from 150,000 in 2005, while regular heroin users more than doubled to 120,000 from 50,000. Much of the rise in heroin use was in the south where most of the opium poppies are grown.

Between 12 percent and 41 percent of Afghan police recruits test positive for drugs at regional training centers, according to a U.S. government report issued in March. U.S. troops complain their Afghan counterparts are sometimes high during military operations.

"It is a national tragedy," said Ibrahim Azhaar, Afghanistan's deputy minister of counternarcotics.

The increasing drug use has already had destabilizing effects on communities, according to community leaders interviewed for the study. They said drug use had increased violence, insecurity and theft in their areas.

"It has a devastating effect on social development in the country. It has a devastating personal effect on individuals who are affected by this addiction. And it has a larger, multiplied effect on the rest of Afghanistan," said Robert Watkins, the deputy U.N. envoy in Afghanistan.

It's unclear if the lower international price of opium in recent years has made dealers more likely to push their product inside Afghanistan, said U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, who toured the Sanja Amaj center in February.

"Clearly, this is an expanding addictive population here in this country. It really doesn't matter to a drug dealer that the people becoming addicted are poor," Kerlikowske said. "If they become addicted, they'll find ways to pay for that drug."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100621/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_drug_addicts

Suspected Taliban terrorists (CIA assets?) appear in an opium field.

Languages of Afghanistan (percentages are from CIA World Factbook)      50% Dari (Eastern Persian)      35% Pashto      8% Uzbek      3% Turkmen      4% Balochi      2% other (Nuristani, Pashai, Brahui, etc.)

Ethnic groups of Afghanistan (largest ethnic group of each district)      36.4% to 42.0% Pashtun      27% to 38.0% Tajik 8.0% to 10.0% Hazara      6.0% to 9.2% Uzbek      1.7 to 3% Turkmen      0.5% to 4% Baloch      0.1% to 4% Aimak      1.9% to 9.2% other (Pashai, Hindki, Nuristani, Brahui, Hindkowans, etc.)

A map of Afghanistan, an American protectorate

“Operation Enduring Freedom” Timeline:October 7, 2001 – beginning of American war in Afghanistan (“Operation Enduring Freedom”)October 19, 2001 – first entry into Afghanistan by U.S. Special Operations ForcesDecember 13, 2001 – Battle of Tora Bora; Osama bin Laden is missing in actionDecember 22, 2001 – Hamid Karzai and his provisional government are installed in Afghanistan

Note: Benazir Bhutto reported that Osama bin Laden is dead, but Osama bin Laden’s death remains unconfirmed. NATO officials reported in October 2010 that Osama bin Laden lives in a luxurious house in northwestern Pakistan.

Trainees from the 1st Battalion Afghanistan National Army are practicing drill and ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 15, 2002. The program of instruction is approximately 10 weeks long, during which time Afghan trainees learn basic soldier skills and progress to more complex tasks. The training is led by approximately 275 U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group from Fort Bragg, N.C. The U.S. has provided these soldiers with uniforms and individual equipment. The soldiers are armed with AK47s and other small arms from the Ministry of Defense. The purpose of this training is to establish the core of the new Afghanistan National Army that will foster a safe, secure and stable environment in Afghanistan and will help to prevent the re-emergence of terrorist forces.(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Bethann Hunt) (Released)

Terrorism in Madrid, London, Indonesia, & Turkey

Emergency vehicles at Russell Square in London following the subway (“tube”) bombings on July 7, 2005.

London bombing suspects (L-R) Hasib Mir Hussain, Germaine Lindsay, Mohammed Sadique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer are seen at Luton train station in central England in this July 7, 2005 Closed Circuit Television video footage released by London's Scotland Yard on July 16, 2005. The death toll from the London subway and bus bombings was 56 people, including the suicide bombers. Were the bombing suspects working for the MI6? Were the bombing suspects merely patsies? (© Scotland Yard/Handout/Reuters/Corbis)

Investigators inspect the floor of a subway train that was destroyed in a bombing attack in London on July 7, 2005.

One of the subway trains that was destroyed in the 7/7 incident in London on July 7, 2005.

The Bali Bombings in Indonesia occurred in Kuta, Indonesia (a tourist resort on Bali island) on October 12, 2002.

An Indonesian army soldier in Kuta, Indonesia (located in Bali province) stands in front of debris in October 2002. Members of Indonesian Muslim terrorist organization of Jemaah Islamiyah attacked two local nightclubs in Kuta, Indonesia on October 12, 2002 with a car bomb; 202 people died from the explosion, and over 200 people were injured from the explosion. Another bombing incident occurred outside the U.S. Consulate in Denpasar, Indonesia (capital city of Bali province) on October 12, 2002; no one was killed during that incident. (Jonathan Drake/Reuters)

Policemen and ambulance personnel stand at the front of the JW Marriot Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 17, 2009 after high-explosive bombs tore through the luxury hotel, and another in Jakarta killing at least nine people, including foreigners. The JW Marriot Hotel was bombed once before on August 5, 2003, leaving 12 people dead and 150 people injured. (Getty Images)

The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings occurred in Madrid, Spain on March 11, 2004; 191 people were killed that day.

The Australian flag from the Australian Embassy flies in front of a building that was badly damaged in a bomb attack in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 9, 2004. A bomb blast outside the Australian Embassy killed up to six people.(DADANG TRI/Reuters/Corbis)

Police forensic experts examine the scene after an explosion at Gungoren district in Istanbul, Turkey on July 27, 2008. At least 17 people died in this attack. (Tolga Bozoglu/epa/Corbis)

A man mourns (L) as people sift through the debris after a bomb exploded at a synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey on November 15, 2003. At least 27 people died in this attack. (HURRIYET/Reuters/Corbis)

The destroyed HSBC Bank Building and its surrounding area are seen after twin explosions occurred in Istanbul, Turkey on November 20, 2003. (Hurriet/Stringer/Reuters/Corbis)

A street lamp lights a blown up taxi as it lies in a side alley outside the British Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on November 20, 2003. Twin bomb attacks in Istanbul targeted the British Consulate and the local headquarters of HSBC, a London-based global bank, killing at least 26 people and injuring hundreds. (Dylan Martinez/Reuters/Corbis)

U.S. President George W. Bush (left) and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair shake hands after holding a joint news conference in London on November 20, 2003. Tony Blair reportedly worked for MI5, a British intelligence agency, before serving as Prime Minister of Great Britain. George W. Bush is a member of Skull & Bones, a secret society at Yale University. (Peter MacDiarmid/Reuters/Corbis)

Terrorist Incidents in Turkey:March 13-14, 1999 – Istanbul Bombings, 13 dead, 2 injuredNovember 15, 2003 – Istanbul Synagogue Bombings (Truck Bombs), 27 dead, 300 injuredNovember 20, 2003 – British Consulate Bombing in Istanbul, 30 dead, 400 injuredMay 22, 2007 – Ankara Bombing, 6 deaths, 121 injuredJuly 9, 2008 – U.S. Consulate in Istanbul attack six dead (including 3 gunmen)July 27, 2008 – Istanbul Bombings, 17 dead, 154 injured

Terrorist Incidents in Indonesia:October 12, 2002 – Bali bombing, 202 dead, 240 injuredAugust 5, 2003 – JW Marriot Hotel in Jakarta, 12 dead, 150 injuredSeptember 9, 2004 – Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta, 9 dead, 150 injuredOctober 1, 2005 – Bali bombing, 20 deadJuly 17, 2009 – JW Marriot Hotel in Jakarta, 9 dead

Global War on Terrorism Timeline:October 26, 2001: President George W. Bush signs the USA PATRIOT ActJanuary 8, 2002: President George W. Bush signs the No Child Left Behind ActOctober 16, 2002: President George W. Bush signs the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against IraqNovember 25, 2002: President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act of 2002 March 22, 2003: President George W. Bush orders the U.S. military to invade IraqMarch 9, 2006: President George W. Bush signs the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act

Left photo: Bystanders crouch for cover as shots rang out from the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5, 2009, while law enforcement officers run toward the sound of the gun. Investigators searched for the motive on Friday behind a mass shooting at Fort Hood army post, in which an Army psychiatrist trained to treat war wounded is suspected of killing 13 people. The suspected gunman, U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim born in the United States of immigrant parents, was shot four times by police, a base spokesman said; he was unconscious but in stable condition, although he was reportedly paralyzed from the waist down. (Reuters)

Right photo: Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment plan out their course of action at Fort Hood, Texas in front of the Soldier Resiliency Center as they try to locate U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who allegedly shot and killed 13 people on November 5, 2009. (AP Photo)

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army doctor identified by authorities as the suspect in a mass shooting at the U.S. Army post in Fort Hood, Texas. The U.S. Army charged Hasan with murder. Was Hasan a “lone gunman”? Was Hasan a patsy? Was there more than one shooter that was involved in the massacre? (Reuters)

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder holds a press conference at Department of Justice headquarters regarding the investigation into the recent attempted Times Square car bombing May 4, 2010 in Washington, DC. Faisal Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan was arrested in connection with the case while on board a flight leaving the country last night. Joining Holder (L-R) are U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Nora R. Dannehy, Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris, Deputy Director of the FBI John S. Pistole, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara. (Getty Images)

This still photo from a surveillance camera released by the New York City Police Department on Sunday, May 2, 2010, shows the Nissan Pathfinder used in the attempted attack on Times Square in New York City passing through Times Square early on Saturday evening, May 1, 2010. (AP Photo)

Supporters of the youth wing of the Pakistani religious party Jamat-e-Islami rally to support Faisal Shahzad, the suspect accused of the failed Times Square car bombing in New York City on May 1, 2010, in Karachi, Pakistan on May 6, 2010. Pakistani officials say U.S. law enforcement officers have joined them in questioning four alleged members of an al-Qaida-linked militant group over possible links to the Times Square bombing suspect. Is Faisal Shahzad another CIA-trained “patsy”? (AP Photo)

ISRAEL, AMERICA, & WAR ON TERRORISM

From left to right, David Ivry, Israeli Ambassador to the United States; Paul D. Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense; Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel; Donald H. Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense; and Martin Indyk, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, pose for a group photo at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. on March 19, 2001. Paul D. Wolfowitz and Martin Indyk are members of the Council on Foreign Relations; Martin Indyk is a naturalized American citizen. (Photo: Robert D. Ward/U.S. Department of Defense)

Meir Dagan (left) celebrates his appointment as Mossad chief with Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon (center) and outgoing Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy on October 30, 2002. Meir Dagan is the current head of the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency. (Yaakov Saar/GPO/Getty Images)http://www.tabletmag.com/news-and-politics/24895/herzliya-diary/

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres share some private thoughts before sitting down to formal discussions in the Pentagon on October 22, 2001.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz (left) meets with Israeli Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz (right foreground) at the Pentagon on January 18, 2002. Douglas Feith sits to the right of Mofaz. Dov Zakheim sits across from Feith. Peter W. Rodman sits next to Dov Zakheim.

Former Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, flanked by security guards, speaks at a rally for solidarity with Israel on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on April 15, 2002. Organizers said that more than 100,000 people attended the event, making it the biggest rally ever in support of Israel. (Photo: Ron Agam/Getty Images)

Ariel Sharon (right), the Prime Minister of Israel, receives the Anti-Defamation League's Distinguished Statesman Award from ADL National Director Abraham Foxman in Washington, D.C. on May 6, 2002. Ariel Sharon met with U.S. President George W. Bush on May 7, 2002. Abraham Foxman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Photo by Stefan Zaklin/Getty Images)

SKULL & BONES AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM

Barbara Bush watches her son President George W. Bush shake hands with his father and former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. on September 14, 2001. Former President Bill Clinton is seen on the far right.

U.S. Senator John Kerry, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, talks with former Secretary of State James A. Baker III (left) before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on war powers in the 21st century in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 2009. (AP Photo)

Richard Holbrooke (C), special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, greets Sen. John Kerry (left) prior to testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C. on May 12, 2009. Holbrooke testified on the topic of "U.S. Strategy Toward Pakistan." John Kerry is a member of Skull & Bones at Yale University. (Getty Images)

U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus (left), Commander of the U.S. Central Command, shakes hands with U.S. Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on May 7, 2009, before a luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo)

President Barack Obama names former U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) (3rd R) and David Boren (3rd L) co-chairmen of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on October 28, 2009. The board reports directly to the president as an independent source of advice on intelligence matters including the quality and quantity of intelligence activities and the effectiveness of organization structure, management and personnel. Left to right: Dennis Blair, Vice President Joe Biden, David Boren, Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, and Rahm Emanuel. Hagel and Boren are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. Blair and Boren are Rhodes Scholars. David Boren is a member of Skull & Bones at Yale University. (Getty Images)

U.S. President Barack Obama and former U.S. President George H.W. Bush greet one another at the Points of Light forum at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas on October 16, 2009. (Reuters)

Barack Obama delivers a speech as U.S. Senator John Kerry applauds. (Photo: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/military/)

Global War on Terrorism & International Diplomacy, Part 1:Hamid Karzai & Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai (L) shakes hands with Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, during a United Nations international conference on Afghanistan, on March 31, 2009. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is a regular participant at the exclusive Bilderberg Meetings. (Getty Images)

Left photo: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Meets with Afghanistan’s leader Hamid Karzai at the Regional Security Summit in Kazakhstan on June 4, 2002. (Photo: http://www.september11news.com/2002Timeline2.htm)

Right photo: Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai greets Red China’s Commissar Hu Jintao.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales greets Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai as he arrives for dinner at Clarence House in London on January 31, 2006. (Pool Photograph/Corbis)

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown (left) welcomes Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai to 10 Downing Street in London on January 27, 2010. Karzai was in London to attend a conference on the future of Afghanistan to be held the next day. (Andrew Winning/Reuters)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai greets NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania on March 4, 2008. (Reuters)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) greets British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev (R) shakes hands with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (L) during their bilateral meeting in Dushanbe on August 28, 2008. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a scathing attack on NATO, saying the Western alliance was failing to bring security to Afghanistan and fanning tension with its expansion drive. Ahmadinejad made the remarks at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional grouping consisting of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran and Afghanistan have observer status in SCO, which was founded in 2001 as a counterweight to NATO in the strategic Central Asian region. (AFP/Getty Images)

French President Jacques Chirac (R) and Hamid Karzai (L), Chairman of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan, visit an exhibition of Afghani art in Paris on February 28, 2002. (Jacques Langevin/Sygma/Corbis)

Vice President Richard B. “Dick” Cheney (left), who once served as Chairman and CEO of Halliburton, and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai shake hands after a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 7, 2004. (Photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant James M. Bowman, U.S. Department of Defense)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left), Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (center), and Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari smile for the cameras during a summit in Tehran, Iran on Sunday, May 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) meets with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at a NATO meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on June 29, 2004. (NATO Photo)

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, at the State Department on May 23, 2005. (Michael Gross, State Department)

Italy’s Prime Minister Romano Prodi shakes hands with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on December 23, 2007. Prodi arrived in Kabul to meet Karzai and Italian troops. (Ettore Ferrari /EPA/Corbis)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (R) listens as EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana talks at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 21, 2009. (Reuters)

World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn embraces Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. on January 28, 2002. (Shawn Thew/AFP/Getty Images)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (third from right) talks with Democratic Party presidential contender Barack Obama (third from left) during a meeting at The Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 20, 2008. Senator Jack Reed and Senator Chuck Hagel are sitting on the left side. Jack Reed and Chuck Hagel are members of the Council on Foreign Relations.(AFP/Getty Images)

Left photo: Senator Hillary Clinton greets President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai.

Right photo: President George W. Bush is joined by President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan (left) and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (right) during a video teleconference with U.S. Provincial Reconstruction team leaders, National Guard Agriculture Development team representatives and Afghan governors in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on September 26, 2008.(White House photo by Eric Draper)

Left photo: Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai visits Iran’s ruler Mohammed Khatami.Right photo: Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai meets with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai greets U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghanistan-born American diplomat and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

General James L. Jones, the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, shakes hands with President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai at a NATO meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on June 29, 2004. (NATO Photo)

Council on Foreign Relations Chairman Peter G. Peterson (left) and Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass (right) talk to Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan. This photo appears in the 2004 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Secretary of State Colin Powell (center) watches Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (left) greet Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai at a NATO meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on June 29, 2004. (NATO Photo)

Left photo: Senators John McCain and Bill Frist give an award to Hamid Karzai in Washington D.C. on February 27, 2003.Right photo: Defense Secretary Robert Gates meets with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan on January 16, 2007.

Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell watches Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) deliver a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on September 13, 2002. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

David Rockefeller, the honorary Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, greets Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai. This photo was published on the back cover of the 2002 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

U.S. President Barack Obama (second from right) speaks in the Grand Foyer of the White House as he is flanked by (from left to right) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, and Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari after their meeting in Washington, D.C. on May 6, 2009. (Reuters)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, left talks with U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), as Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, second from right, talks with U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, before their lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on May 7, 2009. (AP Photo)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) speaks alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai (L) and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zadari before U.S.-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral consultations at the State Department in Washington, D.C. on May 6, 2009.(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (C), U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke (L), and U.S. Army General David Petraeus (R), Commander of U.S. Central Command, arrive for a conference at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 11, 2010. Holbrooke and Petraeus attended a two-day conference reviewing U.S. civilian and military involvement in Afghanistan for the coming year. Richard Holbrooke and David Petraeus are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Reuters)

U.S. Senator John Kerry (left) shares a light moment with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on October 20, 2009. The White House has high praise for the American team in Kabul, including Kerry, that played a major role in persuading President Karzai to agree to a run-off election after the United Nations stripped the Afghan leader of one-third of his votes, citing fraud. Hamid Karzai won the run-off election by default when his opponent boycotted the run-off election. Hamid Karzai’s half-brother Wali Karzai was reported to be a drug dealer who is on the CIA payroll. John Kerry is a member of Skull & Bones at Yale University. (AP Photo)

Global War on Terrorism & International Diplomacy, Part 2:Pervez Musharraf & Pakistan

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf (left) welcomes former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger before a joint session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on January 24, 2008. Henry Kissinger is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Trilateral Commission, and a regular Bilderberg Meetings participant. (Reuters)

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf (left) meets with Council on Foreign Relations chairman Peter G. Peterson (center), a former Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers [international bank in New York City], and Council on Foreign Relations vice chairman Robert E. Rubin (right), a former Chairman of Goldman Sachs [international bank in New York City]. This photo was published in the 2007 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shakes hands with Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf. This photo was taken at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 20, 2006. Madeleine Albright is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (U.S.-Pakistan Business Council)

Former U.S. Trade Representative Carla A. Hills stands beside Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf. This photo was taken at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 20, 2006. Carla A. Hills is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Trilateral Commission. (U.S.-Pakistan Business Council)

Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft shakes hands with Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf. This photo was taken at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 20, 2006. Brent Scowcroft is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (U.S.-Pakistan Business Council)

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf (left) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at Army House in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on February 12, 2007. Robert Gates held talks with Pervez Musharraf ahead of a spring offensive against the Taliban. Robert Gates is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (AFP/Getty Images)

Vice President Dick Cheney greets Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad, Pakistan on February 26, 2007. Dick Cheney is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an internationalist organization in New York City. (AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad, Pakistan on June 27, 2006. Condoleezza Rice is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.(State Department photo by Josie Duckett)

Left to right: U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel, John Kerry, and Joseph Biden meet with Pervez Musharraf (right), the President of Pakistan, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on February 19, 2008. Chuck Hagel and John Kerry are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. Arab terrorist and former CIA agent Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011. Pervez Musharraf served as President of Pakistan from 20 June 2001 to 18 August 2008 and Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistani military from 6 October 1998 to 28 November 2007. Musharraf is currently living in exile in Great Britain; the current Pakistani government has charged Musharraf with treason. (AFP/Getty Images)

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands welcomes Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf at The Hague, Netherlands on September 27, 2004. He was received in audience by Queen Beatrix followed by a lunch meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Zalm and Minister Bot of Foreign Affairs. (Photo by Michel Porro/Getty Images)

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, meets with Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, at the Presidency on day two of a week-long tour of the country on October 29, 2006 in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Left to right: Prince Felipe of Spain, Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf, Queen Sofia of Spain, Saheba Musharraf and King Juan Carlos of Spain pose at The Orient Palace in Madrid, Spain on 24 April 2007. Pakistan and Spain agreed to step up their cooperation against terrorism and human trafficking during talks in Madrid between the leaders of the two nations. (Getty Images)

Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf (left) talks with Queen Sofia of Spain during a dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain on April 24, 2007. Queen Sofia of Spain is a regular Bilderberg Meetings participant. (AP Photo)

British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) meets Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf at Chequers on September 28, 2006 near Princes Risborough, England. The two leaders are holding talks relating to terrorism and the current situation in Afghanistan. Chequers is the country residence of the British Prime Minister. (Photo by Sang Tan/Pool/Getty Images)

The President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, (L) greets Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist Yasser Arafat at the presidential palace in Islamabad, Pakistan on August 23, 2001. Arafat called on Musharraf during a three-hour stopover in Islamabad, Pakistan on his way to Communist China. (Photo by PPO/Getty Images)

Communist China’s President Hu Jintao (L) accompanies Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf to view an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People on February 20, 2006 in Beijing, Communist China. Musharraf told Communist China's leaders here that terrorists in his country were trying to hurt bilateral relations, following last week's murders of three Chinese engineers in his country. (Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)

Communist China’s President Hu Jintao (right) toasts with Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf after a signing ceremony in the Great Hall of the People on February 20, 2006 in Beijing, Communist China. Musharraf told Red China's leaders here that terrorists in his country were trying to hurt bilateral relations, following last week's murders of three Chinese engineers in Pakistan. (Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)

French President Jacques Chirac (L) welcomes Pakistani’s President Pervez Musharraf at the Elysee Palace in Paris before a lunch on December 8, 2004. (PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran’s ruler Mohammed Khatami (left) and Pakistan’s ruler Pervez Musharraf smile for the camera.

The President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf (L) shakes hands with the Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan (R) on September 15, 2005 in New York. World leaders gathered for the second day of the summit marking the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Richard Holbrooke (left) appears with President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf at the Harold Pratt House in New York City.

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf (right) shakes hands with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad upon his arrival in Islamabad, Paksitan on April 28, 2008. (Photo: Iran Daily)

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf (R) shakes hands with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as they stand before a portrait of Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, in Islamabad, Pakistan on April 28, 2008. Iran and Pakistan agreed they had settled all issues relating to plans for a $7.6 billion gas pipeline during a visit to Islamabad on Monday by Ahmadinejad, Pakistan's foreign minister said. (Reuters)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (left) visits President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf.(Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf (left) shakes hands with Mexico’s President Vicente Fox during a luncheon at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City on September 14, 2005. World leaders united to demand a global ban on incitement to terrorism but they fell short of ambitions for a fundamental reform of the United Nations at a summit on its 60th anniversary. (LARRY DOWNING/Reuters/Corbis)

Global War on Terrorism & International Diplomacy, Part 3:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad & Iran

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) meets with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (center) and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) in Tehran, Iran on October 16, 2007. Putin warned against military action on Iran and backed its right to nuclear energy during the first visit to the country by a Kremlin chief since World War II. Putin, attending a summit meeting of Caspian Sea states, arrived in the Iranian capital amid heavy security and secrecy over his travel plans after reports that a squad of suicide bombers planned to kill him.(AFP/Getty Images)

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) laughs during a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) at the president's office in Tehran, Iran on October 16, 2007. Putin today warned against military action on Iran and backed its right to nuclear energy, during the first visit to the country by a Kremlin chief since World War II. (AFP/Getty Images)

Visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2-R) and Afghan President Hamid Karzai (3-L) inspect a guard of honor prior to their meeting at the Presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on 14 August 2007. Ahmadinejad rejected on 14 August U.S. and British claims that Iranian weapons are being supplied to Taliban insurgents fighting the Afghan government. "I doubt seriously if there is any truth in it," Ahmadinejad said at a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. (AFP/Getty Images)

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, left, meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 14, 2007. Where Ahmadinejad called Afghanistan “a brotherly neighbor.” President George W. Bush has accused Iran of destabilizing Afghanistan. (Syed Jan Sabawoon/European Pressphoto Agency)(Source: New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/world/middleeast/15diplo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) and visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) leave at the end of a press conference at the Presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 14, 2007. Ahmadinejad rejected on 14 August US and British claims that Iranian weapons are being supplied to Taliban insurgents fighting the Afghan government. "I doubt seriously if there is any truth in it," Ahmadinejad said at a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. (Getty Images)

Visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) shakes hands with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) after signing a Memoramdom of understanding on mutual couperation between the two countries befor a press conference at the Presidential palace in Kabul, 14 August 2007. Ahmadinejad rejected on 14 August US and British claims that Iranian weapons are being supplied to Taliban insurgents fighting the Afghan government. "I doubt seriously if there is any truth in it," Ahmadinejad said at a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. (AFP/Getty Images)

A handout picture from Iraq's President Office shows Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C-R) reviewing an Iraqi honour guard during a welcoming ceremony alongside his Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani (front L) at the latter's residency in Baghdad on March 2, 2008. Ahmadinejad began a historic visit to Iraq today -- the first ever by an Iranian president -- hoping to boost ties with Baghdad with which Tehran fought a bitter eight-year war. (AFP/Getty Images)

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (R) shakes hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad upon his arrival in Baghdad, Iraq on March 2, 2008. Ahmadinejad arrived in Baghdad on Sunday, the first Iranian president to visit Iraq since the two neighbors fought a bitter eight-year war in the 1980s that killed a million people. (Reuters)

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) shakes hands with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki at the latter's office in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq on March 2, 2008. Ahmadinejad began a historic visit to Iraq today -- the first ever by an Iranian president -- hoping to boost ties with Baghdad with which Tehran fought a bitter eight-year war. (AFP/Getty Images)

(L-R) Iran’s ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his Venezuela’s ruler Hugo Chavez and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud wave as they stand next to Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani prior to the start of the OPEC summit in Riyadh, 17 November 2007. OPEC heads of state met in Riyadh today for a rare summit, with the organization divided over the falling U.S. dollar and attempts to give a political impetus to the oil-exporting cartel. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez took the podium for the opening as he joined fellow leaders from OPEC oil-exporting countries for only the third gathering of heads of state in the organization's 47-year history. (AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud (R) greets Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) in Riyadh, 17 November 2007, as he arrives for the two-day Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) summit. The two-day OPEC summit is only the third in the organization’s 47-year history, bringing together 12 heads of state from the oil-rich nations. In a pre-summit meeting of OPEC ministers yesterday a gaffe revealed a spat between Saudi Arabia and Iran about the waning U.S. currency. (AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) walks with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (C) and Oman's leader Sultan Qaboos bin Said as they arrive for the opening of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Doha, Qatar on December 3, 2007. (Reuters)

Right photo: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is accompanied by his Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, August 14, 2008. Ahmadinejad's visit to Turkey may not yield the expected oil and gas deals following new demands from the Iranian side, a source from the Turkish prime minister's office said on Thursday. (Reuters)

Iran’s ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embraces Hamid Karzai (left) and Hugo Chavez (right).

Global War on Terrorism & International Diplomacy, Part 4:King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (L) chats with Queen Sofia of Spain before their gala dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain on July 15, 2008. Queen Sofia of Spain is a regular participant at the exclusive Bilderberg Meetings. (Reuters)

Left to right: Crown Prince Felipe of Spain, Queen Sofia of Spain, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, King Juan Carlos of Spain, and Princess Letizia of Spain pose for photographers before their dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain on July 15, 2008. (Reuters)

Left photo: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (R), Britain's Queen Elizabeth (L) and her husband Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh (C), arrive for a group photograph ahead of a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace in London on October 30, 2007. King Abdullah met the Queen on Tuesday at the start of a two-day state visit that has attracted widespread criticism of the Saudi human rights record. (Reuters)

Right photo: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, (Front L) accompanied by Britain's Prince Philip, (Front R) reviews a Guard of Honour in Horse Guards, before a state carriage procession along the Mall in London on October 30, 2007. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah received a lavish welcome from Queen Elizabeth II Tuesday as he started a state visit amid angry protests and headlines after accusing Britain of anti-terrorism failures. The queen, alongside her husband Prince Philip and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, formally welcomed the king at Horse Guards Parade in central London, where he inspected an honor guard in bearskin hats. (AFP/Getty Images)

Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak (R) gestures as he speaks with visiting Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud in Cairo, Egypt on November 10, 2007. King Abdullah stopped in Egypt for talks with Mubarak following a European tour that included a historic meeting with the Pope in the Vatican. (AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (L) is greeted by Pope Benedict XVI on his arrival for their meeting at the Vatican on November 6, 2007. (Reuters)

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi (R) shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah after their meeting at the Villa Madama, in Rome on 6 November 2007. Pope Benedict XVI raised the issue of Christians living in Saudi Arabia in a historic meeting Tuesday with King Abdullah, the first monarch of the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom to visit the Vatican. (AFP/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) greets King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia as he visits 10 Downing Street, London on October 31, 2007. (AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, right, hands over his country's highest civilian award, "King Abdul Aziz Award," to visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007. Putin, making the first visit by a Russian leader to Saudi Arabia, met King Abdullah and other senior officials Sunday for talks on the situations in Iraq and the Palestinian territories. (AP Photo/ITAR-TASS)

Iran’s ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad greets King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates (left) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (2nd from left) attend a meeting with King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on July 31, 2007.  (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia greets Red China’s ruler Hu Jintao at the People’s Great Hall in Beijing on January 23, 2006.

Senator Chuck Hagel visits King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Vice President Dick Cheney walks with newly crowned King Abdullah, former President George H.W. Bush, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell during a retreat at King Abdullah’s Farm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday, August 5, 2005, following the death of Abdullah's half-brother King Fahd, who passed away on August 1, 2005. Cheney and Powell are members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR); Bush is a former CFR member. (White House photo by David Bohrer)

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia greets Iran’s ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (right).

Former President George H.W. Bush, left, shake hands with newly crowned King Abdullah, right, during a retreat at King Abdullah’s Farm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday, August 5, 2005, following the death of his half-brother King Fahd, who passed away on August 1, 2005. (White House photo by David Bohrer)

Vice President Dick Cheney and former President George H.W. Bush walks with newly crowned King Abdullah at King Abdullah's Farm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday, August 5, 2005, following the death of his half-brother King Fahd, who passed away on August 1, 2005. (White House photo by David Bohrer)

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter greets Saudi King Abdullah at the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 19, 2008. (AP Photo)

President George W. Bush (left) laughs during a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud (R) at Al-Janadryiah Ranch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 16, 2008. (AFP/Getty Images)

Global War on Terrorism & International Diplomacy, Part 5:Bashar Assad & Syria

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin greets Syria’s President Bashar Assad at the Kremlin in Moscow.(Photo: https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,grossbild-650231-422911,00.html)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) shakes hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) after a joint press conference in Tehran, Iran on August 3, 2008. Ahmadinejad told staunch regional ally Assad today that Tehran is serious in nuclear talks and hopes it will "bear practical result." (AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) meets with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad (C) and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) in Tehran on February 18, 2007. Close allies Assad and Ahmadinejad yesterday pledged they would work together to confront U.S. and Israeli "plots" in the Middle East. Assad is in Iran for a two-day visit aimed at further bolstering already robust ties, his second trip to the Islamic republic since Ahmadinejad took power in August 2005. (AFP/Getty Images)

In this handout from the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) shakes hands with Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria on February 6, 2006. According to reports, Sadr stated 'Israel, the United States and Britain, which are enemies of Iraq and Syria, are guilty of sowing dissent between the Syrian and Iraqi peoples' and vowed to 'maintain coordination' with Damascus. (Photo by SANA via Getty Images)

Syria's President Bashar Assad, right, shakes hands with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Damascus, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007. Al-Maliki and Assad said in a meeting Tuesday during the embattled Iraqi leader's first official visit here that despite their differences, both are interested in stabilizing Iraq. Al-Maliki's three-day sojourn in Syria comes as part of his efforts to seek neighbors' help in stemming the violence ravaging Iraq. (AP Photo)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) shakes hands with Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani during their meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria on January 14, 2007. Talabani arrived in Syria today on the first such high-level visit in three decades to a country accused by the United States of fuelling the violence in his homeland. (AFP/Getty Images)

Left photo: (left to right): Bashar Assad, Blair’s wife, Assad’s wife, and Tony Blair stand together on 10 Downing Street.Right photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair entertains Syria’s President Bashar Assad.

