Q&A: NBC News Terrorism Expert Roger Cressey

Roger,

Please tell me why, since we know where these training bases are, we are not taking them out?? It is unbelievable to me that we talk about and know that there are Al-Queda training bases along the Afgan / Pakistan borders, and yet we don't go an annihilate them!!! What the hell are we doing to ourselves?

In light of the recent article I wrote touching on some of the historical problems in dealing with the real source of terrorism insofar as al Qaeda is concerned, the tribal areas of Pakistan, I would ask what your views are in order to get at this problem? It would seem to me a near impossibility without a lot more assistance from the Pakistanis than they've been able to summon so far. When Obama and McCain talk about sending a couple of more brigades to Afghanistan they're not fooling informed observers who know that boots on the western side of the Durand Line are likely to mean very little in and of themselves.

Strange, verrrrry strange. This item has been floating around CNN for a while. I see no sign of it on MSNBC?

Here is a good source of questions for any concerned person seeking a better way forward.

Roger, what are the accurate stats on terrorist attacks since 2000? For this purpose, how is "terrorism" defined? Are terrorist attacks on the rise or not? Where do these attacks occur? How many people die or are seriously injured each year?

Lastly, is there anything we can do if most of the attacks are committed by suicide bombers or insiders? In those cases, a Hellfire missile would seem unusable. How much money are we spending each year to procure Predator drones and Hellfire rockets? Are they cost-effective?

Isn't true the President once supported Bin Laden? I believe if the government really wanted to find him, they would have his head already!

It seems obvious to me that the Pakistanis are not our friends even though they claim to be. While they talk a good game about how much they dislike terrorism and Al Q., they certainly seem to support our enemies and their beliefs. After 9/11, George Bush said: "If you're not with us, we will take the view that you are against us." Why have we not enforced that? Why not just be direct? How can we expect the world to respect us if we insist on playing these "Diplomatic" games? Would it not be more prudent to send a message and go after our enemies wherever they are? A straight forward approach is much more likely to gain the desired results.

Can't we explain to those people in the tribal areas of Pakistan that the civilians who are being accidentally killed during those missile strikes are being killed not because of the US but because the Taliban are using them to cowardly hide behind? If this is brought home to their minds wouldn't the "light come on" (so to speak) making them realize that the innocents are dying BECAUSE of the Taliban and not us?

Also I believe that it is imperative to turn them around by winning their hearts and minds with real financial aid in those regions and show what America is really about with our genuine old-fashioned hard-working benevolence. (and ,es, I know this is asking alot what with the difficulty in getting those funds thruogh all the red-tape and politics unscathed). If that could ever happen THEN the Taliban would have something to worry about and it would be unstoppable.

Hi Roger, what is the intended military involvement for next year and the year after? after the AUS commando left, and what is the intended target for invading Iraq? since was UBL's insurgents who hijacked the planes were from Afghanistan and the Pakistan boarder, plus shouldn't we be stepping up to stop the insurgents recruiting in Pakistan and Iran, also an another question, why unt the USMC applying the "winning the heart and mind" strategy? are you able to reply me to my personal email for my questions, as i won't be able to attend the meeting due to the time difference

Regards,
Max
Australia

Roger,

I feel so sorry for my fellow Americans who know very little about the history and hardly understand anything what is going on within Pakistan itself. I was born in Karachi,Pakistan which is the most modern city in south and today I am proud to be a U.S Citizen.

Before we make any decisions or make any comments about any country we really need to do a very good case study of that country. What is going on in Pakistan today is somewhat similar to what happened in U.S 50-100 years ago. It is pretty much the same thing we have today between conservatives(and evangelists) and liberal. Pakistan is also today divided in to 2 parts one who believe in the conservative interpretation of Islam introduced by Al - Hanbali thought of school(Wahabis are mostly part of this) and the other part is more moderate like Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan has been little unfortunate in the area of education and because of that people's level of maturity is still growing and not grown fully yet. But you got to also realize that before Musharraf came there were only 4-5 TV channels and today there are more than 2 dozen private TV channels which doesn't hide anything from people. People are becoming more and more aware of the issues but everything takes time. Their growth cannot be at our rate.

What saddens me the most is when our fellow citizens asks to enter or invade anyone's country so easily. Do we ever think how would we feel as an American if someone would to enter our country and take over us?

I very strongly disagree with the statement in our country that "you have to fight for freedom".

Are we taking the meeting of fight literally like those Jihadis who has taken the wrong meaning of Jihad as "Holy War" instead of its real meaning which is "struggle".