From L-R, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan leave a press conference following a summit to examine ways to move towards peace in the Middle East in Damascus, Syria on September 4, 2008. (Reuters)

King Juan Carlos (L), Queen Sofia of Spain (R), Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, and his wife Asma al-Assad attends the Gala Dinner held in honor of President Bashar al-Assad and his wife at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Spain on June 1, 2004. (Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visits Syria’s President Bashar Assad in Damascus, Syria.

Left: Syria’s President Bashar Assad greets U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Damascus, Syria on April 4, 2007.Right: President of Syria Bashar Assad greets President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Syria’s President Bashar Assad and Communist China’s President Hu Jintao review the Chinese Communist military.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (left) meets with Syria’s President Bashar Assad (right) at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria on Friday, April 18, 2008. Carter met with exiled Hamas terrorist Khaled Meshaal in the Damascus, Syria after he spoke with Bashar Assad. (Reuters)

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) chats with Senator John Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in Damascus, Syria on February 21, 2009. John Kerry is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Reuters)

Global War on Terrorism & International Diplomacy, Part 6:Muammar Gaddafi & Libya

Left photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair shakes hands with Libya’s longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.Right photo: Arab terrorist Yasser Arafat visits Libya’s ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (left) meets with Libya’s ruler Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli, Libya on April 16, 2008. Russia agreed on Thursday to write off $4.5 billion worth of Libya's Cold War-era debt in return for military and civilian contracts between Libya and Russian companies, officials said. (Reuters)

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Libya’s longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli, Libya on September 5, 2008. Condoleezza Rice is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Trilateral Commission.(State Department Photo/David Y. Lee)

In this photo provided by the Council on Foreign Relations, Libya’s ruler Muammar Gadhafi (left) speaks to the audience at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on Thursday, September 24, 2009. At right is Richard N. Haass, the President of the Council on Foreign Relations; Richard N. Haass is a Rhodes Scholar, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the Trilateral Commission. Muammar Gaddafi abdicated on August 23, 2011; Gaddafi was assassinated by the Libyan people in Libya on October 20, 2011. (AP Photo)

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) welcomes Libya’s ruler Muammar Gaddafi at the opening of the two-day Arab Summit in Damascus, Syria on March 29, 2008. (Reuters)

Left photo: Libya’s ruler Moamer Kadhafi and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) pose for a picture after signing an agreement in the eastern city of Benghazi on Libya's Mediterranean coast on August 30, 2008. Berlusconi apologised to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signed a five-billion-dollar investment deal by way of compensation. The Italian premier made the apology after a meeting with Kadhafi to seal a cooperation accord with the oil-rich north African nation. (AFP/Getty Images)

Right photo: Spain's Queen Sofia (L), Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (center) and Spain's King Juan Carlos prepare to welcome guests before a luncheon party at Madrid's Royal Palace on December 18, 2007. (Reuters)

In this handout image provided by the Palestinian Press Office (PPO), Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, during the 11th African Union Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on June 30, 2008.(Getty Images/PPO)

Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak walks with Libya’s ruler Muammar Gaddafi (left) at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt on July 3, 2008. (Reuters)

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi leave the room after the signature of 10 billion Euros of trade contracts between the two countries at the Elysee Palace in Paris on December 10, 2007. Libya and France signed contracts for the purchase of 21 Airbus aircraft during the start of the five day visit of the Libyan leader. (Reuters)

Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi (right) is welcomed by Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates at St. Bento palace in Lisbon on December 6, 2007. Gaddafi is in Lisbon to participate in the EU-Africa summit. Jose Socrates attended the Bilderberg Meetings in the past. (Reuters)

Libya’s ruler Muammar Gaddafi chats with U.S. President Barack Obama during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in L’Aquila, Italy on July 9, 2009. Muammar Gaddafi is the current Chairman of the African Union; Muammar Gaddafi became the new Chairman of the African Union in February 2009. Muammar Gaddafi abdicated on August 23, 2011; Gaddafi was assassinated by the Libyan people in Libya on October 20, 2011. (Getty Images)

Additional “War on Terrorism” Photos

The Chinese Communists engage in an act of terrorism against an innocent Chinese woman.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shakes hands with the Chinese Communists at the Bayi Building in Beijing, Red China on October 19, 2005. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Members of the Chinese Communist People’s Liberation Army prepare to terrorize the Chinese people in Beijing in June 1989.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld inspects Communist China’s People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese Communists engaged in a brutal act of terrorism on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Red China and other major Chinese cities on June 4, 1989. More than 5000 Chinese people died at the hands of the Chinese Communists that day.

Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin (left) meets with Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on September 7, 1999 to discuss the situation in Dagestan, Russia. Yeltsin lambasted the military over the Dagestani crisis, accusing them of negligence in the bombing of an army apartment building and the capture by rebels of a swath of territory. (© EPA/Corbis)

At first daylight, rescue work continues amid the ruins of a destroyed block of apartment building in Pechatniki district of Moscow, Russia on September 9, 1999. At least 13 people died, 58 injured and 140 were still buried under rubble after a gas explosion ripped through a Moscow apartment block. Vladimir Putin has been accused by Russian dissidents of engaging in false-flag operations by indirectly participating in a series of apartment bombings in Moscow that occurred in September 1999 while serving as Prime Minister of Russia in an attempt to establish and consolidate his power over the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin is a former KGB agent. (© Yuri Kochetkov/epa/Corbis)

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (C) meets with Germany’s Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (R) and France’s President Jacques Chirac in St. Petersburg, Russia on April 11, 2003. Russia, France and Germany, opponents of America’s military invasion of Iraq, held summit talks to create plans for post-Saddam reconstruction of Iraq, uphold the United Nation’s role in Iraq, and reconcile with America.(Grigory Dukor/Reuters/CORBIS)

Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom Zvi Heifetz (L), Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C), and Executive Chairman of Apax Partners Sir Ronald Cohen, pose at the Israeli ambassador's residence in London on July 10, 2005. Israel and the buyers of a controlling share of Bezeq Israel Telecom said on Sunday they reached a settlement regarding an industrial espionage scandal, paving the way for a deal by month's end. Benjamin Netanyahu was staying in London when the 7/7 Bombings occurred. (© Vicki Alhadeff/Handout/Reuters/Corbis)

First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Stanley Fischer (left), a Jewish banker, prepares to shake hands with Palestinian Liberation Organization terrorist Yasser Arafat during a press conference in the lobby of the IMF building in Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2000. (Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

Arab terrorist Yasser Arafat (right) speaks at a joint press conference with World Bank President James Wolfensohn (left), a Jewish banker, after a signing ceremony May 1, 1996 at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. The World Bank approved a $20 million credit loan to help “alleviate” the economic crisis in Gaza and the West Bank. (Joyce Naltchayan/AFP/Getty Images)

Prince Charles of Wales (left), the son of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, shakes hands with President of Iran Mohammad Khatami in Tehran, Iran on February 9, 2004. Prince Charles of Wales was the first British monarch ever to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Reuters)

Prince Charles of Wales (left), the son of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, visits President of Iran Mohammad Khatami in Tehran, Iran on February 9, 2004. (AFP/Getty Images)

Former President of Iran Mohammad Khatami attends a Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) conference held at Chatham House in London.

President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) appears with former President of Iran Mohammad Khatami in 2005.(Getty Images)

Former President of Iran Mohammad Khatami (left) and U.S. Senator John F. Kerry (right) take the stage for a discussion on “The Future of the Middle East” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 27, 2007. John Kerry is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

John H. Coatsworth (left), the Dean of School of International Affairs at Columbia University, shakes hands with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after speaking at Columbia University in New York City on September 24, 2007. John H. Coatsworth is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Getty Images)

President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf (left) and President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai (right) meet with President of Iran Mohammed Khatami. Former U.S. President George W. Bush once described Iran as an “axis of evil.” Musharraf and Karzai are described as American allies in the Global War on Terrorism.

U.S. President George W. Bush meets with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) and Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Left photo: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai review the Iranian army in Tehran, Iran.Right photo: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Pervez Musharraf, and Hamid Karzai stand at attention.

Syria’s President Bashar Assad greets French President Jacques Chirac.

America’s President George W. Bush greets French President Jacques Chirac.

“Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.” – U.S. President George W. Bush, September 20, 2001

Vice President Dick Cheney greets Red China’s Commissar Hu Jintao.

Left photo: President George W. Bush greets Red China’s Commissar Hu Jintao at Qinghua University on February 22, 2002.Right photo: Red China’s Commissar Hu Jintao greets Iran’s ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Left photo: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent.Right photo: U.S. President George W. Bush greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent.

Left photo: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin greets Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.Right photo: President George W. Bush admires Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

“Moreover, we must be prepared to fight limited actions ourselves.  Otherwise we shall have made no advance beyond “massive retaliation,” which tied our hands in conflicts involving less than our survival.  And we must be prepared to lose limited actions.  No limitation could survive our disposition to elevate every conflict in which our interests are affected to the level of total conflict with survival at stake.  Armed conflict can be limited only if aimed at limited objectives and fought with limited means.  If we or our enemy relax the limits on either objectives or means, survival will be at stake, whether the issue is worth it or not.”– James E. King Jr., January 1957 issue of Foreign Affairs, “Nuclear Plenty and Limited War”, p. 256

George H.W. Bush greets Venezuela’s ruler Hugo Chavez.

President of Iraq Saddam Hussein (right) embraces President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez (left) in an undated photo.

Venezuela’s ruler Hugo Chavez embraces Iran’s ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Venezuela’s ruler Hugo Chavez greets Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin in 2006.

Venezuela’s ruler Hugo Chavez embraces Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin (left) and Iran’s ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (right).

President George W. Bush (left) and Arab terrorist Yasser Arafat (right) deliver a speech at the United Nations.

French President Jacques Chriac (right) shakes hands with Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf at the courtyard of the Elysee Palace in Paris, France on July 2, 2003. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

French Prime Minister, Jacques Chirac and President Saddam Hussein sign an agreement giving priority to France for commercial exchange with Iraq during a meeting in Baghdad, Iraq on December 2, 1974. (Henri Bureau/Sygma/Corbis)

Condoleezza Rice displays her “French connection.” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, First lady Laura Bush (center), and George W. Bush watch French President Jacques Chirac kiss Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s hand at the Pope’s funeral in 2005. Bill Clinton is seen standing next to his beloved George. (Andrew Medichini/Associated Press)

Laura Bush (left) and Iran’s ruler Mohammed Khatami (right) show Jacques Chirac their “French connection.”

Saddam Hussein greets Jacques Chirac in France in the late 1970s.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright toasts North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Il at a dinner in Pyongyang, North Korea on October 24, 2000. (REUTERS/Chien-min Chung/Pool)

President Bill Clinton toasts Red China’s Commissar Jiang Zemin.

“Beware of the leader who bangs the drums of war to whip the citizenry into patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums have reached fever pitch, and the blood boils with hate and the mind is closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry, rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.” – Julius Caesar.

President George W. Bush and Red Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet meet in the Great Hall of the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on Friday, November 17, 2006. President Bush told his host, “I’ve been reading and studying about your country and I have seen now firsthand the great vibrancy and the excitement that’s taking place in Vietnam.”(White House photo by Eric Draper)

President George W. Bush speaks as Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff (left) looks on during a meeting with homeland security officials in Washington, D.C. on February 8, 2007. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

President George W. Bush (left) shakes hands with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff after Bush delivered remarks to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. on March 6, 2008. (Reuters)

Anti-war protesters from Code Pink hold up their red painted hands while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testifies during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on March 12, 2008. The committee is hearing testimony on foreign operations and international affairs budget. (Getty Images)

RNPS PICTURES OF THE YEAR - Desiree Fairooz of Texas, 50, jumps up in front of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice before Rice testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington October 24, 2007. Fairooz, an anti-war protester waved blood-colored hands in Rice's face at a congressional hearing on Wednesday and shouted "war criminal!", but was pushed away and detained by police. At right is the committee Chairman Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA). (Reuters)

Left to right: Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Vice President Dick Cheney, and Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) smile as they take part in a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C. on July 10, 2008, where President George W. Bush signed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). (AP Photo)

Vice President Dick Cheney (right) talks to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (left) during a State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. on September 15, 2008. (AP Photo)

US President George W. Bush (L) holds up a sword as he poses for a picture with his host King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa of Bahrain during an arrival ceremony at Sakhir Palace in the capital Manama on January 12, 2008. Bush arrived from Kuwait today in the tiny Gulf kingdom which serves as home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. Bahrain is his second stop in a tour of US-allied Gulf Arab monarchies aimed at drumming up support against what he calls an Iranian "threat". (AFP/Getty Images)

President George W. Bush (left) holds up a sword as he poses for a picture with his host King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa of Bahrain during an arrival ceremony at Sakhir Palace in the capital Manama on January 12, 2008. Bush arrived from Kuwait today in the tiny Gulf kingdom which serves as home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. Bahrain is his second stop in a tour of US-allied Gulf Arab monarchies aimed at drumming up support against what he calls an Iranian "threat". (AFP/Getty Images)

President George W. Bush (left) shares a laugh with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Salman, brother of Saudi King Abdullah, while watching a traditional sword dance at the Al Murabba Palace and Natural History Muesum in Al Janadriyah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, January 15, 2008.

“Well, I think most people in the world understand that I was very serious, and they're serious, when we say if you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist.” – President George W. Bush, September 25, 2001

“I truly am not that concerned about him [Osama].” – President George W. Bush, March 13, 2002 “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” – President George W. Bush, on August 5, 2004

“I don’t think you can win it [the war on terror]. But I think you can create conditions so that the -- those who use terror as a tool are -- less acceptable in parts of the world.”– President George W. Bush, August 30, 2004, on NBC’s “Today Show”

U.S. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets with Saudi Arabia's Prince Khalid bin Sultan at the Prince's private residence outside the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 16, 2005. Myers was in Saudi Arabia to discuss mutual issues and strengthen the U.S.-Saudi military relationship. (U.S. Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen)http://www.defense.gov/home/photoessays/2005-03/p20050319a1.html

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Marine Gen. Peter Pace meets with Prince Khalid bin-Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 22, 2006. (U.S. Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen)http://www.defense.gov/home/photoessays/2006-03/p20060323a1.html

U.S. Marine Corps General Peter Pace (left), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (right) laugh before testifying at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing regarding President George W. Bush’s funding requests for Iraq and Afghanistan on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on February 27, 2007. (© Jason Reed/Reuters/Corbis)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates (left) and Admiral Michael Mullen (right), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, share laugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on February 2, 2010, prior to testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s budget. (AP Photo)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (left) and Indonesia’s Minister of Defense Prof. Dr. Ir. Purnomo Yusgiantoro (right) share a laugh during a meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 22, 2010. Secretary Gates participated in meetings with the Minister of Defense and President of Indonesia Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (Getty Images)

FBI Director Robert Mueller (left), Defense Secretary Robert Gates (center), and CIA Director Michael Hayden (right) share a laugh prior to President George W. Bush speaking at the ceremonial swearing-in for Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. on February 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska met Wednesday with President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan at the Intercontinental Hotel in New York City on September 24, 2008. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)

Republican Party vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin meets with the Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai in New York City on September 23, 2008. (Henny Ray Abrams/Associated Press)

Big Media and the Military-Industrial Complex: Rupert Murdoch (left), Chairman and CEO of News Corporation [Fox News], chats with Jim McNerney (right), Chairman and CEO of The Boeing Company, at The American Australian Association (AAA) party in New York City on October 22, 2007. (Photo: http://www.americanaustralian.org/benefitdinner2007/)

James McNerney (left), Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Company, meets with Communist China’s Vice Premier Li Keqiang (right) in Beijing, the capital of communist-occupied mainland China, on June 4, 2008, the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. (Xinhua/Fan Rujun) http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/xw/t461920.htm

U.S. President George W. Bush meets with President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on February 26, 2003. The former Soviet republic has supported American efforts to force Iraq to destroy its alleged weapons of mass destruction or face possible war. Azerbaijan also offered use of its air space for the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Heydar Aliyev was a former KGB agent when Leonid Brezhnev was in charge of the Soviet Union. (Photo: Brooks Kraft/Corbis)

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (left) meets with U.S. President George W. Bush in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on April 28, 2006. The capital of Azerbaijan is Baku; Baku is known for its oil fields. (Photo: JASON REED/Reuters/Corbis)

TREASON - 18 U.S.C. § 2381; PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO AL QAEDA - 18 U.S.C. § 2339B; AIDING AND ABBETTING - 18 U.S.C. § 2

ADAM YAHIYE GADAHN

Aliases: Abu Suhayb Al-Amriki, Abu Suhail Al-Amriki, Abu Suhayb, Yihya Majadin Adams, Adam Pearlman, Yayah, Azzam the American, Azzam Al-Amriki

DESCRIPTION

Date of Birth Used:  September 1, 1978 Hair: BrownPlace of Birth: United States Eyes: HazelHeight: 5'11" Sex: MaleWeight: 210 pounds Complexion: LightBuild: Medium Citizenship: United StatesLanguages: Arabic, EnglishScars and Marks: Gadahn has scars on his chest and right forearm.Remarks: None

CAUTION

Adam Yahiye Gadahn was indicted in the Central District of California for treason and material support to Al Qaeda. The charges are related to Gadahn's alleged involvement in a number of terrorist activities, including providing aid and comfort to Al Qaeda and services for Al Qaeda.

REWARD

The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of Adam Yahiye Gadahn.

SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.

| Los Angeles Field Office | Most Wanted Terrorists || FBI Home Page | FBI Field Offices |Adam Gadahn’s grandfather, Carl K. Pearlman, was a member of the board of directors of the Anti-Defamation League.(Source: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/gadahn_a.htm)

Qaeda Operative Arrested in Pakistan

By JANE PERLEZ and ERIC SCHMITTPublished: March 7, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An operative of Al Qaeda believed to be an American was arrested in the sprawling southern city of Karachi in recent days by Pakistani security officials, Pakistani officials said Sunday.

American and Pakistani officials said the man arrested was Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam, who was described as having been born in Pennsylvania and who was thought to be affiliated with the operations division of Al Qaeda, commanding fighters in Afghanistan.

One American official briefed on the arrest described the operative in custody as fair-skinned and someone who spoke both English and Pashto.

Little else was known about him, American officials said, and it was not immediately clear that American officials were involved in the arrest. There was no confirmation that the arrested man was in fact an American.

Initial reports seemed to have confused him with Adam Gadahn, a California native who has been a Qaeda spokesman and often appears on videos calling for strikes against targets in the United States.

Senior administration officials said on Sunday that they did not believe the arrest was of Mr. Gadahn. For hours, information was difficult to confirm from Pakistan. President Obama was briefed on news reports of the arrest, but later learned they were most likely not correct.

Mr. Gadahn has been on the F.B.I.’s most wanted list since 2004 with a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture, and he is the first American to be charged with treason in more than half a century. He was believed to have been operating in the area of the Pakistani-Afghan border.

In a recent video, Mr. Gadahn urged Muslims to follow the example of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the American charged with the shooting that killed 13 people in Fort Hood, Tex., in November.

While the importance of the latest arrest was not clear, it builds on the capture of several senior Afghan Taliban leaders in recent weeks, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the No. 2 official in the Afghan Taliban leadership.

A senior Obama administration official in Washington said that Pakistani authorities had Mullah Baradar in custody and still allowed American interrogators to question him regularly.

“He’s talking to us but we’re still in the trust-building phase,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the interrogation results are confidential. “He’s not giving us any actionable intelligence.”

The official said that Pakistani authorities were likely to have more leverage over Mullah Baradar than American officials, because of the longstanding relationship between the Taliban and Pakistan’s main spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. American officials also assume that the ISI tends to some of Mullah Baradar’s family members.

The officials discounted the likelihood that Pakistani authorities were using harsh interrogation methods on Mullah Baradar. “They know what he knows,” the official said.

The arrest of Mullah Baradar and about a half-dozen other senior Afghan Taliban leaders in Pakistan in recent weeks have prompted some analysts to declare that the Pakistani intelligence service has committed itself to working against the Afghan Taliban, its longtime proxy against Indian interests in Afghanistan. But the senior administration official voiced skepticism that there had been any strategic shift by the highest levels of the Pakistani spy agency.

“It’s still not clear what’s going on, but we haven’t concluded there’s some major shift,” the official said. “One theory is that this was a confluence of tactical operations.”

Another theory, he said, is that Mullah Baradar and the other captured Taliban leaders were purged by hard-liners in the Afghan Taliban leadership, who grew distrustful of them.

A Pakistani court ruled last month that Mullah Baradar could not be transferred to the Afghan government, despite efforts by the Afghans to seek his extradition. Moving Mullah Baradar or any other Taliban or Qaeda figure from Pakistani custody to Afghanistan would be tantamount to a transfer to the United States, American officials said.

Jane Perlez reported from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Eric Schmitt from Washington. Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from New York.

A version of this article appeared in print on March 8, 2010, on page A9 of the New York edition.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/world/asia/08qaeda.html?hp

American Jewish al-Qaida terrorist Adam Gadahn was reportedly arrested by Pakistani intelligence officers in Karachi, Pakistan on March 7, 2010. The Obama administration and the U.S. government has yet to confirm his arrest; the man arrested in Pakistan was “Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam”, or “Abu Yahya Azam”, who is allegedly from Pennsylvania.

American Political-Military Intervention in the Middle East

Right photo: Former Premier of Iran Mohammed Mossadeq [Mossadegh] is helped along as he entered court in Tehran, Iran on November 8, 1953 where a military tribunal was trying him as a traitor. The Central Intelligence Agency, led by Council on Foreign Relations director Allen W. Dulles, played a prominent role in the coup that removed Mohammed Mossadeq from office and installed the Shah as the head of Iran.(Associated Press photo)

Iran Hostage Crisis: Iranian college students detain 52 American Embassy staff members and hold them as hostages in Tehran, Iran by on November 4, 1979. The Iran Hostage Crisis ended on January 20, 1981. This incident was in response to the Shah of Iran being admitted to America for medical treatment on October 22, 1979. (Bettmann Archives)

American soldiers patrol the streets of a village in Lebanon in July 1958 during Operation Blue Hat. President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the U.S. military to intervene in Lebanon to allow Camille Chamoun, a Maronite Christian, to complete his term as President of Lebanon and prevent a civil war between the Christians and Muslims from erupting and to prevent Lebanon from falling into the hands of pro-Soviet pan-Arabists led by Egypt’s strongman Gamal Abdul Nasser. A coup d’etat in Iraq occurred on July 14, 1958, when Iraqi army general Abdul Karim Kassem and his “Free Officers” assassinated King Faisal II of Iraq and Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Said. (U.S. Army Photo)(Source: http://student.britannica.com/comptons/art-61003/American-soldiers-patrolling-streets-of-a-village-in-Lebanon-July)

U.S. Marines and Lebanese Army soldiers inspect vehicles at a checkpoint in Lebanon in 1982 during the Lebanese Civil War.

A group of U.S. Marines assist a wounded comrade. A total of 241 Marines died in Beirut, Lebanon on October 23, 1983.

On April 5, 1986, a bomb exploded inside the La Belle nightclub, a Berlin discothèque that was popular among U.S. soldiers. Though at the time no conclusive evidence emerged linking Gaddafi to the attack, the leader was held responsible by the Reagan Administration, which believed that Libya had acted in retaliation for a series of strikes by U.S. forces on Libyan vessels in the preceding years, including the sinking of a Libyan navy patrol boat one month before. The nightclub blast killed one civilian and two U.S. soldiers. A portion of the funds set aside in the 2008 agreement compensating victims of the Lockerbie bombing were earmarked for victims of the La Belle attack.(Wolfgang Mrotzkowski / AFP / Getty Images) http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1920998_1931038,00.html

Angered by Muammar Gaddafi's alleged complicity in the Berlin bombing, President Ronald Reagan labeled him the "mad dog of the Middle East" and authorized U.S. warplanes to bomb numerous targets within Libya, including Gaddafi's residence in Tripoli, above. The U.S. strikes claimed the life of Hanna Gaddafi, a baby girl whom the leader said he adopted. (Thomas Hartwell / Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images)http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1920998_1931043,00.html

U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered the U.S. military to bomb Libya and Libya’s capital of Tripoli (above) in a military operation on April 15, 1986 in retaliation for the West Berlin disco bombing that took place ten days earlier and for Libya’s “violation” of its territorial claims to the Gulf of Sidra. Photo: (http://www.pbase.com/perrona/image/89045915)

Left photo: 259 people died aboard passenger flight Pan Am Flight 103 near Lockerbie, Scotland when a bomb destroyed the passenger plane on December 21, 1988. The Libyan government was implicated for its role in the bombing of the passenger flight. (AFP Photo)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/2643234/Col-Gaddafis-son-brands-relatives-of-Lockerbie-victims-greedy.html)

Right photo: The April 5, 1986, bombing explosion at the La Belle disco killed Sgt. Kenneth T. Ford, 21, and Nermin Hannay, a 29-year-old Turkish woman, immediately. Another U.S. soldier, 25-year-old Sgt. James E. Goins, died later of his injuries, and 229 people were wounded. (Photo: Associated Press)http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/5/default.stm

World Trade Center was partially destroyed when a truck bomb exploded below Tower 1 (North Tower) on February 26, 1993, killing six people and injuring 1,042 people. (Associated Press photo)

U.S. and Saudi military personnel survey the damage to Khobar Towers caused by the explosion of a fuel truck outside the northern fence of the facility on King Abdul Aziz Air Base near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, at 2:55 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 25, 1996. Several buildings were damaged and there were numerous U.S. casualties. The latest information from Dhahran indicates that 19 people are dead and 64 people are hospitalized. Additionally, over 200 have been treated for injuries and released. The facility houses U.S. service members and serves as the headquarters for the U.S. Air Force's 4404th Wing (Provisional), Southwest Asia.   (Department of Defense photo)

The U.S. Embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya on August 7, 1998

The bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998. Car bombs in vehicles adjacent to the embassies were detonated almost simultaneously before 10:45 am local time (3:45 am Washington time). 218 people were killed and an estimated 4000 people were injured in Nairobi, Kenya. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania the attack killed at least 11 people and wounded 85 people.

Seventeen American U.S. Navy sailors died after the USS Cole was attacked during a port call in Aden, Yemen on October 12, 2000.

President Ronald Reagan, Pakistan’s President Mohammad Zia Ul Haq, Nancy Reagan, and Mrs. Zia appear in Cross Hall posing for photos during State Visit of President Mohammad Zia Ul Haq of Pakistan on December 7, 1982. (Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

President Ronald Reagan meets with Afghanistan’s mujahideens at the White House.(Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

Highway of Death in Iraq in 1991. American and various allied military forces slaughtered Iraqi soldiers who were retreating back into Iraq during the First Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) in February 1991.

U.S. Army (USA) M1A1 Abrams MBT (Main Battle Tank), and personnel from A Company (CO), Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment (1-35 Armor), 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 1st Armored Division (AD), pose for a photo under the "Hands of Victory" in Ceremony Square, Baghdad, Iraq during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (in circa 2003-2004). The Hands of Victory monument built at the end of the Iran-Iraq war marks the entrance to a large parade ground in central Baghdad. The hand and arm are modeled after former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein’s own and surrounded with thousands of Iranian helmets taken from the battlefield. The swords made for the guns of dead Iraqi soldiers, melted and recast into the 24-ton blades. (TSGT JOHN L. HOUGHTON JR., USAF)

Remarks by National Security Adviser Jones at 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy

Published February 8, 2009Speaker: James L. Jones [Retired General, U.S. Marine Corps]

U.S. National Security Adviser Jones gave these remarks at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on February 8, 2009.

"Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through General Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today.

I think my role today is a little bit different than you might expect. Following the speech of the Vice President and the presence of our distinguished members from the U.S. House of Representatives, I thought that I would spend my time talking to you about how taking the President’s guidance and the Vice President’s comments yesterday, I would spend a few moments trying to discuss how the U.S. National Security Council intends to reorganize itself in order to be supportive. For decades, this conference in Munich has provided a truly exceptional forum for the kind of open dialogue and candid discussions that can only take place among close friends and allies. The Vice President’s attendance and his speech yesterday should send I think a very strong and sincere signal about the seriousness of our purpose when it comes to listening, engaging and building stronger partnerships with all of our friends and allies because the President feels that the transatlantic alliance is a cornerstone to our collective security.

As many of you know, I have been here coming to this conference since 1980 and I have been privileged to work and know many of you here. I would like to salute my military colleagues with whom I have not only a deep friendship but shared many of the issues that we are discussing in a positive way today. And I am delighted to be back in an altered state, so to speak.

I know there is great curiosity about President Obama among many here. And there has been wonderful enthusiasm and new energy with regard to his election from people all over the world. I would like to take just a moment to speak to you about his approach to national security and in fact international security and the role that I see the National Security Council playing. First and foremost the President’s strategic approach will be grounded in the real understanding of the challenges we face in the 21st century. We must simply better understand the environment that we are in. The President, if nothing else, is a pragmatist. He knows that we must deal with the world as it is. And he knows that the world is a very different place than it was just a few years ago. As he said in his inaugural address, the world has changed and we must change with it. And we certainly agree that the world is a multipolar place in the time frame of the moments we are in.

It is hard to overstate the differences between the 20th and the 21st centuries. We have already experienced many, many differences in the 21st century. When this conference first met, everything was viewed through the prism of the Cold War. And in retrospect, life was simpler then. It was certainly more organized. It was certainly more symmetric.

Year in and year out, the strategic environment was fairly consistent and predictable. Threats were "conventional." The transatlantic security partnership was largely designed to meet the threats of a very symmetric world. It was reactive. The NATO partnership was conceived to be a defensive and fairly static alliance. And I spent a good deal of my career in uniform serving within this framework. But to move forward, we must understand the terms national security and international security are no longer limited to the ministries of defense and foreign ministries; in fact, it encompasses the economic aspects of our societies. It encompasses energy. It encompasses new threats, asymmetric threats involving proliferation, involving the illegal shipment of arms and narco-terrorism, and the like. Borders are no longer recognized and the simultaneity of the threats that face us are occurring at a more rapid pace.

And as the President has detailed, a comprehensive approach to our national security and international security in the 21st century must identify and understand that the wider array of existing threats that threaten us. To name a few:

-Terror and extremism has taken many lives and on many continents across the globe.

-The ongoing struggle in Afghanistan and the activity along the Pakistani border is an international security challenge of the highest order.

- The spread of nuclear and chemical biological and cyber-technologies that could upset the global order and cause catastrophe on an unimaginable scale is real. It is pressing and it is time that we dealt with it.

- The overdependence on fossil fuels that endangers our security, our economies, and the health of the planet.

- Protracted tribal, ethnic, and religious conflicts.

- Poverty, corruption, and disease stands in the way of progress and causes great suffering in many parts of the world.

- Narco-terrorism that provides the economic fuel for insurgencies.

- And an economic crisis that serves as the foundation of our strength.

This list is by no means exhaustive. The challenges that we face are broader and more diverse than we ever imagined, even after the terrible events of 9/11. And our capacity to meet these challenges in my view does not yet match the urgency of what is required. To be blunt, the institutions and approaches that we forged together through the 20th century are still adjusting to meet the realities of the 21st century. And the world has definitely changed, but we have not changed with it. But it is not too late, and this is the good news.

In our country, one of the institutions that is changing is the National Security Council, which like so much of our national and international security architecture was formed in the wake of World War II and during the Cold War. So let me say a few words about what the National Security Council does and how President Obama has asked that I approach my job as National Security Adviser. The President has made clear that to succeed against 21st century challenges, the United States must use, balance, and integrate all elements of national influence: our military and our diplomacy, our economy and our intelligence, and law enforcement capacity, our cultural outreach, and as was mentioned yesterday, the power of our moral example, in short, our values. Given this role, the NSC is by definition at the nexus of that effort. It integrates on a strategic sense all elements of our national security community towards the development of effective policy development and interagency cooperation. But to better carry out the president’s priorities, the National Security Council must respond to the world the way it is and not as we wish it were. And it must consider the fusion of our national priorities within the broader international context and interest. The NSC’s mission is relatively simple. It should perform the functions that it alone can perform and serve as a strategic center – and the word strategic is operative here – for the President’s priorities.

To achieve those goals we will be guided by several principles. As one of our great comedians in the United States, Groucho Marx, once said, "These are our principles. And if you don’t like them, we have others."

First, the NSC must be strategic, as I mentioned. It is easy to get bogged down in the tactical concerns that consume the day-to-day conduct. As a matter of fact, it is much more enjoyable to be involved at the tactical level. But we won’t effectively advance the priorities if we spend our time reacting to events, instead of shaping them. And that requires strategic thinking. The National Security Council I think is unique in its ability to step back and take a longer and wider view of our American national security and our role in the shared context of our international security as well.

Second, the NSC must manage coordination across different agencies of the government – increasing numbers of agencies. We have learned the hard way that this has real implications, both in terms of how policy has developed in Washington and how it is in fact executed. The NSC must therefore function as a strategic integrator by doing several things. One, by ensuring that dissenting views are heard and considered throughout the policy-making process. Two, by monitoring policy implementation to ensure that agencies are coordinating effectively in the field, and that the President’s priorities are being carried out in practice. Third, the NSC must be transparent. We serve the President. We also serve other principal agencies of our government. And that’s why I am committed to managing a process that is as open as possible so that we forge policies that are widely understood throughout our government by our people and by our partners around the world. Fourth, the National Security Council must be agile. We face nimble adversaries and all of us will have to confront fast-moving crises – from conflict and terrorism to new diseases and environmental disasters. To keep pace, we will have to move faster in developing policy and priorities than did our predecessors. The world is a smaller place. Communications is more rapid. And therefore our reactions must be swifter. And we must be able to communicate rapidly throughout the government and around the world in order to effectively respond.

And finally, the National Security Council must adapt to evolving challenges. There are traditional priorities that we will manage. But we must also update our outlook and sometimes our organization to keep pace with the changing world. To give you just a few examples, the NSC today works very closely with President Obama’s National Economic Council, which is led by Mr. Larry Summers, so that our response to the economic crisis is coordinated with our global partners and our national security needs. The NSC has worked closely with the White House Counsel’s office as we implement the President’s orders to ban torture and close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. The National Security Council is undertaking a review to determine how best to unify our efforts to combat terrorism around the world while protecting our homeland. And this effort will be led by Mr. John Brennan.

The National Security Council will be at the table as our government forges a new approach to energy security and climate change that demand broad cooperation across the U.S. Government and more persistent American leadership around the world. And the NSC is evaluating how to update our capacity to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction while also placing a far higher priority on cyber security.

There is no fixed model that can capture the world in all of its complexity. What’s right today will have to be different four years from now or eight years from now. And that’s precisely the point. The NSC’s comparatively small size gives it a unique capacity to reinvent

itself as required and to pivot on the key priorities of our time.

Just as we change our ways at home, so too must we change our international partnerships in order to adapt to the 21st century. Minister Jung just pointed out some very good examples of how NATO could change. If there is one overriding characteristic to the world we face, it is the truth that security is shared. And as President Obama has said time and again, we are strongest when we act alongside our partners.

I know there will be much discussion over the next few months as to the future of NATO, so I am not going to dwell on the topic, although I am passionate about it. I do know that the President looks forward to addressing the future of the alliance at the 60th anniversary summit in April. I have been a fan and a participant in NATO since I was a child, watching NATO during the Cold War as I was growing up and as a military commander, watching NATO troops patrol the streets of Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan and the Balkans and the skies and in the Mediterranean. And I can tell you this. NATO is as relevant to our common security in the first half of the 21st century as it was to our common defense in the second half of the 20th century. We know that NATO is a strong alliance, perhaps the strongest the world has ever known. Its capacity does not just come from the strength of its arms but from the enduring democratic values that bind our nations together. And from the iron-clad commitment that ensures our collective security. But I also know this. NATO must also change. It needs to become less reactive and more proactive. I think it needs to become less rigid and more flexible. It needs to become less stationary and more expeditionary. And it needs to become more, not less, essential to our collective security. Our Secretary-General has been a strong voice for developing a new strategic vision for the alliance; and judging from this conference, this has been one of the finest conferences I have attended in Munich; and judging from this conference, the time has come to do so.

There is no doubt that NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan poses an enormous task for NATO, but not just NATO, for indeed all international institutions located on the ground in an effort to bring this to a happy and satisfactory conclusion. Given the nexus of terror and extremism, drugs and proliferation, we cannot afford failure in Afghanistan. And that’s why the Obama Administration will work closely with NATO and with the Afghan and Pakistani Governments to forge a new comprehensive strategy to meet achievable goals. This will be a shared effort with our allies. Afghanistan is not simply an American problem, it is an international problem. And as we work to meet these short-term tests, we must show the same strategic vision that mark NATO’s founding six decades ago. Our predecessors had the vision to build institutions that were durable, that could meet the challenges of the day while adapting over the course of several decades. Now the world has changed, and history has called on us to change once more – and this, we must do. President Obama is committed to pursuing a national security strategy that is fully responsive to the challenges that we face. That means facing down current threats, while forging the lasting structures and capabilities that will protect our people and advance our interests well into the future. As part of that effort, we will take steps that I have outlined to be stronger at home and we will seek stronger partnerships with our friends abroad. Those partnerships will require continuous and rapid consultation. As part of that consultation, the Obama Administration will listen closely, be clear about what we are doing, and work hard to find common ground and develop common capabilities. I have no doubt that we are at another crossroads in history. Together we have fought wars and torn down walls of division and together I know that we can meet the challenges of this moment in history if we have the courage and the commitment to change with the times.

Thank you very much."

Essential Documents are vital primary sources underpinning the foreign policy debate.

Source: http://www.cfr.org/publication/18515/

U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan

(Photo: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)

A bleak Ghazni Province seems to offer little, but a Pentagon study says it may have among the world’s largest deposits of lithium.

By JAMES RISENPublished: June 13, 2010

WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.

“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan’s existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is only about $12 billion.

“This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,” said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines.

American and Afghan officials agreed to discuss the mineral discoveries at a difficult moment in the war in Afghanistan. The American-led offensive in Marja in southern Afghanistan has achieved only limited gains. Meanwhile, charges of corruption and favoritism continue to plague the Karzai government, and Mr. Karzai seems increasingly embittered toward the White House.

So the Obama administration is hungry for some positive news to come out of Afghanistan. Yet the American officials also recognize that the mineral discoveries will almost certainly have a double-edged impact.

Instead of bringing peace, the newfound mineral wealth could lead the Taliban to battle even more fiercely to regain control of the country.

The corruption that is already rampant in the Karzai government could also be amplified by the new wealth, particularly if a handful of well-connected oligarchs, some with personal ties to the president, gain control of the resources. Just last year, Afghanistan’s minister of mines was accused by American officials of accepting a $30 million bribe to award China the rights to develop its copper mine. The minister has since been replaced.

Endless fights could erupt between the central government in Kabul and provincial and tribal leaders in mineral-rich districts. Afghanistan has a national mining law, written with the help of advisers from the World Bank, but it has never faced a serious challenge.

“No one has tested that law; no one knows how it will stand up in a fight between the central government and the provinces,” observed Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business and leader of the Pentagon team that discovered the deposits.

At the same time, American officials fear resource-hungry China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, which could upset the United States, given its heavy investment in the region. After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more, American officials said.

Another complication is that because Afghanistan has never had much heavy industry before, it has little or no history of environmental protection either. “The big question is, can this be developed in a responsible way, in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible?” Mr. Brinkley said. “No one knows how this will work.”

With virtually no mining industry or infrastructure in place today, it will take decades for Afghanistan to exploit its mineral wealth fully. “This is a country that has no mining culture,” said Jack Medlin, a geologist in the United States Geological Survey’s international affairs program. “They’ve had some small artisanal mines, but now there could be some very, very large mines that will require more than just a gold pan.”

The mineral deposits are scattered throughout the country, including in the southern and eastern regions along the border with Pakistan that have had some of the most intense combat in the American-led war against the Taliban insurgency.

The Pentagon task force has already started trying to help the Afghans set up a system to deal with mineral development. International accounting firms that have expertise in mining contracts have been hired to consult with the Afghan Ministry of Mines, and technical data is being prepared to turn over to multinational mining companies and other potential foreign investors. The Pentagon is helping Afghan officials arrange to start seeking bids on mineral rights by next fall, officials said. “The Ministry of Mines is not ready to handle this,” Mr. Brinkley said. “We are trying to help them get ready.”

Like much of the recent history of the country, the story of the discovery of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth is one of missed opportunities and the distractions of war.

In 2004, American geologists, sent to Afghanistan as part of a broader reconstruction effort, stumbled across an intriguing series of old charts and data at the library of the Afghan Geological Survey in Kabul that hinted at major mineral deposits in the country. They soon learned that the data had been collected by Soviet mining experts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, but cast aside when the Soviets withdrew in 1989.

During the chaos of the 1990s, when Afghanistan was mired in civil war and later ruled by the Taliban, a small group of Afghan geologists protected the charts by taking them home, and returned them to the Geological Survey’s library only after the American invasion and the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.

“There were maps, but the development did not take place, because you had 30 to 35 years of war,” said Ahmad Hujabre, an Afghan engineer who worked for the Ministry of Mines in the 1970s.

Armed with the old Russian charts, the United States Geological Survey began a series of aerial surveys of Afghanistan’s mineral resources in 2006, using advanced gravity and magnetic measuring equipment attached to an old Navy Orion P-3 aircraft that flew over about 70 percent of the country.

The data from those flights was so promising that in 2007, the geologists returned for an even more sophisticated study, using an old British bomber equipped with instruments that offered a three-dimensional profile of mineral deposits below the earth’s surface. It was the most comprehensive geologic survey of Afghanistan ever conducted.

The handful of American geologists who pored over the new data said the results were astonishing.

But the results gathered dust for two more years, ignored by officials in both the American and Afghan governments. In 2009, a Pentagon task force that had created business development programs in Iraq was transferred to Afghanistan, and came upon the geological data. Until then, no one besides the geologists had bothered to look at the information — and no one had sought to translate the technical data to measure the potential economic value of the mineral deposits.

Soon, the Pentagon business development task force brought in teams of American mining experts to validate the survey’s findings, and then briefed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Mr. Karzai.

So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, and the quantities are large enough to make Afghanistan a major world producer of both, United States officials said. Other finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan.

Just this month, American geologists working with the Pentagon team have been conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan where they believe there are large deposits of lithium. Pentagon officials said that their initial analysis at one location in Ghazni Province showed the potential for lithium deposits as large of those of Bolivia, which now has the world’s largest known lithium reserves.

For the geologists who are now scouring some of the most remote stretches of Afghanistan to complete the technical studies necessary before the international bidding process is begun, there is a growing sense that they are in the midst of one of the great discoveries of their careers.

“On the ground, it’s very, very, promising,” Mr. Medlin said. “Actually, it’s pretty amazing.”

A version of this article appeared in print on June 14, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?no_interstitial

Iran acknowledges it funds Afghan governmentBy NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press – Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 7:12 pm ET

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran acknowledged Tuesday it has been sending funds to neighboring Afghanistan for years, but said the money was intended to aid reconstruction, not to buy influence in the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Karzai said Monday he receives millions of dollars in cash from Iran, adding that Washington gives him “bags of money” too because his office lacks funds.

In Washington, President Barack Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, denied that. “We’re not in the big bags of cash business,” he said Tuesday.

Earlier, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said some of the U.S. aid to Afghanistan is in cash.

U.S. officials asserted the money flowing from Tehran was proof that Iran is playing a double game in Afghanistan — wooing the government while helping Taliban insurgents fighting U.S. and NATO forces. Iran denies that.

“Iran has provided the country with plenty of help,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday in his weekly news briefing in Tehran. “Iran has helped construction of Afghanistan and the preparation of its economic infrastructure and it will pursue it in the future, too.”

Mehmanparast said Iran’s help began years ago. He said peace and stability in Afghanistan is important for Iran.

The acknowledgment prompted a challenge from seven Iranian lawmakers who demanded that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki appear before parliament to clarify the payments, according to the news website http://www.Khabaronline.ir.

The call indicated that lawmakers — who have the power to impeach ministers — were unaware of the payments. Under Iran's constitution, government funds sent abroad, including aid donations and loans, must get parliamentary approval.

In a letter, the lawmakers demanded to know the amount of money sent over the past five years, where it came from, the way it was transferred and the legal basis for the payments.

On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Iran was giving bags of cash to President Karzai's chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, to buy his loyalty and promote Iranian interests in Afghanistan. The Times quoted unidentified sources as saying the cash amounted to a slush fund that Karzai and Daudzai used to pay lawmakers, tribal elders — and even Taliban commanders — to secure their loyalty.

Karzai told reporters Monday that he had instructed Daudzai, a former ambassador to Iran, to accept the money from Tehran.

Before Karzai spoke, the Iranian Embassy in Afghanistan dismissed the allegations that the Iranian government was making cash payments to Daudzai, calling them “ridiculous and insulting.”

Iran publicly opposed the U.S.-led offensive that toppled the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, though its relations with the Taliban regime had been frosty.

Iran is believed to not want the Taliban to return to power. But it remains wary of a long-term U.S. military presence on its doorstep in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101026/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_afghan

Few Afghans know reason for war, new study showsBy Paul Tait – Friday, November 19, 2010, 9:17 am ET (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghans in two crucial southern provinces are almost completely unaware of the September 11 attacks on the United States and don't know they precipitated the foreign intervention now in its 10th year, a new report showed on Friday.

NATO leaders gathered in Lisbon for a summit on Friday where the transition from foreign forces -- now at about 150,000 -- to Afghan security responsibility will be at the top of the agenda, with leaders to discuss a 2014 target date set by Kabul.

Few Afghans in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, Taliban strongholds where fighting remains fiercest, know why foreign troops are in Afghanistan, says the "Afghanistan Transition: Missing Variables" report to be released later on Friday. The report by The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) policy think-tank showed 92 percent of 1,000 Afghan men surveyed in Helmand and Kandahar know nothing of the hijacked airliner attacks on U.S. targets in 2001.

"The lack of awareness of why we are there contributes to the high levels of negativity toward the NATO military operations and made the job of the Taliban easier," ICOS President Norine MacDonald told Reuters from Washington.

"We need to explain to the Afghan people why we are here, and both convince them and show them that their future is better with us than the Taliban," MacDonald said.

The report said there was a continued "relationship gap" between Afghans and the international community, describing the lack of understanding as "dramatic". U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Islamist Taliban government in late 2001 for sheltering al Qaeda leaders who plotted the 9/11 attacks that killed about 3,000 people. The war has now dragged into its 10th year and violence is at its worst, despite a record number of foreign troops, with military and civilian casualties at their highest levels.

EXIT TIMETABLE

Attention is now focused on an exit timetable. President Barack Obama, who will review his Afghanistan war strategy next month, wants to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from July 2011.

European NATO leaders, under pressure at home to justify their continued commitment to an increasingly unpopular war, are following a similar timetable. Some are withdrawing troops and others are looking to move from combat to training roles.

While Afghan President Hamid Karzai has set a target of 2014, NATO's civilian representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, said this week "eye-watering levels of violence by Western standards" might mean the transition spills into 2015. That throws the emphasis back on the Afghan government -- widely seen as so corrupt and inept that it is unable to support itself -- and the readiness of Afghan forces to take over.

The ICOS report showed 61 percent of respondents in Helmand and Kandahar believe Afghan security forces would not be able to provide adequate security when foreign forces withdraw, and that 56 percent believe the Afghan police are helping the Taliban.

It noted there was clear “potential for the Afghan security forces to switch sides” after being trained by NATO forces.

The report said 81 percent of those interviewed in the south thought al Qaeda would return to Afghanistan if the Taliban regained power, and that 72 percent thought al Qaeda would again use the country to launch attacks against the West.

ICOS senior policy analyst Jorrit Kamminga said the “negative blowback” of the foreign presence could be managed by addressing the chronic poverty, food shortages, unemployment and displacement faced by ordinary Afghans. The report noted improvements in some areas of the south, with the number of people in Marjah, a key battleground in Helmand, who thought NATO-led forces were winning the war almost doubling to 64 percent between June and October 2010. It was also a very different picture in the north, with 80 percent of 500 men interviewed in Parwan and Panjshir provinces thinking the central government was protecting their interests.

(Editing by Sugita Katyal)http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101119/ts_nm/us_afghanistan_report

Council on Foreign Relations & Afghanistan and Pakistan

Pakistan's dictator Pervez Musharraf (left) welcomes former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger before a joint session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on January 24, 2008. (Reuters)

This photo was published in the 2007 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shakes hands with Pakistan’s dictator Pervez Musharraf. This photo was taken at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 20, 2006. (U.S.-Pakistan Business Council)

Former U.S. Trade Representative Carla A. Hills stands beside Pakistan’s dictator Pervez Musharraf. This photo was taken at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 20, 2006. (U.S.-Pakistan Business Council)

Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft shakes hands with Pakistan’s dictator Pervez Musharraf. This photo was taken at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 20, 2006. (U.S.-Pakistan Business Council)

Pakistan’s dictator President Pervez Musharraf (left) shakes hands with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at Army House in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on February 12, 2007. Robert Gates held talks with Pervez Musharraf ahead of a spring offensive against the Taliban. (AFP/Getty Images)

Vice President Dick Cheney greets Pakistan’s despot Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad, Pakistan on February 26, 2007. (AFP/Getty Images)

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with Pakistan’s dictator Pervez Musharraf at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad, Pakistan on June 27, 2006. (State Department photo by Josie Duckett)

Pervez Musharraf, the dictator of Pakistan, speaks to guests about his vision of Pakistan in the 21st century as Joseph Nye (left), Dean of Kennedy School of Government, listens at the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September 8, 2002. (Photo By Douglas McFadd/Getty Images)

Richard Holbrooke (left) appears with Pakistan’s despot Pervez Musharraf at the Harold Pratt House. This photo appears in the 2005 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Left to right: Ambassador Douglas A. Hartwick, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Southwest Asia Affairs; Gerald L. Shaheen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Pervez Musharraf, President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan; former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright; Muhammad Ali Durrani, Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States; and former U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Carla Hills appear at a luncheon held at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 20, 2006. Albright and Hills are members of the Council on Foreign Relations and members of the Trilateral Commission. (U.S.-Pakistan Business Council)

Pakistan’s despot Pervez Musharraf meets with former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Nicholas Platt (left) and Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass (center). This photo appears in the 2004 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Left to right: U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel, John Kerry, and Joseph Biden meet with Pervez Musharraf (right), the Dictator of Pakistan, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on February 19, 2008. Chuck Hagel and John Kerry are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf speaks to the audience during a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on November 9, 2010. (Getty Images)

Pakistani Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar (L) and Interior Minister Rahman Malik (C) chat with US Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke (R) upon their arrival for a meeting with prime minister in Islamabad, Pakistan on June 5, 2009.(Getty Images)

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi (left) shakes hands with U.S. Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke upon his arrival for a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan on July 17, 2010. (Getty Images)

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari talks with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry before their lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on May 7, 2009. (AP Photo)

This hand out picture released by Press Information Department (PID) shows Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari (R) speaking with U.S. Special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke (L) during a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan on June 3, 2009. (Getty Images)

General David Petraeus (L), commander of the US Central Command is greeted by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (2nd L) upon his arrival in Islamabad, Pakistan on October 19, 2009, as Pakistani Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar (C) looks on. Leading U.S. Senator John Kerry and a top U.S. general held talk with Pakistani officials as Washington tried to counter protests over a controversial 7.5 billion dollar aid package. The bill prevents the funding from being used for nuclear proliferation, to support militants or to attack neighboring countries -- namely India -- and calls for a cut-off in aid if Pakistan fails to crack down on extremists. (Getty Images)

In this photo released by Pakistan's Ministry of Defence, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, left, chairman of the U.S. Central Command, meets Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on December 14, 2009. Petraeus discussed bilateral and security issues with Pakistani officials on Monday. (AP Photo) http://www.daylife.com/photo/08cn5EdaFT7z1?q=david+petraeus+ashfaq

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (left) speaks to Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, in New York City on August 15, 2007. (AP Photo by Mary Altaffer)

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto addresses members and guests of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on August 15, 2007. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan on December 27, 2007.(AP Photo by Mary Altaffer)

Left to right: Muhammad Ali Durrani, Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States; Jay Collins, Chairman of U.S.-Pakistan Business Council; C. Fred Bergsten, Director of Institute for International Economics; Pervez Musharraf, President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan; Gerald L. Shaheen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of U.S. Chamber of Commerce; former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft; former U.S. Trade Representative Carla A. Hills; former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright; and Mr. Najeeb Ghauri, Chairman of NetSol Technologies, Inc. Jay Collins, C. Fred Bergsten, Brent Scowcroft, Madeleine K. Albright, and Carla A. Hills are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. This photo was taken at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 20, 2006. (U.S.-Pakistan Business Council)

Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, left, responds to a question from Foreign Relations Council board member Jami, Miscik at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on September 21, 2010. (AP Photo)

Former Senator George Mitchell watches Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) deliver a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on September 13, 2002. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

David Rockefeller greets Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai. This photo was published on the back cover of the 2002 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) shakes hands with World Bank President James Wolfensohn at a dinner given by Wolfensohn following a session of the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan in Tokyo, Japan on January 21, 2002. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn embraces Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. on January 28, 2002. (Shawn Thew/AFP/Getty Images)

Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass shakes hands with Hamid Karzai. This photo was published in the 2007 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Council on Foreign Relations Chairman Peter G. Peterson (left) and Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass (right) talk to Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan. This photo appears in the 2004 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Secretary of State Colin Powell (center) watches Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (left) greet Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai at a NATO meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on June 29, 2004. (NATO Photo)

Left: Senators John McCain and Bill Frist give an award to Hamid Karzai in Washington D.C. on February 27, 2003.Right: Fareed Zakaria talks to Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai at the Harold Pratt House.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) shakes hands with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on January 12, 2005. Karzai pledged on Wednesday to ensure delayed parliamentary polls that had been due in April are held as soon as possible, saying necessary preparations were under way. (© AHMAD MASOOD/Reuters/Corbis)

Richard Holbrooke (left), U.S. President Barack Obama’s top envoy for Afghanistan, meets with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai (R) at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 5, 2009. (Reuters)

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones (left), U.S. National Security Advisor, greets Hamid Karzai (right), President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, at the 45th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany on February 8, 2009. James L. Jones is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

General James L. Jones, the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, shakes hands with President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai at a NATO meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on June 29, 2004. (NATO Photo)

Zalmay Khalilzad (left), the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, and Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah (right) watch Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (second from left) shake hands with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 17, 2005. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

Vice President Richard B. “Dick” Cheney (left) and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai shake hands after a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 7, 2004.(Photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant James M. Bowman, U.S. Department of Defense)

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, at the State Department on May 23, 2005. (Michael Gross, State Department)

Donald Rumsfeld meets Afghan President Hamid Karzai (right foreground) at the Pentagon on June 14, 2004. From left to right: Gen. Richard B. Myers, Donald Rumsfeld, Douglas Feith, Peter Rodman, and William Luti. Luti is not a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Luti has attended the Bilderberg Meetings in the past. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Left photo: Defense Secretary Robert Gates meets with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan on January 16, 2007.

Right photo: Army General John Abizaid, Commander of U.S. Central Command, watches Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai awards a medal to Army Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, Commander of Combined Forces Command, at the Gul Khana Palace in Afghanistan on January 20, 2007. Abizaid and Eikenberry are members of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (left) speaks with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 4, 2003. (Photo: U.S. Defense Department)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad (left) attend a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 25, 2004 to discuss a proposal about a USAID program to build and rehabilitate some 378 medical clinics around the country. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

Senator John Kerry listens to President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai (left) during a meeting at the presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on February 20, 2008. (AP Photo by Rafiq Maqbool)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (third from right) talks with Democratic Party presidential contender Barack Obama (third from left) during a meeting at The Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 20, 2008. Senator Jack Reed and Senator Chuck Hagel are sitting on the left side. Jack Reed and Chuck Hagel are members of the Council on Foreign Relations.(AFP/Getty Images)

Former Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN) (left), president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, appears with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai (R) at a forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2008. (Reuters)

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., right, meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Capitol on in Washington, D.C. on September 25, 2008. (AP Photo by Kevin Wolf)

Members of the Islamic Alliance of Afghanistan visit the Harold Pratt House in 1987.(Photo: Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report)

This photo was published in the 1989 Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report.

Left: World Bank President James Wolfensohn talks to President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai at a dinner in Tokyo, Japan on January 21, 2002.Right: World Bank President James Wolfensohn (right) meets with Pakistani despot Pervez Musharraf (center) and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz (left) in Islamabad, Pakistan on February 7, 2005.

U.S. Representative to the United Nations Bill Richardson negotiates with the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1998.(Source: Between Worlds: The Making of An American Life by Bill Richardson)

President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, Vice President Dick Cheney, President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Pakistan’s dictator Pervez Musharraf prepare for dinner at the White House on September 27, 2006. Cheney and Rice are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (White House photo by Eric Draper)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (C), U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke (L), and U.S. Army General David Petraeus (R), Commander of U.S. Central Command, arrive for a conference at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 11, 2010. Holbrooke and Petraeus attended a two-day conference reviewing U.S. civilian and military involvement in Afghanistan for the coming year. Richard Holbrooke and David Petraeus are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Reuters)

Averell Harriman (left), former Governor of New York, meets with Gen. Mohammed Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan (reign, 27 October 1958 – 25 March 1969) and Minister of Defense of Pakistan (28 October 1958 – 21 October 1966), during their meeting in Karachi, Pakistan on March 27, 1959.

President Dwight Eisenhower appears at a party with Pakistan’s President and Defense Minister Ayub Khan (right) in Karachi, Pakistan in 1959. (Source: Ike 1890-1990: A Pictorial History (Commemorative Edition) by Douglas Kinnard)

George C. McGhee (left) meets with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan (right) and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1950.(Source: Envoys to the Middle World: Adventures in Diplomacy by (Ambassador) George McGhee)

Special-Interest Lobbyists & Their Role in the Global War on Terrorism:Damn Yankees or War Profiteers?

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates (right) receives the Henry M. Jackson Distinguished Service Award from Robert Stevens, Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) annual dinner in Washington, D.C. on October 15, 2007. Robert M. Gates and Robert Stevens are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

President George W. Bush delivers a speech at the Economic Club of New York on March 14, 2008.(Photo: http://www.econclubny.com/photoalbum.asp?AlbumNo=4)

Left: William P. Utt, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of KBR (2007-present)Second from left: Louis R. Chênevert (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of United Technologies Corp. (2010-present))Center: W. James (Jim) McNerney, Jr. (B.A. Yale 1971), Chairman and CEO of Boeing (2005-present)Second from right: (Adm.) Jay L. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics Corp. (2010-present)Right: William H. Swanson, Chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company (2004-present)

Members of the board of directors of United Technologies Corp. in 2010, left to right: Jamie Gorelick (Director, 2000-present), Carlos M. Gutierrez (Director, 2009-present), (Gen.) Richard B. Myers (Director, 2006-present), and Christine Todd Whitman (Director, 2003-present). Richard B. Myers also serves on the board of directors of Northrop Grumman; Myers was elected director of Northrop Grumman in 2006.

Members of the board of directors of Lockheed Martin in 2010, left to right: Robert J. Stevens (Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin (2005-2013)), (Gen.) Joseph W. Ralston (Director, 2003-present), (Adm.) James M. Loy (Director, 2005-present)

Members of the board of directors of The Boeing Company in 2010, left to right: William M. Daley (Director, 2006-present), Kenneth M. Duberstein (Director, 1997-present), (Adm.) Edmund P. Giambastiani (Director, 2009-present), and Susan C. Schwab (2010-present). Daley, Duberstein, Giambastiani, and Schwab are members of the Council on Foreign Relations.

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at a Center for a New American Security event in June 2007.

U.S. Army General David Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Central Command, speaks a Center for a New American Security event in June 2009. General David Petraeus is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an internationalist organization in New York City.

The Committee on the Present Danger is a non-partisan organization with one goal – to stiffen American resolve to confront the challenge presented by terrorism and the ideologies that drive it.

This goal reflects the important role that the CPD has played for more than half a century.  The Committee was formed in 1950 as a bipartisan education and advocacy organization to build a national consensus behind President Truman’s policy of “containment” against Soviet expansionism.  The CPD then re-emerged in 1976 when its original leaders and others believed that America’s will to win the Cold War was flagging and that the United States should pursue policies to bring that war to a successful conclusion.

Now, the CPD has returned to confront the new “present danger” – militant Islamism and the terrorism that it is spawning.  Perverting one of the world’s great religions, militant Islamists seek to bend the world to their vision.  They are eager to attack – indeed, to kill – anyone who stands in their way.  In the face of this global threat, which transcends state borders and recognizes no law, complacency and ignorance are as dangerous as military weakness.

Today, the CPD includes over 100 former White House officials, Ambassadors, Cabinet Secretaries, academics, writers, and other foreign policy experts.  Its Co-Chairmen are the Honorable George Shultz, Secretary of State under President Reagan, and R. James Woolsey, Director of the CIA under President Clinton.  Senators Joe Lieberman and Jon Kyl serve as Honorary Co-Chairs.

CPD’s leaders and members – individuals of diverse background and political persuasion – have come together to educate free people about the threat that militant Islamism poses to the United States and the free world; to counsel against the appeasement of terrorists and the states that sponsor them; to support policies to confront this menace; and to encourage the development of civil society and democracy in regions from which the terrorists emanate.

Terrorism was brought home Americans on September 11, 2001, but most remain ill-informed about the ideology behind it.  Militant Islamism, whether in its Shia or Sunni variants, seeks to curtail free speech and religion, subjugate women, eradicate homosexuals, and wage violent jihad against those who resist these goals (including the vast majority of Muslims and courageous Muslim reformers in the Middle East and elsewhere).