Bin Laden is an extremely wealthy person, maybe he has lost faith in Al Quida and has been sitting on a beach somewhere drinking pina coladas for the last five years. after all, his own people may not have even seen him and don't know he left. it beats sitting in a cave somewhere and if he got a shave and wore regular clothes he could probably walk down the street in front of everyone.

Seems to me that our worst enemy in this war on terror is the ACLU, far left liberals and/or human rights activist. Looking back at Hiroshima, it was a terrible, tragic way to put an end to a drawn out war but it did what it was intended to do. Put an end to the bloodshed on both sides. You see, fear is the only thing that controls humans. If you fear something, you want do it. That is how Saddam was able to keep all his many different religous groups in check, FEAR. It's sad to say but most of the people in the poorest most isolated areas in the Middle East are still living in Biblical times. Nothing has changed for them. All they know is hate. They hate each other, they hate anyone that is not Muslim, HATE that they have will never change in our lifetime. The only way to bring out the fear in these people is when they are having a march, protesting the westerners(infidels), shooting firearms in the air, burning American Flags etc., drop a bomb in the center of them. Go after them with all we have. They sure have no conscious or after thoughts of beheading an innocent person and broadcasting it over the airways for civilized society to see. The worst part is seeing them shouting in glee after this. America has lost it's edge by cowering down to the liberals. We must show the world that we will do everything in our power to protect every descent, free person walking this earth. Not just us Americans but we protect all peoples rights.

Sometime we should first out lines before commenting on someone else. Mark with all due respect to you, you seem to contradict your own comments. You are saying "We must show the world that we will do everything in our power to protect every descent, free person walking this earth. Not just us Americans but we protect all peoples rights." and then also mention "You see, fear is the only thing that controls humans". By putting fear on people what kind of human rights you are giving to them.

According to Marc W. Herold's Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing at least 3,700 and probably closer to 5,000 civilians were killed by the end of 2002 as a result of U.S. bombing.[132] Herold's study omitted those killed indirectly, when air strikes cut off their access to hospitals, food or electricity. Also exempt were bomb victims who later died of their injuries. When there were different casualty figures from the same incident, in 90% of cases Professor Herold chose a lower figure.

So now please tell me by killing innocent people what will be the difference between us and AL-Qaeda.

You mentioned "It's sad to say but most of the people in the poorest most isolated areas in the Middle East are still living in Biblical times." It seems like you agree that the problem is poverty. It that is the case then why don't we don something to eliminate the poverty rather than invading country by country. We could have very well spend the same money to open schools and colleges which could have served our purpose much better.

Sorry to say but the sad part is that its not a "Clash of Civilization", but "Clash of Ignorance"

I would like to know what the data is currently showing about the effect that the war in Iraq has had on the fomentation of terrorism and terrorist sympathies amongst young Muslims. Can we truthfully say that the war has created more terrorists? If so, how many more? Thank you.

I'm a fairly conservative person, not very worldly but rather cynical. And still it would not occur to me to consider fear (through another a-bomb, through bombing protesters, etc.) to be a good way to help reinforce our message of bringing an end to terrorism. What do you believe would be an effective way for our country to deal with extremists...either those who have already become terrorists or those who burn our flags, preach hate for how we live, and (many times) provide funding to actual terrorists? I fear that most Americans picture terrorists as grubby little 'natives' who are mentally and socially stuck back in Biblical times. Many people from other countries put a premium on higher education because for them it enriches their minds and overall well-being while many people in the U.S. use higher education as a tool to get ahead, achieve status and acquire more things. How can we really make any headway if we keep coming at it from the perspective that we have the only good ideas and the only right answer and we just need to drop money and candy bars out in the middle of nowhere and people will be convinced to side with us over their own co-religionists? I feel like we are so busy spouting our own narrow beliefs and rhetoric that we can't hear the reality that people from other cultures and religions are attempting to share with us. Whether they ultimately are right or wrong, how can we defend ourselves if we don't truly understand what it is we are fighting against? Given your former position in national defense I would appreciate hearing your take on that.

We are playing a CAT and MOUSE game with BEN, the only thing is that we are very dumb cats. Why announce to the world of the change in our tactics? Why not just make the changes, catch him and then let the public know how it was done when it's all over, to me this is more of a better way to do it.

Since Republicans love to play the "fear" card all the time to justify their terror positions, I just want to throw this out. It's 3:00am in the White House. John Mccain is out hunting with Dick Cheney. Sarah Palin answers the phone. With her knowledge of world affairs, should we be scared?

Get your intrusion into my news article out of the way. I cannot read my article with your blog.