The CPD educates the public not only about this ideology, but also about the two distinct ways that militant Islamists pursue their goals.  First, they use the traditional tools of terrorism – guns, explosives, and, as Americans saw first-hand, hijacked airliners.  Second, they turn American laws, liberties, and sensitivities against us, demanding “respect” and legal sanction for practices that threaten our security, our values, and our traditions.

The CPD partners with other groups interested in resisting tyranny and terror – groups with causes as diverse as free speech, women’s rights, and energy independence.  With no philosophical bent of its own, the CPD reaches across political lines to work with groups and individuals that share its goal.

In times of great challenge, Americans of all stripes have come together to defend U.S. interests.  The Committee on the Present Danger is proud to focus attention again on the “present danger” that America faces.

Source: http://www.committeeonthepresentdanger.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=53

Leaders of The Committee on the Present Danger, left to right: U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, R. James Woolsey (Co-Chairman), and George P. Shultz (Co-Chairman). Lieberman, Woolsey, and Shultz are members of the Council on Foreign Relations, an internationalist organization in New York City.

April 28, 2010

President Barack ObamaSecretary of State Hillary ClintonDeputy National Security Advisor John BrennanWashington, D.C.

Dear Mr. President, Madame Secretary, and Mr. Brennan:

We, the undersigned members of the Committee on the Present Danger, write to endorse and support the significant points made in the letter sent on April 9, 2010 by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman to Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan regarding the removal of the term “Islamic extremism” from the National Security Strategy report and replacing it with the nebulous term “violent extremism”. We agree wholeheartedly with the Senator’s assertion that this action contradicts the accepted military intelligence doctrine to properly identify, define, and know your enemy.

A non-partisan organization of former White House officials, ambassadors, cabinet secretaries, academics, and other members of the foreign policy community, the CPD believes that militant Islamic regimes and movements represent a serious threat to the United States and other free nations. If we are to meet this challenge, we must understand the beliefs and motivations of those who have dedicated themselves to what they call a “jihad” against “infidels” based on their reading of the Koran. As CPD Co-Chairman George P. Shultz has stated: “We face a clear and present danger, so we must identify the danger accurately and realistically, with no punches pulled, and support the necessary actions to deal with the danger decisively.”

We urge you to reconsider this decision and accurately identify the threat we face.

Respectfully,

Members of the Committee on the Present Danger

Hon. George Shultz, (co-Chairman) former Secretary of StateHon. R. James Woolsey, (co-Chairman) former Director of Central Intelligence

Morrie Amitay, Vice Chair, Jewish Institute for National Security AffairsMichael Auslin, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise InstituteZeyno Baran, Senior Fellow, Hudson InstituteMark Benson, President, APCO Insight Ilan Berman, Vice President, American Foreign Policy CouncilHon. Bill Brock, former Member of the U.S. SenateHon. Henry Cooper, former Chief U.S. Negotiator, Geneva Defense and Space Talks Jack David, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction and Negotiations PolicyCandace de Russy, writer and former trustee of the State University of New York Mark Dubowitz, Executive Director, Foundation for Defense of DemocraciesRachel Ehrenfeld, Director, American Center for DemocracyRichard Fairbanks, former Ambassador at LargeAlvin S. Felzenberg, former Director of Communications, 9-11 Commission John Fonte, Director, Center for American Common Culture; Senior Fellow, Hudson InstituteHon. Frank Gaffney, President, Center for Security PolicyJeffrey Gayner, Chairman, Americans for SovereigntyFarid Ghadry, Executive Member of Reform Party of SyriaHon. Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the U.S. House of RepresentativesLawrence J. Haas, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, American Foreign Policy CouncilPeter Hannaford, member, CPD board of directors; author; public affairs executiveHon. Jerome M. Hauer, Former Assistant Secretary Public Health Emergency Preparedness, HHSAmoretta M. (Amie) Hoeber, former Deputy Under Secretary, U.S. ArmyMichael Horowitz, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; Former General Counsel, OMBPeter Huessy, President, GeoStrategic Analysis Kenneth M. Jensen, Executive Director, American Committees on Foreign RelationsAvi Jorisch, Former Policy Advisor, Treasury Department Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence; Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of DemocraciesJohn T. Joyce, Vice Chair, Committee for Free Trade UnionismHon. Max Kampelman, former U.S. Ambassador and presidential advisorPhyllis Kaminsky, Former Director, United Nations Information CenterAnne Korin, Co-director, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS)Charles Kupperman, Vice President, Strategic Integration and Operations, Missile Defense SystemsGal Luft, Director, Institute for the Analysis of Global SecurityDana M. Marshall, former Senior Advisor for International Economic Policy to the Vice PresidentClifford May, President, Foundation for Defense of DemocraciesAndrew McCarthy, Co-Chair, Center for Law and Counterterrorism, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Hon. Robert McFarlane, Former National Security AdvisorHon. Edwin Meese III, former U.S. Attorney GeneralHedieh Mirahmadi, President, WORDEJoshua Muravchik, Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, John’s Hopkins SAISChet Nagle, Former Department of Defense Official (ISA)Hon. Michael Novak, George Frederick Jewett Chair Emeritus, American Enterprise InstituteHon. Mark Palmer, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European AffairsDaniel Pipes, Director, Middle East Forum; Author and CommentatorDanielle Pletka, Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, The American Enterprise InstituteNorman Podhoretz, Author, Recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom Bruce M. Ramer, Member, Council on Foreign RelationsHon. Peter R. Rosenblatt, former U.S. AmbassadorNicholos Rostow, Former Staff Director, Senate Select Committee on IntelligenceHon. Edward L. Rowny, Former Ambassador/LTG, USA (Ret.)Kenneth Schwartz, board of directors, Foundation for Defense of Democracies Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President of Research, Foundation for Defense of Democracies Randy ScheunemannHon. Richard Schifter, former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian AffairsPeter Schweizer, Hoover InstitutionNina Shea, Director, Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious FreedomHon. John H. Shenefield, former Associate Attorney General of the United StatesMax Singer, founder and Senior Fellow of The Hudson InstituteHon. James Strock, former California Secretary for Environmental ProtectionKenneth R. Timmerman, President, Foundation for Democracy in IranVictoria Toensing, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, U.S. Dept. of JusticeArnold S. Trebach, J.D., Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, American UniversityRobert F. Turner, former Counsel, President's Intelligence Oversight Board, the White HouseHon. Michael Wildes, Esq., Managing Partner, Wildes & Weinberg, PC; Former Federal ProsecutorFrancisco Wong-Diaz, Ph.D., Esquire, Professor of Law and PoliticsJames Zumwalt, former Senior Advisor, Asst. Secretary of State for Human Rights & Humanitarian Affairs

Source: http://www.committeeonthepresentdanger.org/

Members of the Project for the New American Century who served in the George W. Bush administration, left to right:John Bolton (U.S. Representative to the United Nations), Dick Cheney (Vice President of the U.S.), Zalmay Khalilzad (U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq), Donald Rumsfeld (U.S. Secretary of Defense), and Paul Wolfowitz (Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense)

Statement of Principles of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC)

June 3, 1997

American foreign and defense policy is adrift. Conservatives have criticized the incoherent policies of the Clinton Administration. They have also resisted isolationist impulses from within their own ranks. But conservatives have not confidently advanced a strategic vision of America's role in the world. They have not set forth guiding principles for American foreign policy. They have allowed differences over tactics to obscure potential agreement on strategic objectives. And they have not fought for a defense budget that would maintain American security and advance American interests in the new century.

We aim to change this. We aim to make the case and rally support for American global leadership.

As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world's preeminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?

We are in danger of squandering the opportunity and failing the challenge. We are living off the capital -- both the military investments and the foreign policy achievements -- built up by past administrations. Cuts in foreign affairs and defense spending, inattention to the tools of statecraft, and inconstant leadership are making it increasingly difficult to sustain American influence around the world. And the promise of short-term commercial benefits threatens to override strategic considerations. As a consequence, we are jeopardizing the nation's ability to meet present threats and to deal with potentially greater challenges that lie ahead.

We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan Administration's success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibilities.

Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership.

Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their consequences for today. Here are four consequences:

• we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;

• we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;

• we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;

• we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.

Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next.

Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer William J. Bennett Jeb BushDick Cheney Eliot A. Cohen Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky Steve ForbesAaron Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. IkleDonald Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad I. Lewis Libby Norman PodhoretzDan Quayle Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen Henry S. RowenDonald Rumsfeld Vin Weber George Weigel Paul Wolfowitz

Source: http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

January 26, 1998

The Honorable William J. ClintonPresident of the United StatesWashington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor.

The policy of “containment” of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam’s secrets. As a result, in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons.

Such uncertainty will, by itself, have a seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East. It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat.

Given the magnitude of the threat, the current policy, which depends for its success upon the steadfastness of our coalition partners and upon the cooperation of Saddam Hussein, is dangerously inadequate. The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.

We urge you to articulate this aim, and to turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts. Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf. In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council.

We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future at risk.

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams Richard L. Armitage William J. BennettJeffrey Bergner John Bolton Paula DobrianskyFrancis Fukuyama Robert Kagan Zalmay KhalilzadWilliam Kristol Richard Perle Peter W. RodmanDonald Rumsfeld William Schneider, Jr. Vin WeberPaul Wolfowitz R. James Woolsey Robert B. Zoellick

Source: http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm

September 20, 2001

The Honorable George W. BushPresident of the United StatesWashington, DC

Dear Mr. President,

We write to endorse your admirable commitment to “lead the world to victory” in the war against terrorism. We fully support your call for “a broad and sustained campaign” against the “terrorist organizations and those who harbor and support them.” We agree with Secretary of State Powell that the United States must find and punish the perpetrators of the horrific attack of September 11, and we must, as he said, “go after terrorism wherever we find it in the world” and “get it by its branch and root.” We agree with the Secretary of State that U.S. policy must aim not only at finding the people responsible for this incident, but must also target those “other groups out there that mean us no good” and “that have conducted attacks previously against U.S. personnel, U.S. interests and our allies.”

In order to carry out this “first war of the 21st century” successfully, and in order, as you have said, to do future “generations a favor by coming together and whipping terrorism,” we believe the following steps are necessary parts of a comprehensive strategy.

Osama bin Laden

We agree that a key goal, but by no means the only goal, of the current war on terrorism should be to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, and to destroy his network of associates. To this end, we support the necessary military action in Afghanistan and the provision of substantial financial and military assistance to the anti-Taliban forces in that country.

Iraq

We agree with Secretary of State Powell’s recent statement that Saddam Hussein “is one of the leading terrorists on the face of the Earth….” It may be that the Iraqi government provided assistance in some form to the recent attack on the United States. But even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism. The United States must therefore provide full military and financial support to the Iraqi opposition. American military force should be used to provide a “safe zone” in Iraq from which the opposition can operate. And American forces must be prepared to back up our commitment to the Iraqi opposition by all necessary means.

Hezbollah

Hezbollah is one of the leading terrorist organizations in the world. It is suspected of having been involved in the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Africa, and implicated in the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. Hezbollah clearly falls in the category cited by Secretary Powell of groups “that mean us no good” and “that have conducted attacks previously against U.S. personnel, U.S. interests and our allies.” Therefore, any war against terrorism must target Hezbollah. We believe the administration should demand that Iran and Syria immediately cease all military, financial, and political support for Hezbollah and its operations. Should Iran and Syria refuse to comply, the administration should consider appropriate measures of retaliation against these known state sponsors of terrorism.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority

Israel has been and remains America’s staunchest ally against international terrorism, especially in the Middle East. The United States should fully support our fellow democracy in its fight against terrorism. We should insist that the Palestinian Authority put a stop to terrorism emanating from territories under its control and imprison those planning terrorist attacks against Israel. Until the Palestinian Authority moves against terror, the United States should provide it no further assistance.

U.S. Defense Budget

A serious and victorious war on terrorism will require a large increase in defense spending. Fighting this war may well require the United States to engage a well-armed foe, and will also require that we remain capable of defending our interests elsewhere in the world. We urge that there be no hesitation in requesting whatever funds for defense are needed to allow us to win this war.

There is, of course, much more that will have to be done. Diplomatic efforts will be required to enlist other nations’ aid in this war on terrorism. Economic and financial tools at our disposal will have to be used. There are other actions of a military nature that may well be needed. However, in our judgement the steps outlined above constitute the minimum necessary if this war is to be fought effectively and brought to a successful conclusion. Our purpose in writing is to assure you of our support as you do what must be done to lead the nation to victory in this fight.

Sincerely,

William Kristol, Richard V. Allen, Gary Bauer, Jeffrey Bell, William J. Bennett, Rudy Boshwitz, Jeffrey Bergner, Eliot Cohen, Seth Cropsey, Midge Decter, Thomas Donnelly, Nicholas Eberstadt, Hillel Fradkin, Aaron Friedberg, Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney, Jeffrey Gedmin, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Charles Hill, Bruce P. Jackson, Eli S. Jacobs, Michael Joyce, Donald Kagan, Robert Kagan Jeane Kirkpatrick, Charles Krauthammer, John Lehman, Clifford May, Martin Peretz, Richard Perle, Norman Podhoretz, Stephen P. Rosen, Randy Scheunemann, Gary Schmitt, William Schneider, Jr., Richard H. Shultz, Henry Sokolski, Stephen J. Solarz, Vin Weber, Leon Wieseltier, Marshall Wittmann

Source: http://www.newamericancentury.org/Bushletter.htm

January 23, 2003

The Honorable George W. BushPresident of the United StatesWashington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

We write to endorse the bold new course you have charted for American national security strategy. Your administration has shown impressive leadership in recognizing new threats and seizing new opportunities to create an enduring "balance of power that favors freedom." Yet a great risk remains: a continuing lack of military means. For the fact is this: Our current level of defense spending is inadequate to meet the demands of the Bush Doctrine.

American strength is key to building the new world you have envisioned. The victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan was an essential first step in stabilizing that chaotic country and toward destroying the al Qaeda terrorist network. The international community and an overwhelming military coalition are now ready to end the threat of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

Yet a multitude of threats elsewhere call into question our ability now, and in the future, to defend adequately our interests and our principles around the globe. Removing Saddam is but the first step toward reconstructing a decent government in Iraq and carrying out your strategic vision for the Middle East. Other rogue states remain a major problem. Indeed, we now confront the two-war scenario: Even as we deploy forces for war against Iraq, North Korea has abrogated its agreement to terminate its nuclear weapons development and threatens war if it is not appeased. The third member of the "axis of evil," Iran, has likewise stepped up its nuclear efforts.

Meanwhile, the war on terrorism, as you predicted, is being "fought on many fronts against a particularly elusive enemy over an extended period of time." We have deprived al Qaeda of its sanctuary in Afghanistan and are preparing to expand our presence out of Kabul into the surrounding provinces. But the war is also carrying U.S. troops across the border into Pakistan, and we also have committed ourselves to a long-term military presence in Central Asia. And the attacks in Bali - intended in part to target Americans - and in the Philippines - where we have troops aiding and advising the Filipino army - show how this war has spread to Southeast Asia.

In East Asia, China, as your own administration says, is "pursuing advanced military capabilities that can threaten its neighbors" - our democratic allies - and derail its own internal political and economic modernization. With U.S. troops stretched as they are, it is a serious question of whether we could respond adequately to a Korean crisis or a sudden confrontation in the Taiwan Strait. And, lest we forget, American troops continue to keep the peace in the Balkans and in the Sinai, and patrol countless other global hotspots.

In sum, there is an increasingly dangerous gap between our strategic ends and our military means, and the Bush Doctrine cannot be carried out effectively without a larger military force.

By every measure, current defense spending is inadequate for a military with global responsibilities. Ten years ago, America's defense burden was 4.8% of GDP. Although the decline in defense spending has been halted, we have not done nearly enough to make up for this decade of neglect. The modest increase planned for next year will still leave Pentagon spending at about 3.4 % of GDP, and Congressional Budget Office projections are that the proportion will decline to approximately 3% by 2007.

Inadequate funding results in an inadequate force. Today's military is simply too small for the missions it must perform. A reduced active-duty force means an increasing reliance on reserve troops, not just in times of war but to meet daily presence requirements. Inadequate modernization programs have also slowed the normal and necessary replacement of planes, ships and equipment; indeed, to make up for the "procurement holiday" of the past decade, tens of billions more over the next decade will have to be spent than is currently budgeted. And, finally, inadequate research spending has hampered the development of missile defenses and is delaying the transformation of our conventional forces and the exploitation of new technologies.

To rebuild, transform, and man our military adequately for its many missions and responsibilities, defense spending will need to be increased by an additional $70 to $100 billion. This would bring defense expenditures to 3.8% - 4.0% of GDP in 2007. Less than a nickel on the dollar for American security in the 21st century is cheap at the price. We urge you, Mr. President, to make it a legislative and budgetary priority to increase defense spending to these levels over the next few years in order to ensure that the security challenges we face are met.

Sincerely,William Kristol, Gary Bauer, Max Boot, Frank Carlucci, Eliot Cohen, Midge Decter, Thomas Donnelly, Frank Gaffney, Daniel Goure, Bruce P. Jackson, Donald Kagan, Robert Kagan, Lewis E. Lehrman, Tod Lindberg, Rich Lowry, Daniel McKivergan, Joshua Muravchik, Danielle Pletka, Norman Podhoretz, Stephen P. Rosen, Gary Schmitt, Randy Scheunemann, William Schneider, Jr., Richard Shultz, Henry Sokolski, Chris Williams, R. James Woolsey

Source: http://www.newamericancentury.org/defense-20030123.htm

Jewish Lobby & Global War on Terrorism: Now and Forever?

Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz speaks during a pro-Israel rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on April 15, 2002. Paul Wolfowitz is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, a member of the “left-wing” Democratic Party, and Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a member of the “right-wing” Likud Party, laugh together at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington D.C. in 2005.(Photo: Avi Ohayon/Israel Government Press Office (GPO))

Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert (left) and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk attend the National Security Studies 'Security Challenges of the 21st. Century' Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 11, 2007. Martin Indyk is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Pool/Getty Images)

Shimon Peres (L), President of Israel, speaks with Robert Zoellick, President of The World Bank Group, at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York City on September 25, 2008. Robert Zoellick is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a regular Bilderberg Meetings participant. (AFP/Getty Images)

News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch (left), owner of Fox News Channel, stands with Israel's President Shimon Peres during the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem on May 15, 2008. Rupert Murdoch is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Reuters)

Ronald Lauder (left), the President of World Jewish Congress, appears with Israel’s President Shimon Peres at a World Jewish Congress meeting in Jerusalem in January 2009. Ronald Lauder is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Ronald Lauder’s mother is Estee Lauder, the co-founder of Estee Lauder cosmetic company.(Photo: http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/main/showPhoto/id/325/gallery/24)

Left photo: Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (right) meets with Jacob Frenkel (left), then the Governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer (second from left), then the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and Gaby Fishman at the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 14, 2001. Both Jacob Frenkel and Stanley Fischer are members of the Trilateral Commission, members of the Group of Thirty (G-30), and directors of the Institute for International Economics. (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom, GPO)Right photo: Henry Kissinger talks to Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the Israeli Consul General’s home in New York City on June 25, 2001. Ariel Sharon was a member of the Likud Party. (Photo: Avi Ohayon, GPO)

Left photo: Henry Kissinger greets Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on January 10, 1999. Benjamin Netanyahu is a member of the Likud Party. (Photo: Avi Ohayon, Israel Government Press Office (GPO))Right photo: Henry Kissinger laughs with Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Shamir in New York City on December 10, 1990. Yitzhak Shamir was a member of the Likud Party and a member of the Stern Gang, a terrorist organization. (Photo: Israeli Tsvika, GPO)

Michael Salbert (left), Director for International Affairs of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (center), and Abraham Foxman, National Director of the ADL, stand together at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on April 5, 2007. Abraham Foxman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. The ADL headquarters is located across the street from the United Nations headquarters. (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

Left photo: Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at a pro-Israel rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on April 15, 2002.Right photo: National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice addresses the Anti-Defamation League's national leadership conference in Washington, D.C. on May 4, 2004. (Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images)

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell (left) is presented with the America's Democratic Legacy Award by Anti-Defamation League (ADL) National Director Abraham Foxman (center) and ADL National Chair Barbara Balser during a luncheon of the ADL's annual National Leadership Conference at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. on April 4, 2005. Colin Powell and Abraham Foxman are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Jewish Powerbrokers & Their Occupation during the Global War on Terrorism

Ben Shalom BernankeB.A. Harvard 1975

Chairman of the Federal Reserve (2006-2014)

Lloyd C. BlankfeinB.A. Harvard 1975J.D. Harvard 1978

Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs [bank]

(2006-present)

Michael ChertoffB.A. Harvard 1975;J.D. Harvard 1978U.S. Secretary of

Homeland Security(2005-2009)

Douglas J. FeithB.A. Harvard 1975

Under U.S. Secretary of Defense for Policy

(2001-2005)

Cass R. SunsteinB.A. Harvard 1975,J.D. Harvard 1978

Administrator of Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs(2009-2012)

Robert E. RubinB.A. Harvard 1960Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign

Relations (2007-present); Secretary of the Treasury

(1995-1999)

Martin FeldsteinB.A. Harvard 1961

President of National Bureau of Economic

Research (1977-1982, 1984-2008)

Peter R. KannB.A. Harvard 1964

Chairman of Dow Jones & Co. [Wall Street Journal]

(1991-2007)

Donald E. GrahamB.A. Harvard 1966

Chairman and CEO of The Washington Post Co.

(1993-present)

Elliott AbramsB.A. Harvard 1969;J.D. Harvard 1973

Deputy National Security Council Adviser for Global

Democracy Strategy (2005-2009)

Sumner RedstoneB.A. Harvard 1944;LL.B. Harvard 1947

Chairman of the board of Viacom (1987-present)

Henry KissingerB.A. Harvard 1950

Ph.D. Harvard 1954U.S. Secretary of State

(1973-1977); Elder Statesman

James B. SteinbergB.A. Harvard 1973

Deputy Secretary of State (2009-2011)

Jacob J. LewB.A. Harvard 1978

Secretary of the Treasury (2013-present); White House Chief of Staff

(2012-2013)

Penny PritzkerB.A. Harvard 1981U.S. Secretary of

Commerce(2013-present)

Charles SchumerB.A. Harvard 1971;J.D. Harvard 1974

U.S. Senator(D-New York, 1999-pres.)

Alan S. “Al” FrankenB.A. Harvard 1973

U.S. Senator(D-Minnesota.2009-present)

William KristolB.A. Harvard 1973;Ph.D. Harvard 1979Editor of The Weekly

Standard

Barney FrankB.A. Harvard 1962;J.D. Harvard 1977U.S. Congressman

(D-Mass., 1981-2013)

Richard BlumenthalB.A. Harvard 1967

U.S. Senator(D-Connecticut,2011-present)

Government Officials:

Philip D. ZelikowCounselor of the State

Department (2005-2006)

Richard N. PerleChairman of the Defense Policy Board (2001-2003)

Paul D. WolfowitzPresident of The World

Bank (2005-2007); Deputy Secretary of

Defense (2001-2005)

Dov S. ZakheimB.A. Columbia 1970Comptroller of the

Department of Defense (2001-2005)

Lewis “Scooter” LibbyB.A. Yale 1972

Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the U.S.

(2001-2005)

Paula J. DobrianskyPh.D. Harvard 1991

Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global

Affairs (2001-2009)

Kristen SilverbergB.A. Harvard 1992

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union (2008-2009); Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for

International Organization Affairs (2005-2008)

Daniel C. KurtzerPh.D. Columbia

U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (1998-2001)

U.S. Ambassador to Israel (2001-2005)

Michael MukaseyB.A. Columbia 1963

LL.B. Yale 1967U.S. Attorney General

(2007-2009); Chief Judge of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2000-2006)

Eliot A. CohenB.A. Harvard 1977;Ph.D. Harvard 1982

Counselor of the U.S. State Department

(2007-2009)

Gen. Norton A. SchwartzAir Force Chief of Staff

(2008-2012)

Lee A. FeinsteinU.S. Ambassador to Poland (2009-2012)

David AxelrodSenior Advisor to the President of the United States (2009-2011)

Peter R. OrszagA.B. Princeton 1991

Director of the Office of Management and Budget

(2009-2010)

Rahm EmanuelU.S. Congressman (D-

Illinois, 2003-2009); White House Chief of Staff

(2009-2010); Mayor of Chicago (2011-present)

Dianne FeinsteinU.S. Senator

(D-Calif., 1992-present)

Joseph LiebermanB.A. Yale 1964J.D. Yale 1967U.S. Senator

(D-Conn., 1989-2013)

Jane HarmanJ.D. Harvard 1969

U.S. Congresswoman(D-California, 1993-1999,

2001-2011)

Howard L. BermanU.S. Congressman

(D-California, 1983-2013)

Eric CantorMember of the U.S.

House of Representatives (Republican-Virginia,

2001-present)

Bankers and Businessmen:

James D. WolfensohnM.B.A. Harvard 1959

President of the World Bank (1995-2005)

Maurice R. GreenbergChairman and CEO of American International

Group (1989-2005)

George SorosChairman of Soros Fund

Management (1996-pres.)

Sir Alan GreenspanChairman of the Federal

Reserve (1987-2006)

Stanley FischerGovernor of the Bank of Israel [central bank of

Israel] (2005-2013)

Michael BloombergMayor of New York City

(2002-2013)

David M. RubensteinFounder of the Carlyle

Group

Larry SilversteinLandlord of the World

Trade Center in New York City

Stephen A. SchwarzmanB.A. Yale 1969

Chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group

(1985-present)

Robert B. ZoellickJ.D. Harvard 1981

President of The World Bank (2007-2012)

Harold TannerChairman, Conference of

Presidents of Major American Jewish

Organizations

Malcolm HoenleinExecutive Vice Chairman

of Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish

Organizations

Abraham H. FoxmanNational Director of the

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) (1987-present)

Edgar M. Bronfman Sr.President of World Jewish

Congress (1981-2007); Died December 21, 2013

Ronald S. LauderPresident of World Jewish Congress (2007-present)

Norman PearlstineEditor-in-Chief of Time magazine (1995-2005)

Gordon CrovitzJ.D. Yale 1986

Publisher of The Wall Street Journal(2006-2007)

Rupert MurdochChairman and CEO of

News Corp. (Fox News) (1991-present)

Mortimer B. ZuckermanLL.B. Harvard 1962

Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News and World Report

(1984-present)

Michael EisnerChairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Co.

(1984-2004)

Judges, Journalists, and Organization Executives:

Stephen G. BreyerLL.B. Harvard 1964Justice of the U.S.

Supreme Court(1994-present)

Ruth Bader GinsburgLL.B. Columbia 1959

Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court(1993-present)

Elena KaganJ.D. Harvard 1986

Justice of U.S. Supreme Court (2010-present); Dean of Harvard Law School (2003-2009)

Lawrence H. SummersPh.D. Harvard 1982

Secretary of the Treasury (1999-2001); President of

Harvard University(2001-2006)

Richard C. LevinPh.D. Yale 1974President of Yale

University (1993-2013)

Thomas L. FriedmanForeign Affairs Columnist of The New York Times

(1995-present)

Charles KrauthammerSyndicated Columnist for

The Washington Post (1984-present)

Robert W. KaganB.A. Yale 1980

Columnist for The Washington Post

Wolf Blitzer

CNN journalistJudith Miller

Former New York Times journalist

Nadine StrossenB.A. Harvard 1972;J.D. Harvard 1975

President of American Civil Liberties Union

(1991-2008)

Judith RodinPresident of The

Rockefeller Foundation (2005-present)

Jessica T. MathewsPresident of Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace

(1997-present)

James S. TischPresident and CEO of Loews Corp. [Newport

cigarettes] (1999-present)

Richard N. HaassPresident of the Council

on Foreign Relations (2003-present)

Donald L. KohnVice Chairman of the

Federal Reserve(2006-2010)

Jacob A. FrenkelGovernor of the Bank of

Israel (1991-2000)

Seymour “Sy” SternbergChairman and CEO of

New York Life Insurance Co. (1997-2008)

Bruce WassersteinChairman and CEO of Lazard Freres [bank]

(2001-2009);Died October 14, 2009

Martin S. IndykU.S. Ambassador to Israel (1995-1997, 2000-2001)

American President Barack Obama (right) meets with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on March 1, 2011. CIA-trained al-Qaida terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed in a pre-dawn raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

“Leave America divided into thirteen or, if you please, into three or four independent governments -- what armies could they raise and pay -- what fleets could they ever hope to have? If one was attacked, would the others fly to its succor, and spend their blood and money in its defense? Would there be no danger of their being flattered into neutrality by its specious promises, or seduced by a too great fondness for peace to decline hazarding their tranquillity and present safety for the sake of neighbors, of whom perhaps they have been jealous, and whose importance they are content to see diminished? Although such conduct would not be wise, it would, nevertheless, be natural. The history of the states of Greece, and of other countries, abounds with such instances, and it is not improbable that what has so often happened would, under similar circumstances, happen again. But admit that they might be willing to help the invaded State or confederacy. How, and when, and in what proportion shall aids of men and money be afforded? Who shall command the allied armies, and from which of them shall he receive his orders? Who shall settle the terms of peace, and in case of disputes what umpire shall decide between them and compel acquiescence? Various difficulties and inconveniences would be inseparable from such a situation; whereas one government, watching over the general and common interests, and combining and directing the powers and resources of the whole, would be free from all these embarrassments, and conduce far more to the safety of the people. But whatever may be our situation, whether firmly united under one national government, or split into a number of confederacies, certain it is, that foreign nations will know and view it exactly as it is; and they will act toward us accordingly. If they see that our national government is efficient and well administered, our trade prudently regulated, our militia properly organized and disciplined, our resources and finances discreetly managed, our credit re-established, our people free, contented, and united, they will be much more disposed to cultivate our friendship than provoke our resentment. If, on the other hand, they find us either destitute of an effectual government (each State doing right or wrong, as to its rulers may seem convenient), or split into three or four independent and probably discordant republics or confederacies, one inclining to Britain, another to France, and a third to Spain, and perhaps played off against each other by the three, what a poor, pitiful figure will America make in their eyes! How liable would she become not only to their contempt but to their outrage, and how soon would dear-bought experience proclaim that when a people or family so divide, it never fails to be against themselves.” – John Jay, Federalist No. 4

Council on Foreign Relations Members &Their Primary Occupation during the Global War on Terrorism

Robert M. GatesU.S. Secretary of Defense (2006-2011); Director of

Central Intelligence Agency (1991-1993)

Condoleezza RiceU.S. Secretary of State (2005-2009); National

Security Advisor(2001-2005)

Dick CheneyVice President of the U.S.

(2001-2009);U.S. Secretary of Defense

(1989-1993)

Paul D. WolfowitzPresident of The World

Bank (2005-2007); Deputy U.S. Secretary of

Defense (2001-2005)

Zalmay KhalilzadU.S. Ambassador to Iraq

(2005-2007);U.S. Ambassador to

Afghanistan (2003-2005)

John D. NegroponteU.S. Rep. to the United Nations (2001-2004);

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2004-2005)

John R. BoltonU.S. Representative to

the United Nations(2005-2006)

Henry M. Paulson Jr.Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs (1999-2006); Secretary of the Treasury (2006-2009)

Douglas J. FeithUnder U.S. Secretary of

Defense for Policy(2001-2005)

Dov S. ZakheimComptroller of the U.S. Department of Defense

(2001-2005)

George J. TenetDirector of Central

Intelligence Agency (1997-2004)

Gen. Michael HaydenDirector of Central

Intelligence Agency (2006-2009)

(Gen.) David H. PetraeusDirector of Central

Intelligence Agency(2011-2012); Commander of U.S. Central Command

(2008-2010)

(Lt. Gen.) Karl EikenberryU.S. Ambassador to

Afghanistan (2009-2011)

Gen. Stanley McChrystalCommander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (2009-2010)

Robert J. StevensChairman and CEO of

Lockheed Martin(2005-2013)

Louis V. Gerstner Jr.Chairman of the Carlyle

Group (2003-2008)

George SorosChairman of Soros Fund

Management (1996-pres.)