Is it possible that we have given Osama bin Ladin too much power by pursuing him so aggressively? Is it too late to change the game? Is it practical to change the military strategy to more or less maintain defense of civilized areas? For example, not chopping down opium fields, not using air strikes or heavy artillery (or severely limiting it's use), and relaxing the search methods? Would you believe that a more relaxed approach could jeopardize national security? Also, who would agree that preserving civilization would be the best strategy rather than tearing it apart? Would you agree that national security here has not been improved by our strategy? What parts of our ani-terroism plan have worked, and which ones haven't?

What's your opinion on the recent report by the Rand Corporation "How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al Qa'ida?"

What do you think is the single most important step the next administration can take to avoid another September 11th?

The Webster dictionary refers to a terrorist as a person involved in "a systematic covert warfare to produce terror for political reasons." The US and the rest of the Western Press has adopted from the beginning an ambivalent approach to terrorists calling them "terrorists" when the terrorist act occurs in the US or Europe for instance, yet calling them "militants" when the terrorist act is committed in Israel. What is the reason for this kind of unequal treatment, since this arbitrary and unjustified classification provides an undeserved moral support to those committing these crimes?

Roger, are u familiar with this book? If so, do u believe their are such ties and connections? "Further details of the business and financial relationships between the Bush and bin Laden family are found in Peter Brewton's 1992 book The Mafia, CIA and George Bush. BCCI, incidentally, was founded by a Pakistani."

HELLO MR CRESSEY,
I'M A 47 YEAR OLD MARRIED MOTHER OF FIVE WHO RETIRED FROM THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT IN 2006 AFTER 20 YEARS OF SERVICE. I WORKED BOTH THE 93 AND 2001 ATTACKS I CAN'T BEGIN TO DESCRIBE IN WORDS HOW I FELT AND WHAT I SAW. I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO FELLOW AMERICANS WAKE UP I'M SO DISAPPOINTED IN ALL THIS MUD SWINGING BETWEEN THESE TWO CANDIDATES I FEEL LIKE OUR COUNTRY IS BEING PUNK-ED CAN WE PLEASE FOCUS ON THE ISSUES. I BELIEVED THE PRESIDENT WAS REALLY GOING TO CAPTURE BIN-LADEN BUT SOMETHING WENT WRONG AND NOW MASS DESTRUCTION IN IRAQ AND HATRED ACROSS THE WORLD. LEAVING US ALONE TO FEND FOR OURSELVES. HAVE WE FORGOTTEN BIN-LADEN WANTS TO DESTROY OUR ECONOMY AND HE'S SUCCEEDING. MOST AMERICANS HAVE NO IDEA WHATS HAPPENING. COMING FROM LAW-ENFORCEMENT AND HAVING MORE THAN 15 FAMILY MEMBERS IN THE MILITARY I DO KNOW A LITTLE SOMETHING AND I'VE BEEN IN POLITICAL CIRCLES PLUS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN POLITICS FOR SOMETIME. I WATCH ALL MAJOR STATIONS AS WELL AS CSPAN. I CAN'T PREDICT THE FUTURE BUT I CAN FOCUS ON THE ISSUES. NO MATTER WHO ENDS UP BECOMING THE PRESIDENT IT WILL TAKE LONGER THAN 4 YEARS TO FIX. I HAVE A FRIEND WHO LOST HIS 4 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AND WIFE ON THE SECOND PLANE UNITED#175 AND I WILL BE DOING A DEDICATION FOR HIM. PEOPLE PUT ALL NONSENSE AWAY TOMORROW AND LETS RESPECT THE VICTIMS OF 9-11. REMEMBER A TOTAL OF 8 CHILDREN DIED WHO WERE ON THESE PLANES. THANK YOU NYCPD

I think that too much is made of political correctness, and not enough mind is paid to common sense, common decency, and what is right and wrong by OUR STANDARDS as posed by the Ten Commandments, as well as the Constitution of the United States.
If we can't get past all the b.s., I believe we should bring our young men and women home. Too much political interference for the military professionals to function, and do what they know. Collateral damage happens when cowards (terrorists) hide among the civilians. When the civilians figure this out, perhaps some positive change can happen. But I believe that it is absolutely wrong to accord any of these murderers rights of any kind, much less rights of Americans. To prosecute our soldiers is gross stupidity on our part. We play by our rules, and the enemy won't play by ours, and we can't play by theirs. Why, when Vietnam taught some sobering lessons, are we still there? We ARE going to lose this war people, unless somebody gets their head out soon.