Henry R. KravisSenior Partner of

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (1987-present)

Henry A. KissingerFounder and Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc.

(1982-present)

Lloyd C. BlankfeinChairman and CEO of

Goldman Sachs(2006-present)

Jamie DimonChairman and CEO of JP

Morgan Chase(2007-present)

Stanley FischerGovernor of the Bank of Israel [central bank of

Israel] (2005-2013)

Robert B. Zoellick President of The World

Bank (2007-2012)

John P. LipskyFirst Deputy Managing Director of International

Monetary Fund(2006-2011)

John W. WarnerU.S. Senator

(R-Virginia, 1979-2009)

John McCainU.S. Senator

(R-Arizona, 1987-present)

Joe LiebermanU.S. Senator (D-

Connecticut, 1989-2013)

Christopher J. DoddU.S. Senator (D-

Connecticut, 1981-2011)

Jay RockefellerU.S. Senator

(D-West Virginia,1985-present)

Dianne FeinsteinU.S. Senator(D-California,1992-present)

Jack ReedU.S. Senator

(D-Rhode Island,1997-present)

John F. KerryU.S. Secretary of State

(2013-present);U.S. Senator

(D-Mass., 1985-2013)

Timothy F. GeithnerSecretary of the Treasury (2009-2013); President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2003-2009)

Michael BloombergMayor of New York City

(2002-2013)

Gen. John P. AbizaidCommander, U.S. Central

Command (2003-2007)

Gen. Richard B. MyersChairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff(2001-2005)

Gen. Norton A. SchwartzAir Force Chief of Staff

(2008-2012)

Gen. John P. JumperAir Force Chief of Staff

(2001-2005)

Gen. James L. Jones Jr.Supreme Allied

Commander of Europe (2003-2006);

National Security Advisor (2009-2010)

Council on Foreign Relations Members and Their Occupation during the Global War on Terrorism (2001-present)Name CFR Membership (Year) Primary OccupationGovernment Officials:Richard B. “Dick” Cheney 1982-present Vice President of the United States (January 20, 2001-January 20, 2009)Condoleezza Rice 1984-present U.S. Secretary of State (January 26, 2005–January 20, 2009);

National Security Advisor (January 20, 2001–January 26, 2005)Paul D. Wolfowitz 1974-1979, 1981-present President of The World Bank (June 1, 2005–June 30, 2007);

Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense (January 20, 2001–June 1, 2005)Robert B. Zoellick 1991-present President of The World Bank (July 1, 2007–June 30, 2012)

U.S. Trade Representative (January 20, 2001–February 22, 2005);Deputy U.S. Secretary of State (February 22, 2005–July 7, 2006)

Jacob J. Lew 2006-present Secretary of the Treasury (2013-pres.); White House Chief of Staff (2012-13)Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1998-2001, 2010-2012)

Gene B. Sperling 2003-present Director of National Economic Council (1996-2001, 2011-2014);Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury (2009-2011)

Michael B.G. Froman 1996-present Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security and Economic Policy (2009-2013); U.S. Trade Representative (2013-present)

Neal S. Wolin 1993-present Deputy U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (2009-2013)General Counsel of Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (2001-2007)

Lael Brainard 2005-present Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (2010-2013)Susan E. Rice 1992-1997, 1999-present U.S. Representative to the United Nations (January 22, 2009–July 1, 2013);

National Security Advisor (July 1, 2013-present)Thomas E. Donilon 1996-present Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Fannie Mae (1999-2005)

National Security Advisor (October 8, 2010–July 1, 2013)Deputy National Security Advisor (January 20, 2009–October 8, 2010)

Robert M. Gates 1983-present U.S. Secretary of Defense (December 18, 2006–July 1, 2011)President of Texas A&M University (August 1, 2002–December 16, 2006)

Colin L. Powell 1986-present U.S. Secretary of State (January 20, 2001–January 26, 2005)Elaine L. Chao 1983-1988, 1990-present U.S. Secretary of Labor (January 20, 2001–January 20, 2009)Stephen J. Hadley 1976-1981, 1993-present National Security Advisor (January 26, 2005–January 20, 2009)

Deputy National Security Advisor (January 20, 2001–January 26, 2005)Kenneth W. Dam 1982-present Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (2001-2003)Charles O. Rossotti 1989-present Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service (1997-2002)George J. Tenet 1998-present Director of Central Intelligence Agency (July 11, 1997–July 11, 2004)Porter J. Goss 1999-2004 Director of Central Intelligence Agency (2004-2006)

U.S. Congressman (Republican-Florida, 1989-2004)Gen. Michael V. Hayden, USAF 2003-present Director of Central Intelligence Agency (2006-2009)Stephen W. Preston 2002-present General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency (2009-2013)Ashton B. Carter 1984-present Under Sec. of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (2009-2011)

Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense (October 5, 2011–December 3, 2013)Daniel C. Kurtzer 1989-2002, 2006-present U.S. Ambassador to Israel (July 18, 2001-July 17, 2005)L. Paul Bremer III 1990-present U.S. Pro-Consul of Iraq (2003-2004)John D. Negroponte 1981-present U.S. Representative to the United Nations (2001-2004)

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2004-2005); Deputy Secretary of State (2007-2009)John R. Bolton 2000-present Under Sec. of State for Arms Control and Int’l Security Affairs (2001-2005)

U.S. Representative to the United Nations (August 1, 2005–Dec. 9, 2006)Zalmay Khalilzad 1986-present U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (November 28, 2003-June 20, 2005)

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (June 21, 2005-March 31, 2007)U.S. Representative to the United Nations (April 23, 2007–January 20, 2009)

Paula J. Dobriansky 1984-1989, 1994-present Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs (2001-2009)Philip D. Zelikow 1992-present Counselor of the State Department (2005-2006)

Executive Director of the 9/11 CommissionDouglas J. Feith 1981-1986, 1990-present Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (2001-2005)Dov S. Zakheim 1983-present Comptroller of the Department of Defense (2001-2005)Lewis “Scooter” Libby 1985-1990, 1992-present Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the U.S. (2001-2005)Elliott Abrams 1979-present NSC Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs (2002-2005)

Deputy NSC Adviser for Global Democracy Strategy (2005-2009)C. David Welch 1994-present U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (2001-2005)

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (2005-2009)William J. Burns 1994-present Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (2001-2005)

U.S. Ambassador to Russia (2005-2008)Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2008-2011)Deputy U.S. Secretary of State (2011-present)

Ivo H. Daalder 1999-present U.S. Representative to NATO (2009-2013)(Lt. Gen.) Douglas E. Lute 2011-present U.S. Representative to NATO (2013-present)R. Nicholas Burns 1995-present U.S. Ambassador to Greece (1997-2001); U.S. Representative to NATO

(2001-2005); Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2005-2008)Ryan C. Crocker 2010-present U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (November 25, 2004–March 28, 2007)

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (March 26, 2007–February 13, 2009)U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (July 25, 2011–July 13, 2012)

Tatiana C. Gfoeller 1996-present U.S. Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2004-2008)U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan (October 14, 2008-March 8, 2011)

James B. Cunningham 2001-present U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong (2005-2008)U.S. Ambassador to Israel (June 30, 2008–June 2011)U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (August 2, 2012-present)

Cameron R. Hume 1999-present U.S. Ambassador to South Africa (2001-2004)U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia (2007-2010)

Carlos E. Pascual 2001-present U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2000-2003); U.S. Amb. to Mexico (2009-2011)Nancy Jo Powell 2010-present U.S. Ambassador to Ghana (September 14, 2001-May 26, 2002)

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (August 16, 2002–November 5, 2004)U.S. Ambassador to Nepal (August 9, 2007-July 9, 2009)Director General of the United States Foreign Service (2009-2012)U.S. Ambassador to India (April 24, 2012-present)

Clark T. Randt Jr. 2003-present U.S. Ambassador to Communist China (2001-2009)Michael McFaul 2001-present U.S. Ambassador to Russia (January 10, 2012-2014)James G. Roche 1992-present Secretary of the Air Force (June 1, 2001-January 20, 2005)Jeh Charles Johnson 2001-present U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (December 23, 2013-present)

General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense (2009-2012)Partner of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison [law firm] (1994-1998, 2001-2009, 2013)

Richard N. Perle 1978-2003 Chairman of the Defense Policy Board (2001-2003)Marc A. Thiessen 1997-present Chief Speechwriter for the Secretary of Defense (2001-2004);

Chief Speechwriter for the President of the United States (2004-2009)Robert G. Torricelli 1994-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-New Jersey, 1997-2003)Bob Graham 1981-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-Florida, 1987-2005)John W. Warner 1999-present U.S. Senator (Republican-Virginia, 1979-2009)Chuck Hagel 1999-present U.S. Senator (R-Nebraska, 1997-2009);

U.S. Secretary of Defense (2013-present)Christopher J. Dodd 1985-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-Connecticut, 1981-2011)Evan Bayh 2004-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-Indiana, 1999-2011)John D. Rockefeller IV 1978-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-West Virginia, 1985-present)Olympia J. Snowe 1991-present U.S. Senator (Republican-Maine, 1995-2013)Joseph Lieberman 1991-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-Connecticut, 1989-2013)John F. Kerry 1992-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-Mass., 1985-2013);

U.S. Secretary of State (2013-present)John S. McCain III 1997-present U.S. Senator (Republican-Arizona, 1987-present)Jack Reed 2001-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-Rhode Island, 1997-present)Dianne Feinstein 2003-present U.S. Senator (Democrat-California, 1992-present)Charles E. Schumer 1995-2004 U.S. Senator (Democrat-New York, 1999-present)Amory Houghton Jr. 1970-present U.S. Congressman (Republican-New York, 1987-2005)Robert T. Matsui 1988-2004 U.S. Congressman (Democrat-California, 1979-2005)Thomas E. Petri 1989-present U.S. Congressman (Republican-Wisconsin, 1979-present)John M. Spratt Jr. 1990-present U.S. Congressman (Democrat-South Carolina, 1983-2011)Richard A. “Dick” Gephardt 1990-present U.S. Congressman (Democrat-Missouri, 1977-2005)Howard L. Berman 1991-present U.S. Congressman (Democrat-California, 1983-2013)Donald M. Payne 1992-2005 U.S. Congressman (Democrat-New Jersey, 1989-2012)Jim Leach 1994-present U.S. Congressman (Republican-Iowa, 1977-2007)Charles B. Rangel 1995-2003 U.S. Congressman (Democrat-New York, 1971-present)Douglas K. Bereuter 1995-present U.S. Congressman (Republican-Nebraska, 1979-2004)Norman D. Dicks 1995-present U.S. Congressman (Democrat-Washington, 1977-2013)Jim McDermott 1995-present U.S. Congressman (Democrat-Washington, 1989-present)Jane Harman 1995-present U.S. Congressman (Democrat-California, 1993-1999, 2001-2011)James H.S. Cooper 1995-present U.S. Congressman (Democrat-Tennessee, 1983-1995, 2003-present)Barney Frank 1996-2003 U.S. Congressman (Democrat-Massachusetts, 1981-2013)Ed Pastor 1996-2005 U.S. Congressman (Democrat-Arizona, 1991-present)Sanford D. Bishop Jr. 1996-2007 U.S. Congressman (Democrat-Georgia, 1993-present)James T. “Jim” Kolbe 1996-present U.S. Congressman (Republican-Arizona, 1985-2007)Katherine Harris 2001-2010 U.S. Congressman (Republican-Florida, 2003-2007)Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1973-present Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1993-present)Stephen G. Breyer 1983-present Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1994-present)Christine Todd Whitman 1995-present Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency (2001-2003)Alan D. Bersin 1999-present Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (2010-2011)Margaret Ann Hamburg 1986-1991, 1993-pres. Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration (2009-present)Karen Gordon Mills 1995-present Administrator of U.S. Small Business Administration (2009-2013)Aaron S. Williams 1994-present Director of Peace Corps (2009-2012)Mona Sutphen 1998-present White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy (2009-2011)Janet A. Napolitano 2006-present U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (January 21, 2009-September 6, 2013)

Governor of Arizona (January 6, 2003–January 21, 2009)Jane Holl Lute 2000-present Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (2009-2013)

William B. “Bill” Richardson 1985-present Governor of New Mexico (2003-2011)Haley Barbour 2010-present Governor of Mississippi (2004-2012)Michael R. Bloomberg 1999-present Mayor of New York City (January 1, 2002- December 31, 2013)William H. White 2000-present Mayor of Houston (2004-2010)Thurbert E. Baker 2001-present Attorney General of Georgia (1997-2011)Daniel S. Sullivan 2009-present Attorney General of Alaska (2009-2010)Military Officers:Gen. David H. Petraeus 1986-1991, 1998-present Commanding General, 101st Airborne Division (2002-2004)

Commander, Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq (2004-2007)Commander, Multinational Forces Iraq (2007-2008)Commander of U.S. Central Command (October 31, 2008–June 30, 2010)Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (June 23, 2010–July 18, 2011)Director of Central Intelligence Agency (Sept. 6, 2011–November 9, 2012)

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal 2001-present Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg (2001-2002)Vice Director for Operations, J3, The Joint Staff (2002-2003)Commander, Joint Special Operations Command (2003-2008)Director of The Joint Staff (2008-2009)Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (2009-2010)

Gen. Henry H. Shelton 1998-2002 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (October 1, 1997-September 30, 2001)Gen. Richard B. Myers, USAF 2002-present Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (October 1, 2001- September 30, 2005)Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart, USAF 1995-present Commander, NORAD (2000-2004)

Commander, U.S. Space Command (2000-2002)Commander, U.S. Northern Command (2002-2004)

Gen. John P. Abizaid, Army 1985-1990, 2004-present Commander of U.S. Central Command (2003-2007)Gen. Burwell B. Bell III 1996-present Commander, U.S. Army Europe (2002-2005)

Commander, U.S. Forces Korea (2006-2008)Gen. John P. Jumper 1995-present Air Force Chief of Staff (2001-2005)Gen. T. Michael Moseley 2001-present Air Force Chief of Staff (2005-2008)Gen. Norton A. Schwartz 1986-1991, 2002-present Commander, U.S. Transportation Command (2005-2008)

Air Force Chief of Staff (2008-2012)Gen. Eric K. Shinseki 2000-present Army Chief of Staff (June 21, 1999-June 11, 2003)

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (January 21, 2009-present)Gen. James T. Hill, Army 1997-present Commander, U.S. Southern Command (2002-2004)Adm. Vernon E. Clark 2002-2005 Chief of Naval Operations (2000-2005)Gen. James L. Jones Jr., Marines

2000, 2003-2005, 2011-present

Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps (July 1, 1999-January 12, 2003)Supreme Allied Commander of Europe (January 17, 2003–Dec. 7, 2006)National Security Advisor (January 20, 2009 – October 8, 2010)

Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz 1999-present Vice Commander, Air Force Space Command (2005-2007)Air Force Assistant Vice Chief of Staff (2007-2009)Commander of Air Force Global Strike Command (2009-2011)

Gen. Robert H. Foglesong 2001-present Air Force Vice Chief of Staff (2001-2003)Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe (2003-2006)

Adm. James G. Stavridis 1984-1989, 2005-present Commander, U.S. Southern Command (2006-2009)Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, SHAPE (2009-2013)

Adm. Patrick M. Walsh 2009-present Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet (2009-2012)Adm. Timothy J. Keating 2009-present Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command (2004-2007)Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr. 2009-present Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command (2007-2010)Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry 1998-present Commander, Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan (2005-2007)

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (April 29, 2009-July 25, 2011)Lt. Gen. Michael A. Hamel 2003-present Commander, 14th Air Force and Air Force Space Command (2002-2005)Lt. Gen. John R. Baker 1996-present Vice Commander, Air Mobility Command (2002-2005)Maj. Gen. David M. Mize 1995-present Commanding General, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (2001-2003)Maj. Gen. Christopher Cortez 2004-present Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruiting Command (2003-2004)Gen. William E. Ward, Army 2010-present Commander, U.S. Africa Command (2007-2011)Vice Adm. Ann E. Rondeau 1996-present President of National Defense University (2009-2012)Lt. Gen. William J. Lennox Jr. 2001-present Superintendent of U.S. Military Academy (2001-2006)Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler 2003-present Superintendent of U.S. Naval Academy (2007-2010)Businessmen:Maurice R. Greenberg 1977-present Chairman and CEO of American International Group [insurance] (1989-2005)Seymour “Sy” Sternberg 2003-present Chairman and CEO of New York Life Insurance Co. (1997-2008)Robert H. Benmosche 2001-2008 Chairman and CEO of MetLife Inc. [Metropolitan Life] (1998-2006)Anne M. Mulcahy 2002-present Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corp. (2002-2010)Philip M. Condit 2002-present Chairman and CEO of Boeing Co. (1996-2003)Vance Coffman 2001-2004 Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp. (1998-2005)Robert J. Stevens 2004-present Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp. (2005-2013)(Adm.) Jay L. Johnson 1997-present Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics Corp. (2010-2012)Lee R. Raymond 1988-present Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil [oil company] (1999-2006)David J. O'Reilly 2008-present Chairman and CEO of ChevronTexaco [oil company] (2000-2009)John B. Hess 1984-present Chairman and CEO of Hess Corporation [oil company] (1995-present)

Global War on Terrorism (2001-present):Bankers:James D. Wolfensohn 1981-present President of The World Bank (1995-2005)John P. Lipsky 1995-present First Deputy Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (2006-2011)Stanley Fischer 1994-present Governor of the Bank of Israel (2005-2013)

Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve (2014-present) [designated]Alan Greenspan 1978-present Chairman of the Federal Reserve (1987-2006)Janet L. Yellen 1976-1981, 2006-present President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (2004-2010)

Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve (2010-2014)Chairman of the Federal Reserve (2014-present)

Roger W. Ferguson Jr. 2004-present Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve (1999-2006)President and CEO of TIAA-CREF (2008-present)Chairman of the Economic Club of New York (2012-present)

William J. McDonough 1975-present President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (1993-2003)Timothy F. Geithner 1996-present President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2003-2009)

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (2009-2013)William C. Dudley 2011-present President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2009-present)Michael H. Moskow 1996-present President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (1994-2007)Richard W. Fisher 1976-present President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (2005-present)Dennis P. Lockhart 2008-present President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (2007-present)Richard S. Fuld Jr. 1996-2009 Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers (1994-2008)Charles O. Prince III 2000-present Chairman (2006-2007) and CEO (2004-2007) of CitigroupE. Stanley O’Neal 2004-present Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co. (2003-2007)William B. Harrison Jr. 2000-present Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase (2001-2006)James “Jamie” Dimon 2000-present Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase (2007-present)Henry M. Paulson Jr. 2001-present Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs (1999-2006)

Secretary of the Treasury (2006-2009)Bruce Wasserstein 1983-2009 Chairman and CEO of Lazard Freres (2001-2009)Kenneth M. Jacobs 2010-present Chairman and CEO of Lazard Freres (2009-present)Kenneth Chenault 1989-present Chairman and CEO of American Express Co. (2001-present)Alexander T. Ercklentz 1988-present Partner of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (1978-present)Stephen A. Schwarzman 1992-present Chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group (1985-present)Frank C. Carlucci 1976-present Chairman of The Carlyle Group (1993-2003)Louis V. Gerstner Jr. 1982-present Chairman of The Carlyle Group (2003-2008)

Chairman and CEO of International Business Machines Corp. (1993-2002)Franklin D. Raines 1989-present Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae (1999-2004)Arthur F. Ryan 1994-2011 Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial [Prudential Life Ins.] (1994-2008)Lawyers:Benjamin W. Heineman Jr. 1990-present General Counsel of General Electric Co. (1987-2004)Louise M. Parent 2000-present General Counsel of American Express Co. (1993-present)Ernest T. Patrikis 1993-present General Counsel of American International Group (AIG) (1999-2006)Sheila C. Cheston 2002-present General Counsel of Northrop Grumman Corporation (2010-present)James A. Baker III 1998-present Senior Partner of Baker Botts [Houston] (1993-present)James H. Carter 1998-present Partner of Sullivan & Cromwell [New York City] (1977-present)Richard A. Drucker 1999-present Partner of Davis, Polk & Wardwell [New York City] (1988-present)Mel M. Immergut 1999-present Partner of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy [New York City] (1980-present)William T. Coleman Jr. 1972-present Senior Partner of O’Melveny & Myers (1977-present)Warren M. Christopher 1973-2010 Senior Partner of O’Melveny & Myers (1997-2011)Charlene Barshefsky 1999-present Partner of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale & Dorr (2001-present)Jamie S. Gorelick 1997-present Partner of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale & Dorr (2003-present);

Member of 9/11 CommissionVernon E. Jordan Jr. 1978-present Senior Counsel of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld (2000-present);

Senior Managing Director of Lazard Freres (2000-present)Organization Executives:Edgar M. Bronfman Sr. 1976-2013 President of World Jewish Congress (1981-2007)Ronald S. Lauder 1998-present President of World Jewish Congress (2007-present)Abraham H. Foxman 2006-present National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) (1987-present)David Rockefeller 1942-present Honorary Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (1985-present)Peter G. Peterson 1971-present Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (1985-2007)Carla A. Hills 1993-present Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (2007-present)Robert E. Rubin 1994-present Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (2007-present)Richard N. Haass 1980-1985, 1994-present President of the Council on Foreign Relations (2003-present)

Director of State Department Policy Planning Staff (2001-2003)William H. “Bill” Donaldson 1974-present Chairman of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1999-2003)

Chairman of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2003-2005)Jessica Tuchman Mathews 1978-1980, 1983-present President of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1997-present)Judith Rodin 2006-present President of The Rockefeller Foundation (2005-present)Susan V. Berresford 1989-present President of Ford Foundation (1996-2008)William G. Bowen 1987-2007 President of Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (1988-2006)

Ralph E. Gomory 1987-present President of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1989-2007)Robert I. Rotberg 1975-present President of World Peace Foundation (1993-2010)Walter S. Isaacson 1979-1984, 1987-pres. President of Aspen Institute (2003-present)Jonathan F. Fanton 1990-present President of John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (1999-2009);

Chairman of the board of Human Rights Watch (1998-2003)Vartan Gregorian 1984-present President of Carnegie Corporation of New York (1997-present)James A. Thomson 1988-present President of RAND Corporation (1989-2011)Strobe Talbott 1975-present President of The Brookings Institution (2002-present)Nadine Strossen 1994-present President of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (1991-2008)Henry Kissinger 1956-2009 Designated Chairman of 9/11 Commission [declined nomination]Thomas H. Kean 1991-present Chairman of 9/11 Commission; Governor of New Jersey (1982-1990)Lee H. Hamilton 1995-present Vice Chairman of 9/11 Commission; U.S. Congressman (1965-1999)J. Robert “Bob” Kerrey 2000-present Member of 9/11 Commission; U.S. Senator (1989-2001)John F. Lehman Jr. 1991-present Member of 9/11 Commission; Secretary of the Navy (1981-1987)Journalists:Rupert Murdoch 1994-present Chairman and CEO of News Corp. (Fox News) (1991-present)Eric Schmidt 2008-present Chairman and CEO of Google Inc. (2001-present)Howard Stringer 2001-present Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation (2005-2012)Gerald M. Levin 1994-2007 Chairman and CEO of Time Warner, Inc. (1993-2002)Richard D. Parsons 1990-present Chairman and CEO of Time Warner, Inc. (2003-2008)

Chairman of the board of Citigroup (2009-2012)Jeffrey L. Bewkes 1996-present President (2006-2007) and Chairman & CEO (2009-present) of Time WarnerPeter R. Kann 1985-present Chairman of Dow Jones & Co. (1991-2007)Karen Elliott House 1978-present Publisher of The Wall Street Journal (2002-2005)Norman Pearlstine 1984-present Editor-in-Chief of Time magazine (1995-2005)John W. Huey Jr. 2003-present Editor-in-Chief of Time magazine (2006-2012)Mortimer B. Zuckerman 1988-present Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News and World Report (1984-present)Fred Hiatt 1997-present Editorial Page Editor of The Washington Post (2000-present)Andrew M. Rosenthal 2007-present Editorial Page Editor of The New York Times (2007-present);Dan Rather 1980-present Anchor of CBS Evening News (1981-2005)Tom Brokaw 1988-present Anchor of NBC Nightly News (1982-2004)Diane Sawyer 1981-present Anchor of ABC World News Tonight (2010-present)Brian D. Williams 2003-present Anchor of NBC Nightly News (2004-present)Katie Couric 2004-present Anchor of CBS Evening News (2006-2011)Andrea Mitchell 2004-present Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC (1994-present)Fareed Zakaria 2002-present Editor of Newsweek International (2000-present)Lesley R. Stahl 2002-present CBS News 60 Minutes correspondent (1991-present)Judith Miller 1976-present New York Times journalist; imprisoned during Valerie Plame episodeThomas L. Friedman 1985-present Foreign Affairs Columnist of The New York Times (1995-present)Jim Hoagland 1979-present Associate Editor & Chief Foreign Correspondent, Washington Post (1986-pr.)Robert G. Kaiser 1979-present Associate Editor and Senior Correspondent, Washington Post (1998-present)Charles Krauthammer 1990-present Syndicated Columnist for The Washington Post (1984-present)Robert W. Kagan 1985-1990, 1996-present Columnist for The Washington PostJim Lehrer 1980-present Anchor of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS (1995-present)Morton Kondrake 1988-present Fox News analystKitty Pilgrim 2000-present CNN journalistCollege Professors:Richard C. Levin 2012-present President of Yale University (1993-2013)Lee C. Bollinger 2003-present President of Columbia University (2002-present)Ruth J. Simmons 1997-present President of Brown University (2001-2012)John J. DeGioia 2003-present President of Georgetown University (2001-present)David J. Skorton 2006-present President of Cornell University (2006-present)Susan Hockfield 2008-present President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2004-2012)Donna E. Shalala 1982-present President of University of Miami [Florida] (2001-present)David L. Boren 1989-present President of University of Oklahoma (1994-present)David W. Leebron 1996-present President of Rice University (2004-present)Jehuda Reinharz 1999-present President of Brandeis University (1994-2010)Stephen J. Trachtenberg 1990-present President of George Washington University (1988-2007)John Edward Sexton 2003-present President of New York University (2002-present)Richard W. Lariviere 2006-present President of University of Oregon (2009-2011)Mark A. Emmert 2008-present President of University of Washington [Seattle] (2004-2010)Michael M. Crow 2005-present President of Arizona State University (2002-present)Erskine B. Bowles 1999-present President of University of North Carolina (2005-2010)Stephen W. Bosworth 1988-present Dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (2001-2013)Jessica P. Einhorn 1973-present Dean, School of Advanced Int’l Studies at Johns Hopkins Univ. (2002-2012)John H. Coatsworth 2000-present Dean, School of International & Public Affairs at Columbia Univ. (2007-pres.)Carol J. Lancaster 1986-present Dean, School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (2009-present)R. Glenn Hubbard 2007-present Dean of Columbia Business School (2004-present)Note: Arab terrorist Osama bin Laden was allegedly killed in a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011.

Chief of Protocol Nancy Brinker, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Elliott Abrams, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democratic Strategy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs stand in the background as U.S. President George W. Bush (R) meets with Saad Hariri, leader of the Lebanese Parliament, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on October 4, 2007. Hariri, the son of the slain former Prime minister of Lebanon, is in Washington for talks about the future of Lebanon. Everyone except for Nancy Brinker is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.(Getty Images)

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad (right) greets Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz at the Pentagon on December 14, 2004. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates (left) and Senator John McCain (center) listen to Senator Joseph Lieberman during the 43rd Annual Conference on Security Policy in Munich, Germany on February 10, 2007. All three men are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Army Gen. David Petraeus, Commander of Multinational Force Iraq, talks to Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates as they fly in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to Fallujah, Iraq on April 19, 2007. Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) speaks with U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke (C) and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry during a meeting at a presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 25, 2009. Richard Holbrooke and Karl Eikenberry are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Reuters)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, left, speaks with U.S. Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, center, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, and U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, right, during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Bratislava, Slovakia on October 23, 2009. Gates, Stavridis, and McChrystal are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (U.S. Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison)

U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus (right), Commander of U.S. Central Command, testifies while flanked by Karl Eikenberry (L), U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, and Jacob Lew (C), Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on December 9, 2009. The committee is hearing testimony on the new Afghanistan strategy since President Obama has committed to sending more troops to the region. All three men are members of the Council on Foreign Relations.(Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (C) appears with U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry (L) Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal (R) during a meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 8, 2010. All three men are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Getty Images)

U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy (L) delivers opening remarks as U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Central Command, looks on during a hearing conducted by the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on June 15, 2010. The committee is receiving an update on the current situation in Afghanistan. Flournoy and Petraeus are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Getty Images)

U.S Army Gen. David Petraeus (R), Commander of U.S. Central Command, speaks with U.S. Senator John McCain (left, R-Arizona) and U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (center, I-Connecticut) before a hearing conducted by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on June 16, 2010. The committee is receiving an update on the current situation in Afghanistan. All three men are members of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Getty Images)

“No political truth is certainly of greater intrinsic value, or is stamped with the authority of more enlightened patrons of liberty, than that on which the objection is founded. The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 47

American Rhodes Scholars & Their Occupation during the Global War on Terrorism

Alan D. BersinCommissioner of

Customs and Border Protection (2010-2011)

Ashton B. CarterDeputy U.S. Secretary of

Defense (2011-2013)

Susan E. RiceU.S. Representative to

the United Nations(2009-2013);

National Security Advisor (2013-present)

Michael McFaulU.S. Ambassador to Russia (2012-2014)

Adm. Dennis C. BlairDirector of National

Intelligence (2009-2010)

Gen. Wesley K. ClarkSupreme Allied

Commander of Europe, NATO (1997-2000)

R. James WoolseyDirector of Central

Intelligence Agency (1993-1995)

William J. “Bill” ClintonPresident of the United

States (1993-2001)

Walter B. SlocombeUnder Secretary of Defense for Policy

(1994-2001)

Richard J. DanzigSecretary of the Navy

(1998-2001)

James H. S. CooperU.S. Congressman

(D-Tennessee, 1983-1995, 2003-present)

Heather A. WilsonU.S. Congresswoman (R-New Mexico, 1998-2009)

Richard G. LugarU.S. Senator

(R-Indiana, 1977-2013)

Russ FeingoldU.S. Senator

(D-Wisconsin, 1993-2011)

David VitterU.S. Senator (R-

Louisiana, 2005-present)

Strobe TalbottPresident of The

Brookings Institution (2002-present)

Walter IsaacsonPresident of Aspen

Institute [of Humanistic Studies] (2003-present)

Richard N. HaassPresident of the Council

on Foreign Relations (2003-present)

David L. BorenPresident of University of Oklahoma (1994-present)

Christopher EisgruberPresident of Princeton

University (2013-present);Provost of Princeton

University (2004-2013)

Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson

Superintendent of U.S. Air Force Academy(2013-present)

Lt. Gen. Christopher D. Miller

Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans

and Programs(2009-2013)

Lt. Gen. Frank G. KlotzCommander of Air Force Global Strike Command

(2009-2011)

Robert D. McCallum Jr.U.S. Ambassador to

Australia (2006-2009)

Glenn A. FineInspector General of the

U.S. Department of Justice (2000-2011)

Boisfeuillet Jones Jr.Publisher and CEO of The

Washington Post(2000-2008)

L. Gordon CrovitzPublisher of The Wall

Street Journal(2006-present)

Nicholas D. KristofColumnist for The New

York Times

Michael R. GordonChief Military

Correspondent of The New York Times

Robert I. RotbergPresident of World Peace

Foundation(1993-2010)

Left photo: President Bill Clinton presents an award to retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark at the White House.

Several major terrorist attacks occurred while Bill Clinton served as the President of the United States.

Terrorist incidents include:World Trade Center bombing in 1993Waco, Texas massacre in 1993Oklahoma City bombing in 1995U.S. Embassy bombing in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998American bombing of Baghdad, Iraq in December 1998Kosovo War in 1999Elian Gonzalez kidnapping raid in Miami, Florida in 2000USS Cole attack in Yemen in 2000

American Rhodes Scholars and Their Occupation during the Global War on TerrorismObama AdministrationMichael S. Barr (RS 1987) Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions (2009-2010)Alan D. Bersin (RS 1968) Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for International Affairs (2009-2011)

Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (2010-2011)(Adm.) Dennis C. Blair (RS 1968) Director of National Intelligence (2009-2010)David L. Boren (RS 1963) Co-Chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (2009-present)Brad Carson (RS 1989) General Counsel of the U.S. Department of the Army (2011-present)Ashton B. Carter (RS 1976) Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (2009-2011);

Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense (2011-2013)Jared Cohen (RS 2004) Member of the State Department Policy Planning Staff (2006-2010)Nancy-Ann Min DeParle (RS 1979) Director of White House Office of Health Reform (2009-2011)

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy (2011-present)Lt. Gen. David S. Fadok (RS 1982) Director for Policy and Strategy, U.S. Southern Command (2008-2010)

Commander, Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education and Vice Commander of Air University (2010-2011)Commander and President, Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama (2011-present)

Tali Farimah Farhadian (RS 1997) lawyer in the Office of the U.S. Attorney General (2009-2010); one of the seven anonymous Justice Department lawyers who represented Guantanamo terrorist suspects

Glenn A. Fine (RS 1979) Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice (2000-2011)Michelle D. Gavin (RS 1996) National Security Council Senior Director for African Affairs (2009-2011)

U.S. Ambassador to Botswana (2011-present)Col. Steven B. Harrison (RS 1988) Commander of 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland (2009-2010)Maj. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson (RS 1981) Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Intelligence, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers

Europe, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (SHAPE, NATO) (2011-present)Director of Strategy, Policy, Programs & Logistics, U.S. Transportation Command (2009-2011)

Maurice A. Jones (RS 1986) Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2012-present)Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz (RS 1973) Commander of Air Force Global Strike Command (2009-2011)Brig. Gen. Mark Martins (RS 1983)Michael McFaul (RS 1986) National Security Council Senior Director for Russian Affairs (2009-2011);

U.S. Ambassador to Russia (2012-2014)Lt. Gen. Christopher D. Miller (RS 1980) Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Programs (2009-2013)Susan E. Rice (RS 1986) U.S. Representative to the United Nations (2009-2013); National Security Advisor (2013-pres.)Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall (RS 1981) National Security Council Senior Director for European Affairs (2009-present)Jacob “Jake” Sullivan (RS 1998) Director of the State Department Policy Planning Staff (2011-present)

Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy to the U.S. Secretary of State (2009-2011)Col. John K. Tien, Jr. (RS 1987) Senior Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan at The White House (2008-present)

George W. Bush Administration(Adm.) Charles S. Abbot (RS 1967) Deputy Director of the Office of Homeland Security (2002)Adm. Dennis C. Blair (RS 1968) Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Pacific Command (1999-2002)Clark Kent Ervin (RS 1980) Inspector General of Homeland Security Department (2003-2004)

Inspector General of State Department (2001-2003)Brig. Gen. David S. Fadok (RS 1982) Director for Policy and Strategy, U.S. Southern Command (2008-2010);

Commandant of College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education at Air University (2004-2006); Inspector General of Pacific Air Forces (2002-2004)

Glenn A. Fine (RS 1979) Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice (2000-2011)Mark Foulon (RS 1978) Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security (2003-2008)Mark Gorenflo (RS 1983) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Policy (2008-2009)Richard N. Haass (RS 1973) State Department Policy Planning Director (2001-2003)Col. Steven B. Harrison (RS 1988) Commander of 436th Airlift Wing at Dover Air Force Base (2007-2009)P. Robert “Bobby” Jindal (RS 1992) Asst. Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation (2001-2004)Brig. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson (RS 1981) Commander, 22nd Air Refueling Wing (2002-2004)

Director of Public Affairs, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force (2005-2007)Richard Klingler (RS 1983) General Counsel and Legal Adviser on the National Security Council staff (2006-2007)Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz (RS 1973) Air Force Assistant Vice Chief of Staff (2007-2009)Col. Mark Martins (RS 1983) Staff Judge Advocate to Commanding General of 1st Armored Division (2001-2003)Robert D. McCallum Jr. (RS 1968) Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Civil Division (2001-2003)

Associate U.S. Attorney General (2003-2006); U.S. Ambassador to Australia (2006-2009)Maj. Gen. Christopher D. Miller (RS 1980) Commander, 509th Bomb Wing (2005-2006); Commander, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing

(2006-2007); NORAD Director of Plans, Policy and Strategy (2007-2009)Capt. Stuart B. Munsch, Navy (RS 1985) Commander, USS AlbuquerqueLt. Col. John A. Nagl, Army (RS 1988) Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense (c. 2007-2008)

Commander of the 1st Battalion, 34th Armor at Fort Riley, Kansas (2008)Stewart M. Patrick (RS 1988) Member, State Department Policy Planning Staff (2002-2005)Ronald J. Tenpas (RS 1985) U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois (2003-2005)

Associate Deputy U.S. Attorney General (2005-2007)Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources (2007-2009)

Col. John K. Tien, Jr. (RS 1987) Commander of 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, First Armored Division (2004-2007)

Clinton AdministrationAdm. Charles S. Abbot (RS 1967) Deputy Commander of U.S. European Command (1998-2000)

Commander of U.S. Sixth Fleet (1996-1998)Michael S. Barr (RS 1987) Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Community Development Policy (1997-2001)Adm. Dennis C. Blair (RS 1968) Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Pacific Command (1999-2002)Ashton B. Carter (RS 1976) Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy (1993-1996)Richard F. Celeste (RS 1960) U.S. Ambassador to India (1997-2001)Gen. Wesley K. Clark (RS 1966) Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, NATO (1997-2000)

Commander, U.S. Southern Command (1996-1997)Director for Strategic Plans and Policy, J5, the Joint Staff (1994-1996)Commanding General, U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Division [Fort Hood, Texas] (1992-1994)

Bill Clinton (RS 1968) President of the United States (1993-2001)Paul E. Coggins (RS 1973) U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas (1993-2001)W. Bowman Cutter (RS 1964) Deputy Director of the National Economic Council (1993-1996)Richard J. Danzig (RS 1965) Secretary of the Navy (1998-2001); Under Secretary of the Navy (1993-1997)John S. Davison (RS 1955) U.S. Ambassador to Niger (1993-1996)Douglas S. Eakeley (RS 1968) Chairman of Legal Services Corporation (1993-2003)Col. David S. Fadok (RS 1982) Commander, 89th Operations Group, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland (2000-2001)Richard N. Gardner (RS 1951) U.S. Ambassador to Spain (1993-1997)Lt. Gen. Howard D. Graves (RS 1961) Superintendent of U.S. Military Academy (1991-1996)Brian C. Griffin (RS 1974) Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States (1992-1997)William A. Halter (RS 1984) Deputy Commissioner of Social Security Administration (1999-2001)Lt. Gen. Bradley C. Hosmer (RS 1959) Superintendent of U.S. Air Force Academy (1991-1994)Col. Michelle D. Johnson (RS 1981) Commander of 97th Operations Group at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma (2000-2002)Brig. Gen. Frank G. Klotz (RS 1973) Defense Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia (1999-2001)John A. Knubel (RS 1963) Chief Financial Officer of Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (1995-1997)Marvin Krislov (RS 1983) Deputy Solicitor of Labor for National Operations (1996-1998)Ira C. Magaziner (RS 1969) Senior Adviser to the President for Policy Development (1993-1999)Robert Malley (RS 1984) Special Assistant to the President for Arab-Israeli Affairs (1998-2001)Scott M. Matheson Jr. (RS 1975) U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah (1993-1997)Sylvia M. Mathews [Burwell] (RS 1987) Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff (1997-1998)

Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget (1999-2001)Charles Thomas McMillen (RS 1974) Co-Chairman of the President’s Commission on Physical Fitness (1993-1998)Col. Christopher D. Miller (RS 1980) Policy Adviser on Defense Planning to the U.S. Representative to NATO (1997-2000)Nancy-Ann Min DeParle (RS 1979) Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget (1993-1997)

Administrator, Health Care Financing Administration (1997-2000)Matthew Nimetz (RS 1960) EnvoyJoseph S. Nye Jr. (RS 1958) Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1994-1995)Stephen A. Oxman (RS 1967) Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs (1993-1994)Robert B. Pirie Jr. (RS 1956) Under Secretary of the Navy (2000-2001)

Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment (1994-2000)Franklin D. Raines (RS 1971) Director of Office of Management and Budget (1996-1998)Bruce N. Reed (RS 1982) Assistant to the President and Director of Domestic Policy Council (1997-2001)Robert B. Reich (RS 1968) U.S. Secretary of Labor (1993-1997)Susan E. Rice (RS 1986) Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (1997-2001)

National Security Council Senior Director for African Affairs (1995-1997)John B. Ritch III (RS 1965) U.S. Representative to the United Nations Office in Vienna (1993-2001)Sarah Sewall (RS 1984) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance

(1993-1996)Patrick A. Shea (RS 1970) Director of Bureau of Land Management (1997-1999)Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall (RS 1981) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia (1994-1996)Walter B. Slocombe (RS 1963) Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (1994-2001)George Stephanopoulos (RS 1984) White House Adviser on Policy and Strategy (1993-1995)Strobe Talbott (RS 1968) Deputy Secretary of State (1994-2001)Kevin L. Thurm (RS 1984) Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (1996-2001)Thomas S. Williamson Jr. (RS 1968) Solicitor of the Department of Labor (1993-1996)R. James Woolsey (RS 1963) Director of Central Intelligence Agency (1993-1995)

The Bilderberg Group & Their Occupation during the Global War on Terrorism

Henry R. KravisFounding Partner of

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. [New York City]

James D. WolfensohnPresident of the World

Bank (1995-2005)

David RockefellerChairman and CEO of

Chase Manhattan Bank (1969-1981)

Beatrix, Queen of The Netherlands(1980-2013)

Sofia, Queen of Spain(1975-present)

Marie-Josee KravisSenior Fellow of Hudson

Institute, Inc.

Henry A. KissingerFounder and Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc.

(1982-present)

Vernon E. Jordan Jr.Senior Managing Director

of Lazard Freres(2000-present)

James A. JohnsonChairman and CEO of

Fannie Mae (1991-1998)

Jessica T. MathewsPresident of Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace

(1997-present)

Paul D. WolfowitzPresident of The World

Bank (2005-2007); Deputy U.S. Secretary of

Defense (2001-2005)

Richard N. PerleChairman of the Defense Policy Board (2001-2003)

Robert B. ZoellickPresident of The World

Bank (2007-2012);U.S. Trade

Representative(2001-2005)

Thomas E. DonilonNational Security Advisor

(2010-2013); General Counsel of Fannie Mae

(1999-2005)

Richard C. HolbrookeSpecial Representative

for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2009-2010);

U.S. Representatives to the United Nations

(1999-2001)

Mario MontiPrime Minister of Italy (2011-2013); European Commissioner for Competition (1999-2004)

Carl BildtForeign Minister of

Sweden (2006-present)

Jean-Claude Trichet[France]

President of European Central Bank (2003-2011)Governor of Banque de France (1993-2003)

Jaap de Hoop SchefferSecretary-General of NATO (2004-2009)

Pascal LamyDirector-General of the

World Trade Organization (2005-present)

Peter D. Sutherland[Ireland]

Chairman of British Petroleum (1997-2009)

Marcus Agius[Great Britain]

Chairman of Barclays Bank plc (2007-2012)

J. Martin Taylor[Great Britain]

Chief Executive of Barclays plc (1993-1998);

Chairman of Syngenta International AG

(2005-2013)

Josef Ackermann[Germany/Switzerland]

Chairman of the Management Board, Deutsche Bank AG

(2002-2012)

Rudolf Scholten[Austria]

Member of the Board of Executive Directors,

Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG

Henri de Castries[France]

Chairman and CEO, AXA [French investment firm]

Jorma Ollila[Finland]

Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell (2006-present); Chairman of Nokia

(1999-2012)

Jurgen Schrempp[Germany]

Chairman of DaimlerChrysler

(1998-2005)

Daniel L. Vasella[Switzerland]

Chairman of the Board of Novartis AG (1999-2013);

Director of PepsiCo (2002-present)

Jacob Wallenberg[Sweden]

Chairman of Investor AB(2005-present);

Director of The Coca-Cola Co. (2008-present)

Thierry de Montbrial[France]

President, French Institute for International Relations

Victor Halberstadt[Netherlands]

Professor of Economics at Leiden University

Donald E. GrahamChairman and CEO of

The Washington Post Co. (1993-present)

TommasoPadoa-Schioppa

Economy and Finance Minister of Italy (2006-2008)

Hilmar Kopper[Germany]

Chairman of the Supervisory Board,

Deutsche Bank A.G.

Mario DraghiPresident of European Central Bank (2011-

pres.); Governor of Banca d’Italia (2006-2011)

Jose Manuel BarrosoPresident of the European

Commission (2004-present); Prime Minister of Portugal (2002-2004)

Etienne Davignon[Belgium]

Vice Chairman of Suez-Tractebel

Juan Luis Cebrian[Spain]

CEO of PRISA

Anders Eldrup[Denmark]

Former CEO, Danish Oil and Gas Corporation

(DONG)

Prominent Bilderberg Meetings Participants

Name Country Occupation Years Attended

David Rockefeller U.S.A.

Chairman, Chase Manhattan BankChairman, Trilateral CommissionChairman, Council on Foreign Relations

(1954-1955, 1957-1958, 1961-1972, 1974-1975, 1977-1985, 1987-2006, 2008-2009, 2011)

Victor Halberstadt NetherlandsProfessor of Economics, Leiden University in the Netherlands (1975, 1977-2013)

Henry Kissinger U.S.A.Secretary of StateNational Security Advisor

(1957, 1964, 1971, 1977-1978, 1980-1992, 1994-2008, 2010-2013)

Etienne Davignon BelgiumVice Chairman, Suez-Tractebel (1972, 1974, 1977-1978, 1980, 1983-1992,

1994-2011, 2013)

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. U.S.A.Senior Managing Director of Lazard Freres

(1969-1970, 1979-1985.1987, 1989-2009, 2011-2013)

Thierry de Montbrial FrancePresident, French Institute for International Relations

(1975, 1977-1995, 1997, 2000-2006, 2008-2013)

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands Netherlands (1972, 1974, 1984, 1986-2001, 2003-2013)Francisco Pinto Balsemao Portugal Prime Minister of Portugal (1981, 1983-1985, 1987-2013)James D. Wolfensohn U.S.A. President, The World Bank (1985, 1987-2000, 2002-2013)

Mario Monti ItalyPrime Minister of Italy;Former European Commissioner

(1983-1994, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2003-2011, 2013)

Marie-Josee Kravis Canada/U.S.A. Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc. (1989-1996, 1998-2013)

Peter D. Sutherland IrelandChairman, British PetroleumDirector-Gen., World Trade Organization (1989-1998, 2000, 2002-2007, 2009-2013)

Juan Luis Cebrian Spain CEO of PRISA (1983, 1985, 1987-1990, 1993, 2001-2013)

J. Martin Taylor Great BritainChairman, Syngenta International AG; Former Chief Executive of Barclays PLC (1993-2001, 2003-2005, 2007-2013)

Jorma Ollila Finland Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell (1994, 1997-2013)

Henry R. Kravis U.S.A.Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (1992-1993, 1996, 1998, 2000-2013)

Franco Bernabe Italy Vice Chairman, Rothschild Europe (1996, 1998-2001, 2003-2013)

Queen Sofia of Spain Spain(1989-1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007-2011)

Richard N. Perle U.S.A.Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy (1983, 1985, 2001-2013)

Daniel L. Vasella Switzerland Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG (1998-2005, 2007-2013)

Rudolf Scholten  AustriaMember of Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (1992, 1999-2001, 2003-2013)

Jacob Wallenberg Sweden Chairman of Investor AB (1998, 2000-2013)James A. Johnson U.S.A. Chairman and CEO, Fannie Mae (1998, 2000-2003, 2005-2013)

Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa Italy Minister of Finance (1986, 1998-2006, 2008-2010)Jurgen Schrempp Germany Chairman, DaimlerChrysler (1994-1999, 2001-2007)

Jessica T. Mathews U.S.A.President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1998-2002, 2004-2008, 2010, 2012-2013)

Matthias Nass Germany Deputy Editor, Die Zeit [newspaper] (1997-2001, 2005-2009, 2011-2012)

Jean-Claude Trichet France President of European Central Bank (1995, 1999-2005, 2007-2009, 2011)

Carl Bildt Sweden Prime Minister; Foreign Minister(1992-1993, 1996-1997, 1999-2000, 2006-2011, 2013)

Bertrand Collomb France Chairman, Lafarge(1991-1992, 1996-1998, 2000-2003, 2005-2006, 2008)

Martin S. Feldstein U.S.A.President, National Bureau of Economic Research

(1996, 1998-1999, 2001-2003, 2005-2008, 2010-2011, 2013)

Paul D. Wolfowitz U.S.A.President, The World BankDeputy Secretary of Defense

(1990, 1994-1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007-2009)

Richard C. Holbrooke U.S.A.U.S. Representative to the United Nations; Vice Chairman of Perseus (1995-1999, 2004-2010)

Thomas E. Donilon U.S.A. Partner of O’Melveny & Myers LLP (1998, 1999, 2001-2008, 2012)

Hilmar Kopper GermanyChairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank A.G. (1991-1992, 1994-1995, 1998-2003, 2005)

Andrzej Olechowski Poland Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (1994-1999, 2001, 2003-2006)Anders Eldrup Denmark CEO, Danish Oil and Gas Corporation (2001-2011)Henri de Castries France Chairman and CEO, AXA (2002-2013)Timothy C. Collins U.S.A. CEO, Ripplewood Holdings (2003-2012)Donald E. Graham U.S.A. Chairman, Washington Post [newspaper] (1999-2001, 2004-05, 2008-2010, 2012)

Bohemian Grove Members & Their Occupation during the Global War on Terrorism

David Rockefeller, George H.W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, George P. Shultz, James A. Baker III, Donald H. Rumsfeld

Norman R. Augustine, Riley P. Bechtel, David J. O’Reilly, Kenneth T. Derr, Louis V. Gerstner Jr., Maurice R. Greenberg

Nicholas F. Brady, Harold Brown, (Gen.) Colin L. Powell, William H. Webster, R. James Woolsey, David Gergen

Name Camp Occupation*David Rockefeller Stowaway Chairman and CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank (1969-1981)George H.W. Bush Hill Billies President of the U.S. (1989-1993); Vice President of the U.S. (1981-1989), CIA Director (1976-1977)Henry Kissinger Mandalay Secretary of State (1973-1977); National Security Advisor (1969-1975)*George P. Shultz Mandalay Secretary of State (1982-1989); President of Bechtel Corp. (1975-1981)*James A. Baker III Woof Secretary of State (1989-1992); Secretary of the Treasury (1985-1988)Donald H. Rumsfeld Hill Billies Secretary of Defense (1975-1977, 2001-2006)*Norman R. Augustine Pelican Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin (1995-1997); Under Secretary of the Army (1975-1977)Riley P. Bechtel Mandalay Chairman and CEO of Bechtel Group Inc. (1996-present)*David J. O’Reilly Mandalay Chairman and CEO of ChevronTexaco (2000-2009)*Kenneth T. Derr Mandalay Chairman and CEO of Chevron (1989-1999)*Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Midway Chairman of the Carlyle Group (2003-2008); Chairman and CEO of IBM (1993-2002)*Maurice R. Greenberg Cave Man Chairman and CEO of American International Group (1989-2005)*Nicholas F. Brady Mandalay Secretary of the Treasury (1988-1993); Chairman and CEO of Dillon, Read & Co. (1982-1988)*Harold Brown Lost Angels Secretary of Defense (1977-1981); Secretary of the Air Force (1965-1969)*(Gen.) Colin L. Powell Mandalay Secretary of State (2001-2005); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-1993)*William H. Webster Wayside Log Director of Central Intelligence Agency (1987-1991)*R. James Woolsey Shoestring Director of Central Intelligence Agency (1993-1995)*David Gergen Owl’s Nest Counselor to the President of the U.S. (1993-1994)

Note: *=current members of the Council on Foreign Relations

The mock human sacrifice ritual at the Bohemian Grove in California

The Abu Ghraib Prison Torture Scandal in Iraq

Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive? Part 1May 2, 2011: The “Official” Death of Osama bin Laden

Map of Abbottabad, Pakistan, where CIA-trained Arab terrorist Osama bin Laden was allegedly killed on May 2, 2011

Pakistani army soldiers appear near the house where it is believed CIA-trained al-Qaida terrorist Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan on Monday, May 2, 2011. Osama bin Laden, the Arab terrorist who was accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in America, including New York City and the Pentagon (U.S. Department of Defense), that killed nearly 3000 people, was allegedly slain in his hideout in Pakistan early Monday in a firefight with U.S. Navy Seals, ending a manhunt that spanned nearly a decade. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Americans celebrate and wave the American flag in front of ABC studio on Time Square in New York City on Monday, May 2, 2011.(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. Seated, from left, are: Brigadier General Marshall B. “Brad” Webb, Assistant Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command; Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Standing, from left, are: Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Tony Binken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Audrey Tomason Director for Counterterrorism; John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Please note: a classified document seen in this photograph has been obscured.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Obama: Bin Laden's death a 'good day' for AmericaBy BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent May 2, 2011

WASHINGTON – Proudly declaring the killing of Osama bin Laden "a good day for America," President Barack Obama said Monday the world was a safer place without the world's most hunted terrorist. DNA testing helped confirm that American forces in Pakistan had in fact killed the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. officials said, seeking to erase any doubt about the news that riveted the globe.

Acting on intelligence that bin Laden was holed up in a compound in the city of Abbottabad, Obama ordered a risky, unilateral mission to capture or kill the al-Qaida leader on foreign soil. His counterterror chief, John Brennan, said Monday that Obama had monitored the raid from the White House Situation Room and expressed relief that elite forces had finally gotten bin Laden without losing any more American lives.

"It was probably one of the most anxiety-filled periods of time in the lives of the people who were assembled here," Brennan said from the White House. "The minutes passed like days."

The dramatic developments came just months ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the hijacked-airliner assaults on the United States. Those attacks took nearly 3,000 lives, led the U.S. into war in Afghanistan and Iraq and forever pierced the notion that the most powerful country on earth could not be hit on such a ferocious scale. U.S. officials grimly warned of potential retaliation for bin Laden's killing. Indeed, a top al-Qaida ideologue vowed revenge and said the Islamic holy war against the West was far from over.

The administration was investigating who within Pakistan provided support to bin Laden to allow him to live, remarkably, in a fortified compound in a town, not tucked away in a cave as often rumored. Critics have long accused elements of Pakistan's security establishment of protecting bin Laden, though Islamabad has always denied it, and did so again.

Bin Laden went down firing at the Navy SEALs who stormed his compound, a U.S. official said. Brennan said one of bin Laden's wives was used as a human shield to try to protect him and she was killed, too, as a result. Brennan, speaking of bin Laden, said that revealed "the nature of the individual he was."

The American forces killed bin Laden during a daring raid early Monday, Pakistan time, capping a search that spanned nearly a decade. Bin Laden was shot in the head during a firefight and then quickly buried at sea. White House officials were mulling the merits, consequences and appropriateness of releasing a photo of the slain bin Laden but said that no one should have any doubts regardless.

Senior administration officials said the DNA testing alone offered near 100 percent certainty. Photo analysis by the CIA, confirmation by a woman believed to be one of bin Laden's wives on site, and matching physical features like bin Laden's height all helped confirmed the identification.

"We are reminded that as a nation there is nothing we can't do," Obama said of the news, which was bound to lift his political standing and help define his presidency. He hailed the pride of those who broke into overnight celebrations as word spread around the U.S. and the globe. Those spontaneous expressions have given way to questions about precisely what happened and what comes next for al-Qaida, for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, for America's strained relations with its Pakistani ally and for the direction of U.S. politics.

U.S. officials warned that the campaign against terrorism was not nearly over — and that the threat of deadly retaliation against the United States and its allies was real. However, the government said it had no specific or credible threat to share with the American public.

Senior U.S. officials said bin Laden was killed toward the end of the firefight, which took place in a building at a compound north of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. His body was put aboard the USS Carl Vinson and then placed into the North Arabian Sea. An official familiar with the operation said bin Laden fired on U.S. forces and was hit by return fire. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because aspects of the operation remain classified. The official said two dozen SEALs in night-vision goggles dropped into the high-walled compound in Pakistan by sliding down ropes from Chinook helicopters in the overnight raid.

The SEALs retrieved bin Laden's body and turned the remaining detainees over to Pakistani authorities. Traditional Islamic procedures for handling the remains were followed, the officials said, including washing the corpse, placing it in a white sheet.

"The fight continues and we will never waver," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at the State Department. Her comments had echoes of President George W. Bush's declaration nearly a decade ago, when al-Qaida attacks against America led to war in

Afghanistan and changed the way Americans viewed their own safety. Turning to deliver a direct message to bin Laden's followers, she vowed: "You cannot wait us out."

U.S. Capitol Police put on a conspicuous show of force Monday morning with 10 vehicles amassed near Constitution Avenue with their lights flashing and doors and trunks open. Officers armed with automatic weapons kept watch on every vehicle that passed. Obama himself had delivered the news of bin Laden's killing in a dramatic White House statement late Sunday. "Justice has been done," he declared.

Officials say CIA interrogators in secret overseas prisons developed the first strands of information that ultimately led to the killing of bin Laden. The military operation that ended his life took mere minutes. U.S. Black Hawk helicopters ferried about two dozen troops from Navy SEAL Team Six, a top military counter-terrorism unit, into the compound identified by the CIA as bin Laden's hideout — and back out again in less than 40 minutes. Bin Laden was shot after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault, officials said.

The compound is about a half-mile from a Pakistani military academy, in a city that is home to three army regiments and thousands of military personnel. Abbottabad is surrounded by hills with mountains in the distance.

Bin Laden's death came 15 years after he declared war on the United States. Al-Qaida was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled.

"We have rid the world of the most infamous terrorist of our time," CIA Director Leon Panetta declared to employees of the agency in a memo Monday morning.

Retaliatory attacks against the U.S. and Western targets could come from members of al-Qaida's core branch in the tribal areas of Pakistan, al-Qaida franchises in other countries or radicalized individuals in the U.S. with al-Qaida sympathies, according to a Homeland Security Department intelligence alert issued Sunday and obtained by The Associated Press.

In addition to bin Laden, one of his sons, Khalid, was killed in the raid, as was the wife who shielded him, Brennan said. Also killed were two of bin Laden's al-Qaida facilitators, including one who was apparently listed as the owner of the residence, Brennan said.

As news of bin Laden's death spread, hundreds of people cheered and waved American flags at ground zero in New York, the site where al-Qaida hijacked jets blasted the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Thousands celebrated all night outside the White House gates.

Many people said they were surprised that bin Laden had finally been found and killed. John Gocio, a doctor from Arkansas who was gathering what details he could from TV screens at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, marveled: "After such a long time, you kind of give up and say, `Well, that's never going to happen.'"

The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida's core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.

The few fiery minutes in Abbottabad followed years in which U.S. officials struggled to piece together clues that ultimately led to bin Laden, according to an account provided by senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation. Based on statements given by U.S. detainees since the 9/11 attacks, they said, intelligence officials have long known that bin Laden trusted one al-Qaida courier in particular, and they believed he might be living with him in hiding.

Four years ago, the United States learned the man's identity, which officials did not disclose, and then about two years later, they identified areas of Pakistan where he operated. Last August, the man's residence was found, officials said. By mid-February, intelligence from multiple sources was clear enough that Obama wanted to pursue action, a senior administration official said. Over the next two and a half months, the president led five meetings of the National Security Council focused solely on whether bin Laden was in that compound and, if so, how to get him, the official said. Obama made a decision to launch the operation on Friday, shortly before flying to Alabama to inspect tornado damage, and aides set to work on the details. ___ Associated Press writers Ben Feller, Matt Apuzzo, Erica Werner, David Espo, Pauline Jelinek, Robert Burns, Matthew Lee, Eileen Sullivan and Kimberly Dozier contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bin_laden

Obama: I won't release bin Laden death photosPosted by Brian MontopoliMay 4, 2011 1:24 PM Updated 6:19 p.m. Eastern Time

Left: President Obama interviewed on "60 Minutes," May 4, 2011. (Credit: CBS News) Right: President Barack Obama delivers a statement in the East Room of the White House on the mission against Osama bin Laden, May 1, 2011. (Credit: White House/Pete Souza)

In an interview with Steve Kroft for this Sunday's "60 Minutes" conducted today, President Obama said he won't release post-mortem images of Osama bin Laden taken to prove his death.

"It is important to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool," said the president. "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies," Mr. Obama added. "The fact of the matter is, this is somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received."

The president said he had discussed the issue with his intelligence team, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and that they agree with the decision. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that Mr. Obama made the decision today.

In explaining his choice not to release the photo, Mr. Obama said that "we don't need to spike the football." He said that "given the graphic nature of these photos it would create a national security risk." The president told Kroft he saw the photos following the raid on the compound and knew that bin Laden had been killed. "We discussed this internally," he said. "Keep in mind that we are absolutely certain that this was him. We've done DNA sampling and testing. And so there is no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden." When Kroft noted that there are people in Pakistan and elsewhere who believe bin Laden is still alive, the president said "we we monitoring worldwide reaction." "There is no doubt that Osama bin Laden is dead," he said. "Certainly there is no doubt among al Qaeda members that he is dead. So we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference." "There are going to be some folks who deny it," he added. "The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this earth again."

TRANSCRIPT: Obama discusses decision not to release images on "60 Minutes"

Asked about the decision Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Carney said "there are obviously arguments to be made on either side." "The fact of the matter is, as the president described, these are graphic photographs of someone who was shot in the face -- the head, rather," he said. "It is not in our national security interests to allow those images, as has been in the past been the case, to become icons to rally opinion against the United States. The president's number one priority is the safety and security of American citizens at home and Americans abroad. There is no need to release these photographs to establish Osama bin Laden's identity. And he saw no other compelling reason to release them, given the potential for national security risks. And further, because he believes, as he said so clearly, this is not who we are." "He wanted to hear the opinions of others, but he was very clear about his view on this," Carney added. "And, obviously, his decision is categorical." He said it applied to "all visual evidence" of bin Laden's death, including video of his burial at sea. 

Bin Laden news gives Obama 11-point approval bumpBush declines Obama invitation to ground zero

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, called the decision a "mistake." "The whole purpose of sending our soldiers into the compound, rather than an aerial bombardment, was to obtain indisputable proof of bin Laden's death," he said.

Neil Livingstone, Chairman and CEO of Executive Action and author of nine books on terrorism, also disagreed with the decision. "If we can't conclusively demonstrate that indeed he is dead there will be those who say he is still out there," he told CBS News. "Al Qaeda might even try to keep his legacy going and say 'they got someone else, they didn't really get him.'"

Sarah Palin registered her disapproval on Twitter. "Show photo as warning to others seeking America's destruction. No pussy-footing around, no politicking, no drama; it’s part of the mission," she wrote.

Palin to Obama: Stop pussyfooting, release photoOsama bin Laden had cash, phone numbers sewn in clothes

White House changes story: Bin Laden unarmedCables: U.S. near bin Laden in '08, didn't know it

Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said earlier in the day that the Obama administration should not release the gruesome post-mortem images, saying it could complicate the job for American troops overseas. Rogers told CBS News he has seen a post-mortem photo. 

"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," Rogers said. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

"Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the Internet," Rogers continued. "Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaeda has been eliminated."

Many in Congress happy bin Laden photos won't be released

Skeptics have called on the United States to release photos of bin Laden, who officials say was shot in the face during a raid on his compound, in order to prove that the al Qaeda leader is really dead. The White House had said it was debating whether to release the photographs. CIA director Leon Panetta told CBS News Tuesday that he thought a photo would be released, though he said the White House would make the final decision.  CBS News national security correspondent David Martin has been told the photographs are "very gruesome" and won't be for the "squeamish."

"I've had it described to me and it does sound very gruesome," he said. "Remember, bin Laden was shot twice at close range, once in the chest and once in the head, right above his left eye, and that bullet opened his skull, exposing the brain, and it also blew out his eye. So these are not going to be pictures for the squeamish." Two Republican senators -- Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, a member of the Armed Services Committee - told CBS News Wednesday they had seen post-mortem photographs of bin Laden. No Democrats have said they have seen the images.

Photoshopped images purporting to show bin Laden after he was killed have already surfaced on the Internet. Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA, who had claimed to have seen the actual post-mortem photos, said Wednesday that he had been fooled by one such false image. It appears Ayotte and Chambliss may also have been duped.

Special Report: The killing of Osama bin Laden

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20059739-503544.html

Official: Bin Laden buried at seaBy Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press – Mon May 2, 2011; 3:40 am ET

WASHINGTON – A U.S. official says Osama bin Laden has been buried at sea. After bin Laden was killed in a raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan, senior administration officials said the body would be handled according to Islamic practice and tradition. That practice calls for the body to be buried within 24 hours, the official said. Finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult, the official said. So the U.S. decided to bury him at sea. The official, who spoke Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters, did not immediately say where that occurred.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110502/ap_on_re_us/us_bin_laden_burial

Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive? Part 2December 13, 2001: The “Official” Death of Osama bin Laden

Arab terrorist Osama bin Laden reportedly died in the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan during the Battle of Tora Bora on December 13, 2001. American air strikes on Tora Bora in December 2001

A map of Tora Bora and western Pakistan

The first U.S. military team to enter the Tora Bora mountain range in 2001.

The Death of bin LadenismBy Amir TaheriPublished: July 11, 2002

Osama bin Laden is dead. The news first came from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan almost six months ago: the fugitive died in December and was buried in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan. Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, echoed the information. The remnants of Osama's gang, however, have mostly stayed silent, either to keep Osama's ghost alive or because they have no means of communication.

With an ego the size of Mount Everest, Osama bin Laden would not have, could not have, remained silent for so long if he were still alive. He always liked to take credit even for things he had nothing to do with. Would he remain silent for nine months and not trumpet his own survival?

Even if he is still in the world, bin Ladenism has left for good. Mr. bin Laden was the public face of a brand of politics that committed suicide in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, killing thousands of innocent people in the process.

What were the key elements of that politics?

The first was a cynical misinterpretation of Islam that began decades ago with such anti-Western ideologues as Maulana Maudoodi of Pakistan and Sayyid Qutb of Egypt. Although Mr. Maudoodi and Mr. Qutb were not serious thinkers, they could at least offer a coherent ideology based on a narrow reading of Islamic texts. Their ideas about Western barbarism and Muslim revival, distilled down to bin Ladenism, became mere slogans designed to incite zealots to murder.

People like Mr. Maudoodi and Mr. Qutb could catch the ball and run largely because most Muslim intellectuals of their generation (and later) had no interest in continuing the work of Muslim philosophers. Our intellectuals were too busy learning Western ideologies of one kind or another -- and they left the newly urbanized Muslim masses to the half-baked ideas of men like Mr. Maudoodi and Mr. Qutb and eventually Mr. bin Laden.

Now, however, many Muslim intellectuals are returning home, so to speak. They are rediscovering the philosophical heritage of Islam and the challenges of Muslim political thought. And Maudoodi-Qutbism is now being seen as a pseudo-Islamic version of Western fascism.

The second element that made Mr. bin Laden possible was easy money, largely from wealthy individuals in the Persian Gulf area who believed that they were buying a place in the hereafter while protecting themselves against political opposition in this world. Some paid because they believed they were helping poor and oppressed Muslims. Others paid so militants would go and spend their energies far away from home.

That easy money is no longer available, at least not in large quantities. Many donors have realized they were financing terrorists. Some have been forced to choose between the West, where they have the bulk of their wealth, and the troglodyte mujahedeen of the Hindu Kush.

The third element that made bin Ladenist terror possible was the encouraging, or at least complacent, attitude of several governments. The Taliban in Afghanistan began by hosting Mr. bin Laden and ended up becoming his life-and-death buddies. The Pakistanis were also supportive because they wanted to dominate Afghanistan and make life hard for the Indians by sending holy warriors to Kashmir. The Sudanese government was sympathetic, if not actually supportive, and offered at least a safe haven. This was also the case in Yemen, where in November 2000 I accidentally ran into a crowd of Qaeda militants who had flown in from Pakistan for a gathering.

(Page 2 of 2)

We now know that Qaeda cells operated, often quite openly, in Muslim countries from Indonesia and Malaysia to Morocco and Tunisia, without being bothered by anyone. The fall of the Taliban means the gang no longer has a secure base. All the other countries are also closed, and in some cases even hostile.

The fourth element was the mistaken practice of many Western powers that sheltered the terrorists in the name of freedom of expression and dissent. We now know that London was a critical haven for Al Qaeda. The murder of the Afghan resistance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud was planned in London. Qaeda militants operated in Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy without significant restraint.

The fifth element that made bin Ladenism possible was the West's, especially America's, perceived weakness if not actual cowardice. A joke going around militant Islamist circles until last year was that the only thing the Americans would do if attacked was to sue. That perception no longer exists. The Americans, supported by one of the largest coalitions in history, have shown they will use force against their enemies even if that means a long and difficult war.

The sixth element of bin Ladenism was the illusion in most Western nations that they could somehow remain unaffected by the violence unleashed by fanatical terrorists against so many Muslim nations from Indonesia to Algeria.

Mr. bin Laden could survive and prosper only in a world in which these elements existed. That world is gone. Mr. bin Laden's ghost may linger on -- perhaps because Washington and Islamabad will find it useful. President Bush's party has a crucial election to win and Pervez Musharraf is keen to keep Pakistan in the limelight as long as possible.

But the truth is that Osama bin Laden is dead.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/11/opinion/the-death-of-bin-ladenism.htmlCopyright 2013The New York Times Company

Report: Bin Laden Already DeadPublished December 26, 2001FoxNews.com

Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader.

"The Coalition troops are engaged in a mad search operation but they would never be able to fulfill their cherished goal of getting Usama alive or dead," the source said.

Bin Laden, according to the source, was suffering from a serious lung complication and succumbed to the disease in mid-December, in the vicinity of the Tora Bora mountains. The source claimed that bin Laden was laid to rest honorably in his last abode and his grave was made as per his Wahabi belief.

About 30 close associates of bin Laden in Al Qaeda, including his most trusted and personal bodyguards, his family members and some "Taliban friends," attended the funeral rites. A volley of bullets was also fired to pay final tribute to the "great leader."

The Taliban source who claims to have seen bin Laden's face before burial said "he looked pale ... but calm, relaxed and confident."

Asked whether bin Laden had any feelings of remorse before death, the source vehemently said "no." Instead, he said, bin Laden was proud that he succeeded in his mission of igniting awareness amongst Muslims about hegemonistic designs and conspiracies of "pagans" against Islam. Bin Laden, he said, held the view that the sacrifice of a few hundred people in Afghanistan was nothing, as those who laid their lives in creating an atmosphere of resistance will be adequately rewarded

by Almighty Allah.

When asked where bin Laden was buried, the source said, "I am sure that like other places in Tora Bora, that particular place too must have vanished."

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2001/12/26/report-bin-laden-already-dead/

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2013 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes.

Has Osama Bin Laden been dead for seven years - and are the U.S. and Britain covering it up to continue war on terror?By Sue ReidUPDATED: 16:59 EST, 11 September 2009

The last time we heard a squeak from him was on June 3 this year.

The world's most notorious terrorist outsmarted America by releasing a menacing message as Air Force One touched down on Saudi Arabian soil at the start of Barack Obama's first and much vaunted Middle East tour.

Even before the new President alighted at Riyadh airport to shake hands with Prince Abdullah, Bin Laden's words were being aired on TV, radio and the internet across every continent.

Genuine picture: Osama Bin Laden in October 2001

It was yet another propaganda coup for the 52-year-old Al Qaeda leader. In the audiotape delivered to the Arab news network Al Jazeera, Bin Laden said that America and her Western allies were sowing seeds of hatred in the Muslim world and deserved dire consequences.

It was the kind of rant we have heard from him before, and the response from British and U.S. intelligence services was equally predictable.

They insisted that the details on the tape, of the President's visit and other contemporary events, proved that the mastermind of 9/11, America's worst ever terrorist atrocity, was still alive - and that the hunt for him must go on.

Bin Laden has always been blamed for orchestrating the horrific attack - in which nearly 3,000 people perished - eight years ago this week. President George W. Bush made his capture a national priority, infamously promising with a Wild West flourish to take him 'dead or alive'.

The U.S. State Department offered a reward of $50million for his whereabouts. The FBI named him one of their ten 'most wanted' fugitives, telling the public to watch out for a left-handed, grey-bearded gentleman who walks with a stick.

Fake? Bin Laden two months later, when he was supposedly dead

Yet this master terrorist remains elusive. He has escaped the most extensive and expensive man-hunt in history, stretching across Waziristan, the 1,500 miles of mountainous badlands on the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Undeterred, Barack Obama has launched a fresh operation to find him. Working with the Pakistani Army, elite squads of U.S. and British special forces were sent into Waziristan this summer to 'hunt and kill' the shadowy figure intelligence officers still call 'the principal target' of the war on terror.

This new offensive is, of course, based on the premise that the 9/11 terrorist is alive. After all, there are the plethora of 'Bin Laden tapes' to prove it.

Yet what if he isn't? What if he has been dead for years, and the British and U.S. intelligence services are actually playing a game of double bluff?

What if everything we have seen or heard of him on video and audio tapes since the early days after 9/11 is a fake - and that he is being kept 'alive' by the Western allies to stir up support for the war on terror?

Incredibly, this is the breathtaking theory that is gaining credence among political commentators, respected academics and even terror experts.

Of course, there have been any number of conspiracy theories concerning 9/11, and it could be this is just another one.

But the weight of opinion now swinging behind the possibility that Bin Laden is dead - and the accumulating evidence that supports it - makes the notion, at the very least, worthy of examination.

The theory first received an airing in the American Spectator magazine earlier this year when former U.S. foreign intelligence officer and senior editor Angelo M. Codevilla, a professor of international relations at Boston University, stated bluntly: 'All the evidence suggests Elvis Presley is more alive today than Osama Bin Laden.'

9/11: Bin Laden originally insisted in official press statements that he had played no role in the atrocity

Prof Codevilla pointed to inconsistencies in the videos and claimed there have been no reputable sightings of Bin Laden for years (for instance, all interceptions by the West of communications made by the Al Qaeda leader suddenly ceased in late 2001).

Prof Codevilla asserted: 'The video and audio tapes alleged to be Osama's never convince the impartial observer,' he asserted. 'The guy just does not look like Osama. Some videos show him with a Semitic, aquiline nose, while others show him with a shorter, broader one. Next to that, differences between the colours and styles of his beard are small stuff.'

There are other doubters, too. Professor Bruce Lawrence, head of Duke University's religious studies' department and the foremost Bin Laden expert, argues that the increasingly secular language in the video and audio tapes of Osama (his earliest ones are littered with references to God and the Prophet Mohammed) are inconsistent with his strict Islamic religion, Wahhabism.

He notes that, on one video, Bin Laden wears golden rings on his fingers, an adornment banned among Wahhabi followers.

Bin Laden in 1998 (l) and, allegedly, in 2002: Sceptics have pointed to a thicker nose and the ring on his right hand as proof it is an imposter

This week, still more questions have been raised with the publication in America and Britain of a book called Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?

Written by political analyst and philosopher Professor David Ray Griffin, former emeritus professor at California's Claremont School of Theology, it is provoking shock waves - for it goes into far more detail about his supposed death and suggests there has been a cover-up by the West.

The book claims that Bin Laden died of kidney failure, or a linked complaint, on December 13, 2001, while living in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains close to the border with Waziristan.

His burial took place within 24 hours, in line with Muslim religious rules, and in an unmarked grave, which is a Wahhabi custom.

The author insists that the many Bin Laden tapes made since that date have been concocted by the West to make the world believe Bin Laden is alive. The purpose? To stoke up waning support for the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To understand Griffin's thesis, we must remember the West's reaction to 9/11, that fateful sunny September day in 2001. Within a month, on Sunday, October 7, the U.S. and Britain launched massive retaliatory air strikes in the Tora Bora region where they said 'prime suspect' Bin Laden was living 'as a guest of Afghanistan'.

This military offensive ignored the fact that Bin Laden had already insisted four times in official Al Qaeda statements made to the Arab press that he played no role in 9/11.

Indeed, on the fourth occasion, on September 28 and a fortnight after the atrocity, he declared emphatically: 'I have already said I am not involved. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge... nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other humans as an appreciable act.'

Within hours of the October 7 strikes by the U.S. on Tora Bora, Bin Laden made his first ever appearance on video tape. Dressed in Army fatigues, and with an Islamic head-dress, he had an assault rifle propped behind him in a broadly lit mountain hideout. Significantly, he looked pale and gaunt.

Although he called President George W. Bush 'head of the infidels' and poured scorn on the U.S., he once again rejected responsibility for 9/11.

'America was hit by God in one of its softest spots. America is full of fear, from its north to its south, from its west to its east. Thank God for that.'

Then came a second videotape on November 3, 2001. Once again, an ailing Bin Laden lashed out at the United States. He urged true Muslims to celebrate the attacks - but did not at any time acknowledge he had been involved in the atrocity.

And then there was silence until December 13, 2001 - the date Griffin claims Bin Laden died. That very day, the U.S. Government released a new video of the terror chief. In this tape, Bin Laden contradicted all his previous denials, and suddenly admitted to his involvement in the atrocity of 9/11.The tape had reportedly been found by U.S. troops in a private home in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, after anti-Taliban forces took over the city. A label attached to it claimed that it had been made on November 9, 2001.

Bush made Bin Laden's capture a national priority, claiming he could get his man - dead or alive

The tape shows Bin Laden talking with a visiting sheik. In it, he clearly states that he not only knew about the 9/11 atrocities in advance, but had planned every detail personally.

What manna for the Western authorities! This put the terrorist back in the frame over 9/11. The Washington Post quoted U.S. officials saying that the video 'offers the most convincing evidence of a connection between Bin Laden and the September 11 attacks'.

A euphoric President Bush added: 'For those who see this tape, they realise that not only is he guilty of incredible murder, but he has no conscience and no soul.'

In London, Downing Street said that the video was 'conclusive proof of his involvement'. The then Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, added: 'There is no doubt it is the real thing. People can see Bin Laden there, making those utterly chilling words of admission about his guilt for organising the atrocities of September 11.'

Yet Professor Griffin claims this 'confessional' video provokes more questions than answers. For a start, the Bin Laden in this vital film testimony looks different.

He is a weighty man with a black beard, not a grey one. His pale skin had suddenly become darker, and he had a different shaped nose. His artistic hands with slender fingers had transformed into those of a pugilist. He looked in exceedingly good health.

Furthermore, Bin Laden can be seen writing a note with his right hand, although he is left-handed. Bizarrely, too, he makes statements about 9/11 which Griffin claims would never have come from the mouth of the real Bin Laden - a man with a civil engineering degree who had made his fortune (before moving into terrorism) from building construction in the Middle East.

For example, the Al Qaeda leader trumpets that far more people died in 9/11 than he had expected. He goes on: 'Due to my experience in this field, I was thinking that the explosion from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane hit and all the floors above it only. That is all we had hoped for.' (In reality the Twin Towers' completely fell down).

The words of the true Bin Laden? No, says Griffin, because of the obvious mistakes. 'Given his experience as a contractor, he would have known the Twin Towers were framed with steel, not iron,' he says.

'He would also known that steel and iron do not begin to melt until they reach 2,800 deg F. Yet a building fire fed by jet fuel is a hydrocarbon fire, and could not have reached above 1,800 deg F.'

Griffin, in his explosive book, says this tape is fake, and he goes further. 'A reason to suspect that all of the post-2001 Bin Laden tapes are fabrications is that they often appeared at times that boosted the Bush presidency or supported a claim by its chief 'war on terror' ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

'The confession tape came exactly when Bush and Blair had failed to prove Bin Laden's responsibility for 9/11 and both men were trying to win international public support, particularly in the Islamic world, for the anti-terrorist campaign.'

Griffin suggests that Western governments used highly sophisticated, special effects film technology to morph together images and vocal recordings of Bin Laden. So if they are fakes, why has Al Qaeda kept quiet about it? And what exactly happened to the real Bin Laden?

The answer to the first question may be that the amorphous terrorist organisation is happy to wage its own propaganda battle in the face of waning support - and goes along with the myth that its charismatic figurehead is still alive to encourage recruitment to its cause.

As for the matter of what happened to him, hints of Bin Laden's kidney failure, or that he might be dead, first appeared on January 19, 2002, four months after 9/11. This was when Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf told America's news show CNN: 'I think now, frankly, he is dead for the reason he is a kidney patient. The images of him show he is extremely weak.'

In his book, Professor Griffin also endorses this theory. He says Bin Laden was treated for a urinary infection, often linked to kidney disease, at the American Hospital in Dubai in July 2001, two months before 9/11. At the same time, he ordered a mobile dialysis machine to be delivered to Afghanistan.

How could Bin Laden, on the run in snowy mountain caves, have used the machine that many believe was essential to keep him alive? Doctors whom Griffin cites on the subject think it would have been impossible. He would have needed to stay in one spot with a team of medics, hygienic conditions, and a regular maintenance programme for the dialysis unit itself.

And what of the telling, small news item that broke on December 26, 2001 in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Wafd? It said a prominent official of the Afghan Taliban had announced that Osama Bin Laden had been buried on or about December 13.

'He suffered serious complications and died a natural, quiet death. He was buried in Tora Bora, a funeral attended by 30 Al Qaeda fighters, close members of his family and friends from the Taliban. By the Wahhabi tradition, no mark was left on the grave,' said the report. The Taliban official, who was not named, said triumphantly that he had seen Bin Laden's face in his shroud. 'He looked pale, but calm, relaxed and confident.'

It was Christmas in Washington DC and London and the report hardly got a mention. Since then, the Bin Laden tapes have emerged with clockwork regularity as billions have been spent and much blood spilt on the hunt for him. Bin Laden has been the central plank of the West's 'war on terror'. Could it be that, for years, he's just been smoke and mirrors?

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1212851/Has-Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-seven-years--U-S-Britain-covering-continue-war-terror.html

Published by Associated Newspapers LtdPart of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group

Is Osama bin Laden Dying ... Again?By Massimo CalabresiWashington, D.C., U.S.A.Monday, June 30, 2008

Osama Bin Laden (Photo: Salah Malkawi / Getty)

Which is closer to dying: Osama bin Laden or the CIA's effort to catch him? Nothing has characterized the fruitlessness of the hunt for the al-Qaeda leader so much as the recurrent — and mostly inaccurate — reports that he is seriously ailing, or even at death's door. In 2002, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said bin Laden had kidney disease, and that he had required a dialysis machine when he lived in Afghanistan. That same year, the FBI's top counterterrorism official, Dale Watson, said, "I personally think he is probably not with us anymore." Since then, of course, bin Laden has appeared on multiple videos looking healthier than ever.

Now the CIA has produced a report saying that bin Laden has long-term kidney disease and may have only months to live, two U.S. officials familiar with the report told TIME. The agency ostensibly managed to get the names of some of the medications bin Laden is taking. One U.S. official familiar with the report, which came out between six and nine months ago, says it concluded, "Based on his current pharmaceutical intake, [we] would expect that he has no more than six to 18 months to live and impending kidney failure." (See pictures of Osama Bin Laden.)

That prognosis, along with some on-the-ground intelligence and a well-aimed Hellfire missile, will get you a dead terrorist leader. Close watchers of the al-Qaeda terror network find such reports inherently unreliable. "It's trying to make a diagnosis from thousands of miles away with only fragments of the medical chart," says Paul Pillar, former top analyst and deputy director of the CIA's counterterrorism center, who now teaches at Georgetown University. Says Frances Fragos Townsend, who stepped down last November as chief of President George W. Bush's Homeland Security Council, "I've read all the same conflicting reports [on bin Laden's health] that people have talked to you about. I never found one set of reporting more persuasive than another."

The CIA, for its part, is disavowing the claims attributed to the report. "I have found no one here familiar with this alleged report or the analytic line it supposedly conveys," says Paul Gimigliano, a CIA spokesman. "The fact that anonymous sources attribute views to the CIA is not, by itself, reason to believe the agency actually holds those views," he says. (See pictures of a Bin Laden family album.)

If bin Laden really is dying, the news would doubtless be greeted with some ambivalence. On the one hand, his demise is what the U.S. government has been fervently trying to hasten — since before 9/11. But death by kidney disease is not exactly what it had in mind. "Wouldn't that be a tragic situation if, with all this effort, bin Laden died without it happening at the hands of coalition forces?" says one current senior counterterrorism official. Given the reliability of past long-distance diagnoses, however, and the continuing threat al-Qaeda poses around the world, that may be the least of America's worries.

Source: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1819280,00.html

Pakistan's Musharraf: Bin Laden probably deadJanuary 18, 2002 Posted: 10:34 PM EST (0334 GMT)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's president says he thinks Osama bin Laden is most likely dead because the suspected terrorist has been unable to get treatment for his kidney disease.

"I think now, frankly, he is dead for the reason he is a ... kidney patient," Gen. Pervez Musharraf said on Friday in an interview with CNN.

Musharraf said Pakistan knew bin Laden took two dialysis machines into Afghanistan. "One was specifically for his own personal use," he said.

"I don't know if he has been getting all that treatment in Afghanistan now. And the photographs that have been shown of him on television show him extremely weak. ... I would give the first priority that he is dead and the second priority that he is alive somewhere in Afghanistan."

U.S. officials skeptical

In Washington, a senior Bush administration official said Musharraf reached "reasonable conclusion" but warned it is only a guess.

"He is using very reasonable deductive reasoning, (but) we don't know (bin Laden) is dead," said the official, who requested anonymity. "We don't have remains or evidence of his death. So it is a decent and reasonable conclusion -- a good guess but it is a guess."

The official said U.S. intelligence is that bin Laden needs dialysis every three days and "it is fairly obvious that that could be an issue when you are running from place to place, and facing the idea of needing to generate electricity in a mountain hideout."

Other U.S. officials contradicted the reports of bin Laden's health problems, saying there is "no evidence" the suspected terrorist mastermind has ever suffered kidney failure or required kidney dialysis. The officials called such suggestions a "recurrent rumor."

Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. forces in central and southwest Asia, said Friday that he had not seen any intelligence confirming or denying Musharraf's statements on bin Laden's condition.

The United States has said that bin Laden is the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that killed about 3,000 people.

Hunt for bin Laden

The United States launched its campaign in Afghanistan after the country's ruling Taliban refused to turn over bin Laden.

Earlier this week U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he believed bin Laden and Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammed Omar were inside Afghanistan but "we are looking at some other places as well from time to time."

Rumsfeld noted there were dozens of conflicting intelligence reports each day and said most of them were wrong. Most of the reports are based on sightings by local Afghans that cannot be verified.

There are reports that bin Laden and his convoys have been sighted recently by a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle.

A senior Defense Department source said the lack of credible information about the two was so severe that many officials believe the U.S. would catch bin Laden or Omar only through pure luck, or an "intelligence break" -- essentially one of their associates turning them in.

Top CIA analysts who track bin Laden and Omar have been asked for their best assessment on the two men's whereabouts. That has led to a variety of thoughts, placing bin Laden in Afghanistan, in Pakistan or Iran, on the open ocean onboard a ship, or headed north through Tajikistan or Uzbekistan -- if he is still alive.

The videotape seen worldwide several weeks ago of bin Laden talking about the September 11 attacks was made in Kandahar. He then apparently disappeared -- possibly going north to Tora Bora.

Franks said there was evidence bin Laden was in Tora Bora but he gave no indication of when that might have been. In October, intelligence officials thought they had bin Laden pinned down to a 10-square-mile area in the eastern central mountains of Afghanistan.

Two senior military officers told CNN it would not have been hard for bin Laden to change location several times because vast areas of Afghanistan are virtually unseen by the U.S. military, and he would have been even harder to spot if he moved without his telltale large security contingent.

Even before the war, bin Laden moved around frequently, making it difficult for the United States to determine his location and launch an attack against him.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/01/18/gen.musharraf.binladen/

Karzai: bin Laden 'probably' deadMonday, October 7, 2002 Posted: 2:34 AM EDT (0634 GMT)

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Osama bin Laden is "probably" dead, but former Taliban leader Mullah Omar is alive, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said.

Karzai's comments came on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan as part of the war on terrorism. The campaign ousted the Taliban regime, which the United States said harbored bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorism network, the group blamed for the September 11 attacks.

"I would come to believe that [bin Laden] probably is dead," Karzai said on CNN's "Late Edition" on Sunday. "But still, you never know. He might be alive. Five months ago, six months ago, I was thinking that he was alive. The more we don't hear of him, and the more time passes, there is the likelihood that he probably is either dead or seriously wounded somewhere." But he said Omar is certainly alive. "We know of that," he said. "And we have come close to arresting him several times, but he's been able to escape."

U.S. forces also have searched for Omar. Karzai, leader of Afghanistan's interim government, said Omar is a difficult man to track down "because nobody knows him by face. Nobody can recognize him. If you came across him today, somewhere in Afghanistan or in the rest of the world, you wouldn't recognize him. So that's part of the problem with him. "I believe he is most of the time inside Afghanistan. He could go, from time to time, toward our borders, but he stays around the Afghan area, sometimes close to the borders," Karzai said.

No threat

He contended the Taliban, which the United States designated a "terrorist" group, is a minimal threat to his government. "They are now a group on the run. They are no longer a government. They are no longer a political movement. They are no longer a reality in Afghanistan," Karzai said. "We don't see them as a danger in any way, of course. As a terrorist organization, as terrorist individuals, they may try to strike and they may try to assassinate or shoot people or lob bombs. That kind of activity they can do, but not a political or military threat anymore."

Karzai, who was the target of an assassination attempt September 5, said the perpetrator has been identified and is "someone very, very close to the Taliban." He insisted he is not afraid for his life: "I trust God's keeping, and when he decides I'll not be here anymore, that will be the moment. Before that, I have no fears." Karzai said U.S. and allied forces are helping to stabilize and keep Afghanistan "away from dangers," partly by training Afghan security forces. But "there are other areas in which the international community has not delivered the promises that they made, especially in the reconstruction of the basic infrastructure of Afghanistan." Karzai said his country has not received the economic support it expected from the international community for rebuilding efforts. It is not clear how much longer the United States and its allies will need to keep a military presence in Afghanistan, Karzai said. But "at this point, I think it will be very, very unwise to think that Afghanistan can be left alone." In the midst of a U.S. debate over possible military action against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, Karzai said he is unconcerned that the United States might shift its attention from Afghanistan to that country. President Bush's administration has threatened Iraq with military action, accusing it of expanding and developing weapons of mass destruction. "But I would like to remind our friends in the United States and in the international community that we have to really finish the job in Afghanistan completely," Karzai said.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/10/06/karzai.binladen/

FBI Official Thinks Bin Laden Is DeadBut There's No Evidence To Prove It, Official SaysWASHINGTON, D.C., July 17, 2002

By Joel Roberts

(CBS)  FBI counterterrorism chief Dale Watson said Wednesday he believes Osama bin Laden is dead — the first time a senior U.S. law enforcement official has publicly given an opinion on the al Qaeda leader's status.

Watson, speaking at a conference of law enforcement officials at a downtown hotel, quickly emphasized that he had no evidence that bin Laden was dead, but his comments suggest that the FBI has no intelligence that proves bin Laden is alive.

"Is (bin Laden) alive or is he dead?" Watson said. "I am not really sure of the answer ... I personally think he is probably not with us anymore but I have no evidence to support that."

Watson also said that bin Laden's network of terrorist training camps has been dismantled, but "there is no question in my mind ... we will be attacked again."

Watson, who rarely makes public appearances, is the top official for counterterrorism and counterintelligence in the FBI. He did not elaborate on his comments on bin Laden and rushed away from reporters after he spoke.

CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports speculation over bin Laden intensified in recent weeks largely because of items in the Arab press. One report claimed knowledge that bin Laden was wounded in the shoulder during fighting at his Tora Bora hideout early this year and was treated at a Pakistani hospital. Another report speculated bin Laden died in the fighting.

In June, Abu Gaith, bin Laden's spokesman, released an audiotape to an Arab television outlet. He also claimed that "Sheikh Osama Bin Laden is in good health, and those in command of al Qaeda are still carrying out their responsibilities."

Adding to the speculation is the fact that it's been several months since bin Laden has been seen, and with each taped appearance his health and appearance seemed to deteriorate.

The FBI has obtained samples of bin Laden's DNA and last month were checking it against tissue and body parts, including a skull, recovered from Afghan battlefields. The skull, however, turned out to belong to a woman.

Privately, officials can't understand why bin Laden, if he is alive, hasn't surfaced to thumb his nose at the U.S. The al Qaeda response to that is that bin Laden is just being patient and awaiting the results of the next attack on America.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/17/attack/main515468.shtml

Ex-Afghan spy chief: I knew where bin Laden was– Sun May 15, 2011, 7:17 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Afghanistan's former intelligence chief says he knew Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan four years ago, but Pakistan's leaders rejected his claims. In an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Amrullah Saleh says Afghan intelligence thought bin Laden was in the Pakistani city of Mansehra — about 12 miles away from Abbottabad, where the terrorist leader was eventually found and killed by U.S. Navy SEALs. Saleh has become a prominent critic of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s efforts to start peace talks with the Taliban. He says Pakistan should be recognized by the United States as "a hostile country." He told CBS: "They take your money. They do not co-operate. They created the Taliban. They are number one in nuclear proliferation."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110515/ap_on_re_us/us_afghanistan_bin_laden

Osama Bin Laden Pronounced Dead… For the Ninth Time By James CorbettThe Corbett ReportMay 2, 2011

When Obama pronounced Osama Bin Laden dead in a televised announcement heard round the world last night, he was at least the ninth major head of state or high-ranking government official to have done so.

Given Bin Laden’s documented kidney problems and consequent need for dialysis, government officials, heads of state and counterterrorism experts have repeatedly opined that Osama Bin Laden has in fact been dead for some time. These assertions are based on Bin Laden’s failing health in late 2001 and visible signs of his deteriorating condition, as well as actual reports of his death from the same time frame.

In July of 2001, Osama Bin Laden was flown to the American Hospital in Dubai for kidney treatment. According to French intelligence sources, he was there met by the local CIA attaché. When the agent bragged about his encounter to friends later, he was promptly recalled to Washington.

On the eve of September 11, Osama Bin Laden was staying in a Pakistani military hospital under the watchful eye of Pakistan’s ISI, the Pakistani equivalent of the CIA with deep ties to the American intelligence community.

In October 2001, Bin Laden appeared in a videotape wearing army fatigues and Islamic headdress, looking visibly pale and gaunt. In December of 2001, another videotape was released, this time showing a seriously ill Bin Laden who was seemingly unable to move his left arm.

Then on December 26, 2001, Fox News reported on a Pakistan Observer story that the Afghan Taliban had officially pronounced Osama Bin Laden dead earlier that month. According to the report, he was buried less than 24 hours later in an unmarked grave in accordance with Wahabbist Sunni practices.

What followed was a string of pronouncements from officials affirming what was already obvious: supposedly living in caves and bunkers in the mountainous pass between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Osama would have been deprived of the dialysis equipment that he required to live.

On January 18, 2002, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced quite bluntly: “I think now, frankly, he is dead.”

On July 17, 2002, the then-head of counterterrorism at the FBI, Dale Watson, told a conference of law enforcement officials that “I personally think he [Bin Laden] is probably not with us anymore,” before carefully adding that “I have no evidence to support that.”

In October 2002, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told CNN that “I would come to believe that [Bin Laden] probably is dead.”In November 2005, Senator Harry Reid revealed that he was told Osama may have died in the Pakistani earthquake of October that year.

In September 2006, French intelligence leaked a report suggesting Osama had died in Pakistan.

On November 2, 2007, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto told Al-Jazeera’s David Frost that Omar Sheikh had killed Osama Bin Laden.

In March 2009, former US foreign intelligence officer and professor of international relations at Boston University Angelo Codevilla stated: “All the evidence suggests Elvis Presley is more alive today than Osama Bin Laden.”

In May 2009, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari confirmed that his “counterparts in the American intelligence agencies” hadn’t heard anything from Bin Laden in seven years and confirmed “I don’t think he’s alive.”

Now in 2011, President Obama has added himself to the mix of people in positions of authority who have pronounced Osama Bin Laden dead. Some might charge that none of the previous reports had any credibility, but as it is now emerging that Osama’s body was buried at sea less than 12 hours after his death with no opportunity for any independent corroboration of his identity, the same question of credibility has to be leveled at this latest charge. To this point, the only evidence we have been provided that Osama Bin Laden was killed yesterday are some images on tv of a burning compound and the word of the man currently occupying the oval office.

But given that an informed consensus has formed around the opinion that Bin Laden died long ago due to kidney failure, will the people of America hold their President to the highest standard in presenting evidence that the person killed was actually Osama Bin Laden, and that he actually died in the way described, or will this pronouncement go unquestioned like so many other deaths in the never ending war of terror?

Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/osama-bin-laden-pronounced-dead%e2%80%a6-for-the-ninth-time.html

NATO official: Bin Laden living comfortably in PakistanBy Zachary RothMon Oct 18, 2010 12:03 pm ET

Osama bin Laden is living comfortably in northwest Pakistan, protected by local tribespeople and some members of the country's intelligence service, a NATO official has told CNN. The news undercuts the U.S. government's depiction of the al-Qaida leader as on the run, one terror expert tells The Upshot.

U.S. intelligence officials have long believed that bin Laden is living in the remote tribal region of northwest Pakistan. But at times, the government has also claimed that the al-Qaida leader has had to move frequently from one safehouse to another, impairing his ability to plot attacks.

The NATO official's comments undermine that claim, Michael Scheuer, a former special adviser to the chief of the CIA's bin Laden unit, told The Upshot. "It exposes the lie that Bush and Obama have been telling us since 9/11, that he was running from rock to rock and cave to cave," Scheuer said.

"Nobody in al-Qaida is living in a cave," said the unnamed official. Scheuer, who has been an outspoken critic of the U.S. approach to fighting al-Qaida, said it's unlikely that the comments reflect any valuable new piece of information.  "If this were genuine intel, they would not go public with it," he said.  "They would try to kill him." Instead, he said, the NATO official's goal is probably to put pressure on Pakistan to move its army into North Waziristan as part of the fight against the Taliban -- something NATO has been urging the Pakistani government to do for weeks now.

Brian Katulis, a national security expert at the Center for American Progress, also downplayed the comments.  "There's always been a sharp focus on how do we close the chapter by capturing or killing bin Laden,"  Catulis told The Upshot.  "I don't know that [the NATO official's comments] are based on anything new or real."

Earlier this month, Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed optimism that bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, would eventually be caught.  But according to Scheuer, the evidence that bin Laden is living in relative comfort and stability cuts against that expectation. "We're just facing reality at last," Scheuer said. "Bin Laden lives among people who: a) regard him as an Islamic hero; and b) whose tribal mores require them to protect a guest with their own lives."

Scheuer continued:  "Despite what our leaders are saying, a guy who's not moving around is not vulnerable to attack."

Pakistan's interior minister, Rehman Malik, denied to CNN that bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are in Pakistan.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101018/us_yblog_upshot/nato-official-bin-laden-living-comfortably-in-pakistan

Zardari says Osama deadPress Trust of IndiaTags : Asif Ali Zardari, Osama bin Laden, Mumbai terror attacksPosted: Fri Sep 11 2009, 03:19 hrs Islamabad

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is dead, but has sought more international aid to expand military operations against Taliban, in areas where Americans believe he may be hiding. Zardari, who completed one year in office on Wednesday, and his party-led government are under pressure from the United States and international community besides India to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks. In an interview to the BBC to mark his first year in office as President, Zardari’s main emphasis was on Pakistan’s ailing economy and to make a pitch for much more enhanced assistance from the West. “If the world’s armies and the world’s budgets cannot look after (the Afghan) side of the border, give me more time and give me the resources that I need and we will deliver,” he said. On Osama, Zardari, however, did not put forward any evidence or details in support of his claim that he was no longer alive. His remarks on Osama being dead run contrary to American belief that al-Qaeda chief is alive and is hiding in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Zardari also said the new US policy that lumps Afghanistan and Pakistan together is a mistake. The ‘Af-Pak’ terminology is wrong and the two countries need to be treated differently, he said.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/zardari-says-osama-dead/515725

Osama bin Laden 'living comfortably in Pakistan' Osama bin Laden is alive and well and living comfortably in a house in the north-west of Pakistan protected by local people and elements of the country's intelligence services, according to a senior Nato official.

By Rob Crilly in Islamabad Published: 1:10PM BST 18 Oct 2010

According to a senior NATO official Osama bin Laden is alive and well and living comfortably in a house in the north-west of Pakistan(Photo: AFP/GETTY)

The latest assessment contradicts the belief that the al-Qaeda leader is roughing it in underground bunkers as he dodged CIA drones hunting him from the air.

"Nobody in al-Qaeda is living in a cave," according to an unnamed Nato official quoted by CNN.

He added that Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's second in command, was also living in a house close by somewhere in the country's mountainous border regions.

Pakistani officials on Monday repeated their long standing denials that the Saudi-born terrorist mastermind was being given safe haven.

However, the Nato official said bin Laden was thought to have ranged from the mountainous Chitral area near the Chinese border, to the Kurram Valley which borders Afghanistan's Tora Bora, one of the Taliban strongholds during the US invasion in 2001.

North Waziristan, in particular, has become a nexus for Afghan, Pakistani and Arab militants as they plot attacks against Nato forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Earlier this month a leaked White House report accused its ally Pakistan of playing a double game by avoiding "military engagements that would put it in direct conflict with Afghan Taliban or al-Qaeda forces in North Waziristan".

A senior Pakistani security official denied that bin Laden was being protected and said the latest allegations were designed to heap pressure on Islamabad ahead of talks in Washington this week that would focus on strengthening co-operation between the two countries.

"Every time something important is happening then things like this keep creeping out," he said. "If it's not bin Laden it's something else."

Source: London Telegraphhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8070836/Osama-bin-Laden-living-comfortably-in-Pakistan.html

Osama bin Laden living in comfort in Pakistan, says NATO officialOfficial says al-Qaida leader was moving between houses in the far north-west of Pakistan, and 'not living in a cave'

Ewen MacAskill in Washington guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 October 2010 20.25 BST Article history

The Pentagon refused to confirm or deny the claim that Osama bin Laden was living in relative comfort in north-west Pakistan. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Osama bin Laden is living in relative comfort in the far north-west of Pakistan, according to a NATO official who has day-to-day responsibility for the war in Afghanistan.

The official, who has access to sensitive intelligence information, told CNN that Bin Laden was not holed up in a cave, but has been moving between houses in the Chitral district and the Kurram valley, which neighbours Tora Bora in Afghanistan, from which he fled in 2001. Recent reports had placed him much further south, in North Waziristan, the base for many Taliban insurgents moving back and forth across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Many of the US drone attacks on suspected al-Qaida and Pakistan targets have taken place in North Waziristan.

The Pentagon, acknowledging that a senior official had given a background briefing on the issue, refused to confirm or deny the CNN report.

The official said Bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are both in the same region – but not at the same location. Both are living in relative comfort. "Nobody in al-Qaida is living in a cave," the official said. The Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, is also in Pakistan, moving between Quetta and Karachi over the last few months, the official said.

The Pakistan government has repeatedly denied there is any evidence that Bin Laden or his deputy are in the country. Pakistan's interior minister, Rehman Malik, said today that similar reports in the past about the whereabouts of al-Qaida's leadership had proved false. If anyone had any information about the whereabouts of Bin Laden or Al-Zawahari, he said, they should inform the Pakistan government so "immediate action" could be taken to capture them.

Richard Holbrooke, the special US envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, said there was nothing new in what the official was saying. "We hardly have a day that goes by where somebody doesn't say they know where Osama bin Laden is," said Holbrooke.

The US administration has privately expressed concern that the Pakistan government and intelligence services are not doing enough to combat the Taliban and al-Qaida. U.S. and Pakistani officials are to hold talks in Washington this week on improving co-operation.

Source: London Guardian; http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/18/osama-bin-laden-pakistan-nato

2012: The Beginning of the End?

Activists of Bangladesh Islami Okya Jote (an Islamic Party) chant anti-American slogans with placards in Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 24, 2012, as they demonstrate over Quran burnings by American troops based in Afghanistan. (Corbis)

Afghan men stand next to blood stains and charred remains inside a home in Panjwai, Afghanistan (located in Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan) on Sunday, March 11, 2012. According to the official story, an unidentified American soldier (a staff sergeant), allegedly killed 16 Afghans, including 9 children and 3 women, in a shooting rampage. The soldier, allegedly a “lone gunman”, was later arrested for absence without leave and for his involvement in the massacre.(AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

Afghan policemen watch down from top of the Kabul police headquarters, following the killing of an American advisor in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, December 24, 2012. An Afghan policewoman killed an American adviser at the Kabul police headquarters on Monday, a senior Afghan police official said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Afghan policemen stand guard outside of Kabul police headquarters, where an American advisor was killed, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, December 24, 2012. An Afghan policewoman killed an American adviser at the Kabul police headquarters on Monday, a senior Afghan police official said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (4th right), along with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (5th right) and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James B. Cunningham, hosts a working dinner for Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on January 10, 2013. James B. Cunningham is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a private organization in New York City. (Photo: U.S. Department of State)

U.S. President Barack Obama (right) shakes hands with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai after a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on January 11, 2013. Obama and Karzai said that American forces would hand the lead in the fight against the Taliban to Afghan forces in the next few months. (Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

AP: Marine killed Feb. 1 by Afghan soldierMarch 16, 2012 4:42 AM

In this Feb. 2, 2012, file photo, the transfer case containing the remains of Marine Lance Cpl. Edward J. Dycus, 22, of Greenville, Miss., sits at the end of the loader ramp, upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP)

WASHINGTON – An Afghan soldier shot to death a 22-year-old Marine at an outpost in southwestern Afghanistan last month in a previously undisclosed case of apparent Afghan treachery that marked at least the seventh killing of an American military member by his supposed ally in the past six weeks, Marine officials said.

Lance Cpl. Edward J. Dycus of Greenville, Miss., was shot in the back of the head on Feb. 1 while standing guard at an Afghan-U.S. base in the Marja district of Helmand province. The exact circumstances have not been disclosed, but the Dycus family has been notified that he was killed by an Afghan soldier. Marine officials discussed the matter on condition of anonymity because it is still under investigation.

When the Pentagon announced Dycus' death the day after the shooting, it said he died "while conducting combat operations" in Helmand. It made no mention of treachery, which has become a growing problem for U.S. and allied forces as they work closely with Afghan forces to wind down the war.

Video: Afghan president wants U.S. troops out

The Associated Press inquired about the Dycus case after Maj. Gen. John Toolan, the top Marine commander in Afghanistan at the time, said in an AP interview March 7 that the Afghan government has been embarrassed by recent cases of Afghan soldiers turning their guns on their supposed partners.

"I had one just a month ago where a lance corporal was killed, shot in the back of the head, and the Afghan minister of defense was here the next day" to discuss custody of the shooter, Toolan said, speaking from his Regional Command-Southwest headquarters at Camp Leatherneck.

After a negotiation aimed at ensuring the Afghan suspect is prosecuted, the Americans turned him over to Afghan government custody, another official said.

Toolan did not further identify the victim. He mentioned the case while explaining the importance of stopping Afghan treachery as U.S. forces step back from a direct combat role in Helmand and other areas of Afghanistan to a new mission of advising and assisting Afghan soldiers and police. That role, which is in full swing in Helmand, puts U.S. and other NATO troops in closer

contact with Afghans at a time when tensions between the two sides have been heightened by an American soldier's alleged killing Sunday of 16 Afghan civilians.

"The Marines and soldiers that are doing the advising work out here understand that if they can't live side by side and operate day in and day out with the Afghans, then they are not going to be able to achieve what they need to achieve as far as relationship building," Toolan said.

A central premise of the war strategy is that success cannot be achieved until Afghan forces are capable of providing security largely on their own and that this will not happen unless American and other coalition forces partner with Afghans at every level to train, advise and mentor them.

In the latest setback, an Afghan civilian interpreter at a British base in Helmand province stole a coalition pickup truck, drove it at high speed onto an airfield ramp and crashed it just as a plane carrying Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was landing Wednesday.

Military: Afghan "intended harm" in runway attack

Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparotti, the No. 2 overall commander in Afghanistan, told reporters that the truck was headed toward a group of U.S. Marines assembled on the tarmac for Panetta's arrival. Neither the Marines nor others in Panetta's welcoming party were injured; the Afghan died of burns sustained in the crash.

Dycus was assigned to 2nd battalion, 9th Marine regiment, 2nd Marine Division from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Known to friends and family as "Eddie," he graduated from Riverside High School in Greenville in 2008. According to a Mississippi state Senate resolution honoring his life and service, Dycus deployed to Afghanistan on his 22nd birthday, Dec. 12, 2011.

Dycus' killing happened nearly three weeks before the burning of Muslim holy books at Bagram air base, an event that American officials said was accidental but that triggered a wave of protests across Afghanistan and is linked to six other killings of American troops by Afghans.

Two U.S. soldiers were gunned down by an Afghan soldier Feb 23 in Nangahar province; an Air Force lieutenant colonel and an Army major were killed inside the Afghan government office in Kabul and two Army paratroopers were killed by Afghan soldiers in Kandahar province on March 1.

In none of those cases did the Pentagon's casualty announcement mention that the Americans were killed by their supposed Afghan allies. It said, for example, that the two killed Feb. 23 died of "wounds suffered when their unit came under small arms fire." It happened amid an anti-American protest outside the Americans' base. Two protesters were killed by Afghan police there before the Afghan soldier turned his gun on U.S. troops.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57398610/ap-marine-killed-feb-1-by-afghan-soldier/

Afghan troops keep killing US troops Two more US soldiers were killed in a gunfight with an Afghan soldier today, bringing the total to six Americans killed in incidents since Qurans were burned at a US base.

By Dan Murphy, Staff writer / March 1, 2012 Christian Science Monitor

An Afghan soldier and an Afghan civilian employee murdered two US soldiers at a base near the southern city of Kandahar today.

That brings the total so-called green on blue killings in Afghanistan to six since an Afghan witnessed US soldiers dumping Qurans into a burn bit at Bagram Air Base a week ago. The heightened levels of violence since then, with mobs besieging NATO and UN compounds across Afghanistan, brings into stark relief the fundamental failure of the US-led mission in Afghanistan OVER the past 10 years.

There are growing, not decreasing, numbers of Afghans angry at the foreign occupation. Corruption and thuggery within the Afghan government installed and protected by NATO remain rampant and the Taliban remain active across large parts of the country. 

IN PHOTOS Afghanistan in Winter

Though much of the blame for the failings of the Afghan government lie with Afghans like President Hamid Karzai, who owes his current position to a fraud-marred election two years ago, the large presence of foreign troops and the vast cultural gulf between them and most Afghans, make them convenient targets for public ire.

And the willingness of Afghan soldiers to turn their guns on US forces, usually in heavily fortified installations in what amount to suicide missions, is a dark indication of the fragility of the local forces being built – and of their loyalty to the state. For every Afghan soldier who takes such a drastic step, there are surely more who are sympathetic with their aims.

At the end of January, Pentagon officials told a Senate hearing that 70 NATO soldiers have been killed by Afghan forces since 2007. The murder of two US officers in the heart of the Afghan Interior Ministry last week prompted the withdrawal of hundreds of US and other foreign advisers from Afghan government installations. The Interior Ministry and the rest of the Afghan government are almost entirely financed by European and American taxpayers and are now without hands-on oversight from those nations.

To be sure, NATO press releases and embedded reporters continue to pump out anecdotes of steady progress, like this piece from a few days ago titled "Stability takes root in Kandahar." In the article, Capt. Widmar Roman explains: "The amount of security down here is unparalleled compared to what people have seen in the past."

Perhaps. But stories of "slow but steady progress" have been common over the past decade of war. And it's natural that mission-focused soldiers and officers report progress in the areas under their control. The Pentagon wants to present a view of progress to maintain support for the war, and the can-do qualities of soldiers inculcates in them a bias towards optimism, particularly when talking to the press.

But quantitative analysis is something else again. Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who has been mining data on both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since their inception, has a far grimmer outlook.

"The reality... is that the strategy developed under General Stanley McCrystal has been dying for a long time and for many more reasons than the growing distrust between US and ISAF personnel and the Afghans," Mr. Cordesman wrote at the end of February. "It was clear from the start in forming the new strategy that no number of tactical victories could bring security and stability to Afghanistan unless a massive effort in 'nation building' gave Afghanistan a more honest political system, far more capability in governance, effective security forces, and a better economy... Without such success, 'classic counterinsurgency (COIN)' became a farce that could win temporary control in sparsely populated areas like Helmand — the strategic equivalent of “ink spots”— for a while. It could never win the war."

(A long review of the COIN strategy adopted in Afghanistan can be read here).

The recent violence in Afghanistan comes as the Obama administration is reviewing its commitment to Afghanistan. Last June President Obama promised to have 33,000 US troops out of Afghanistan by this coming summer, and promised that "after this initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace as Afghan security forces move into the lead. Our mission will change from combat to support."

The US public appetite for the Afghan war is on the decline as the country steams toward presidential elections, something Obama and his rivals are well aware of. Meanwhile, there is little evidence that Afghan forces can act effectively in the field without a massive NATO logistics and supply backstop. In his piece, Cordesman says that the latest US approach could have worked with a truly open-ended commitment, and all the losses in blood and treasure that it implies.

But the US public has never tolerated that kind of military commitment and the Afghan war is already the longest in US history. The previous record was Vietnam, at 103 months. The Afghan war is now at 124 months and counting. While the US military will soldier on as long as it's asked to, the US voter will not. 

Cordesman writes that Obama "faced hard choices in terms of budget pressures, a war that polls showed had lost the support of the American people, as well as the populations of most of United States’ allies" but that the consequence of those choices means the US will now "lack the forces to execute its current campaign plan in both the east and the south in 2012, while it now had to rush toward a political deadline at the end of 2014 for which there was no transition plan or supporting analysis."

These realities have seen an increased urgency to backchannel talks with the Taliban on a peace settlement, which last year was allowed to open a political office in Qatar. Whether a deal can be reached or not, the current mood of electorates in both the US and Europe indicates the Afghan war is heading into the home stretch. Until it crosses the line, though, it looks like soldiers will keep dying, and some of them will be killed by Afghan troops they're there to support.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2012/0301/Afghan-troops-keep-killing-US-troops

Afghan police officers stand guard to maintain security on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway in Kabul, Afghanistan on February 21, 2012 where hundreds of protesters staged a demonstration. Many Afghans in Kabul were protesting against the alleged burning of the Holy Quran by American troops at Bagram Air Base in central Parwan province. (Corbis)

Afghans protest outside Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan on February 21, 2012 following the inadvertent burning of the Koran and other Islamic religious materials. The top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan apologized and ordered an investigation.

David Cameron (left), the Prime Minister of Great Britain, greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (right) at 10 Downing Street (Prime Minister’s Office) in London on August 2, 2012.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin upon his arrival at 10 Downing Street in London on October 5, 2005. (© Richard Lewis/epa/Corbis)

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’d President Asif Ali Zardari meet at a conference in Yekatrinburg, Russia on June 16, 2009. (Photo: http://old.tehrantimes.com/index_view.asp?code=196909)

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left), Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (center), and Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari attend a summit in Tehran, Iran on Sunday, May 24, 2009. Among the agenda discussed at the summit were fighting terrorism and drug trafficking. (© ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/epa/Corbis)

Mandawi bazaar, Kabul's busiest open-air market, bustles with shoppers and vendors. This sprawling network of narrow streets and shops managed to escape major damage during Afghanistan's decades of war. (Photo: National Geographic)

Deep ethnic and religious divides are briefly bridged at the Hazrat Ali mosque in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, where Sunni and Shiite alike come to pray. The shrine is believed by many to be the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law. (Photo: National Geographic)

President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai and an Honour Guard greets His Highness the Aga Khan at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on June 4, 2007. (Photo: http://www.akdn.org/programmes_eec_photos.asp)

U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey (left), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (since October 1, 2011), meets with President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 22, 2013. Gen. Martin Dempsey served as the Army Chief of Staff from April 11, 2011 until September 7, 2011. (U.S. Department of Defense photo by D. Myles Cullen)

Previous Foreign Interventions in Afghanistan

First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842) & Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880)

Left picture: A British-Indian force attacks the Ghazni fort during the First Afghan War in 1839

Right picture: Artistic depiction of Afghan tribesmen slaughtering British and Indian troops during the First Anglo-Afghan War in 1842. The First Anglo-Afghan War lasted from 1839 to 1842. The British East India Company feared Russian encroachment and colonization of Afghanistan and requested that the British army occupy Afghanistan. The British army inflicted mass casualties and destroyed parts of Kabul (present-day capital of Afghanistan) before withdrawing from Afghanistan in 1842. The Second Anglo-Afghan War occurred from 1878 to 1880.

92nd Highlanders and 2nd Gurkhas storm the Gaudi Mullah Sahibdad at Kandahar, Afghanistan on September 1, 1880 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, which occurred from 1878 to 1880. Afghanistan was forced to sign an unequal treaty with the British Empire at the end of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. (Source: D. Chandler (ed.): The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army, Oxford University Press 1994)

Mohammad Yaqub Khan of Afghanistan (in the middle) appears with Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari of Britain (2nd left) on May 26, 1879. In May 1879, Yakub Khan travelled to Gandamak, a village just outside Jalalabad and entered into negotiations with Cavagnari as a result of which the Treaty of Gandamak was signed whereby the Amir ceded territories to the British and accepted a British envoy in Kabul. Cavagnari took up the post of British Resident in Kabul in July 1879. He was known to be reckless and arrogant rather than discreet and his role as envoy was viewed as injudicious even by some of the British. The situation in Kabul was tense and eventually some Afghan troops who had not been paid by the Amir rebelled and attacked the Residency, killing Cavagnari and his mission in September 1879. The war was far from over despite the treaty and British troops were recalled over the mountains to occupy Kabul, secure it and launch punitive action against the Afghans. Yakub Khan abdicated, taking refuge in the British camp and was subsequently sent to India in December.(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mohammad_Yaqub_Khan_with_British_officers_in_May_of_1879.jpg)

A map of Afghanistan and Pakistan showing the 1893 Treaty Boundary (Durand Line). The Third Anglo-Afghan War was fought from May 6, 1919 until August 8, 1919, when an armistice was signed. Afghanistan was allowed to continue to conduct its own foreign affairs following the 1919 armistice; Britain regulated Afghanistan’s foreign affairs from 1879 until 1919.

The Reign of King of Afghanistan Mohammed Zahir Shah

American President John F. Kennedy attends a dinner in honor of King Mohammad Ẓahir Shah and Queen Humaira Begum of Afghanistan in the Entrance Hall of the White House in Washington, D.C. on September 5, 1963. Standing in front of the Grand Staircase, from left to right: President Kennedy’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, King Ẓahir, Queen Humaira, and President Kennedy. (Photo: Robert Knudsen, White House Photographs, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)

President John F. Kennedy (left) shakes hands with King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ẓahir Shah (right), upon the King’s arrival at the North Portico of the White House for a dinner in his honor on September 5, 1963. Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke, stands in center. Angier Biddle Duke was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.(Photo: Abbie Rowe, White House Photographs, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)

King of Afghanistan Mohammed Zahir Shah and U.S. President John F. Kennedy greet the crowd while riding in an open motorcade in Washington, D.C. in September 1963. The King’s visit to the U.S. capital in September 1963 was received with great enthusiasm. Afghan flags and banners welcomed the Monarch as he and John F. Kennedy rode through the city in the President’s limousine. The King and Queen’s schedule included appearances at the Islamic Center, the Freer Gallery of Art, and Arlington National Cemetery. (Courtesy of the National Archives of Afghanistan, Ministry of Information and Culture)http://www.meridian.org/insmallthingsremembered/king-zahir-shah-and-president-kennedy-greet-the-crowd

American President Harry S. Truman (left) confers with Prime Minister of Afghanistan Shah Mahmood (right) and Afghan Chargé d’affaires Abdul Hamid Aziz (center) in Washington, D.C., 1951. During his visit to Washington, D.C., the Prime Minister watched a New York Yankees-Washington Senators baseball game with then-Ambassador to Afghanistan Louis G. Dreyfus and toured the National Gallery of Art with former Minister Cornelius Van H. Engert. The highlight of the trip was a luncheon with President Truman at Blair House.(Photo: Courtesy of the National Archives Still Picture Unit. Photograph by Oliver Pfeiffer)http://www.meridian.org/insmallthingsremembered/president-harry-s-truman-confers-with-prime-minister-shah-mahmood-right-and-afghan-charge-d%E2%80%99affaires-abdul-hamid-aziz-center

Mohammed Zahir Shah, the King of Afghanistan, meets with former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower at Eisenhower’s farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1963. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.(Courtesy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum)http://www.meridian.org/insmallthingsremembered/the-king-meets-with-former-president-eisenhower-at-the-gettysburg-farm

American President Dwight D. Eisenhower and King of Afghanistan Mohammad Zahir Shah wave to the crowd during Eisenhower’s visit to Kabul, Afghanistan on December 9, 1959. President Dwight D. Eisenhower met with the King of Afghanistan to discuss Soviet influence in the region and increased U.S. aid to Afghanistan. (Thomas J. O'Halloran) 

Prime Minister of Afghanistan Mohammed Daoud (left) and Vice President of the United States Richard Nixon visit the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. in 1958. Mohammed Daoud met with U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, signed an important cultural exchange agreement, and reaffirmed personal relations with Vice President Richard Nixon that had begun during the latter’s trip to Kabul, Afghanistan in 1953. The Prime Minister also traveled around the United States visiting the New York Stock Exchange, the Empire State Building, hydroelectric facilities at the Tennessee Valley Authority, and other sites. (Photo: Courtesy of the National Archives Still Picture Unit; Photograph by Oliver Pfeiffer)http://www.meridian.org/insmallthingsremembered/prime-minister-daoud-and-vice-president-nixon-visit-the-u-s-capitol-building

Prime Minister of Afghanistan Mohammed Daoud [Khan] (center) and U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (left) sign a cultural exchange agreement in Washington, D.C. in 1958. The Afghan Prime Minister signed this agreement while in the U.S. capital to meet with President Eisenhower and speak before Congress. The accord encouraged tours by American artists and musicians who performed for audiences in Afghanistan. John Foster Dulles was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.(Courtesy of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Washington, D.C.)http://www.meridian.org/insmallthingsremembered/prime-minister-mohammed-daoud-and-secretary-of-state-john-foster-dulles-sign-a-cultural-exchange-agreement

Mohammed Daoud [Khan] served as the Prime Minister of Afghanistan from September 7, 1953 until March 10, 1963 and President of Afghanistan from July 17, 1973 until his assassination on April 28, 1978. Mohammed Daoud [Khan] deposed King of Afghanistan Mohammad Zahir Shah in a bloodless coup d’etat on July 17, 1973.

Men stroll past roadside vendors as a painted truck makes its way through the busy street in Kabul, Afghanistan in November 1961. (AP Photo/Henry S. Bradsher)

Street scene in Kabul, Afghanistan in November 1961 (AP Photo/Henry Burroughs)

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (black hat), and Marshal Nikolai Bulganin review an Afghan honor guard wearing old German uniforms, on their arrival in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 15, 1955. At left is the Afghan Prime Minister Sardar Mohammed Daud Khan, and behind, in cap, the foreign minister, Prince Naim. (AP Photo)

Afghan soldiers stand outside the gate of Afghan Defense Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, the day after Saur revolution, on April 28, 1978. President of Afghanistan Mohammed Daoud [Khan] was assassinated on April 28, 1978.

Afghan soldiers examine a shattered tank the day after the Saur revolution in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 28, 1978.

Chief Justice Shinwani from the Supreme Court of Afghanistan (2nd right) administers the Oath of Office for the Presidential Inauguration to the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on December 7, 2004. Mohammed Zahir Shah (1914-2007), the former King of Afghanistan, is seated at the far right during the oath of office ceremony of Hamid Karzai. Mohammed Zahir Shah served as King of Afghanistan from November, 8 1933 until July 17, 1973, when he was deposed in a coup d’etat. Mohammed Zahir Shah’s father Mohammed Nadir Shah was the King of Afghanistan from October 16, 1929 until his death on November 8, 1933, when he was assassinated by a long gunman in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Mohammed Zahir Shah (1914-2007), King of Afghanistan

Soviet Invasion and Occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989)

A Soviet army parade takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Soviet War in Afghanistan lasted from December 24, 1979 to February 15, 1989. The Soviet government under Mikhail Gorbachev withdrew from Afghanistan.

Afghan mujahidin prepare to fight the Soviet Red Army invaders stationed in Afghanistan in 1980. (Mingam - Gamma/Liaison)

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet War in Afghanistan lasted from December 24, 1979 to February 15, 1989.

Map of Major Insurgent Groups in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s