Blair Lists Terrorists Believed To Be Working With al-Qaeda

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair lists terrorists that are believed to be affiliated with Al-Qaida during an Annual Threat Assessment hearing on Wednesday. (:47)
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Is al-Qaida still a threat? The U.S. should find out

Director of Homeland Security at the Center for American Progress Action Fund P.J. Crowley says that we must figure out how dangerous al-Qaida is right now. (0:54)
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Taliban rises again

Foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute Malou Innocent discusses how the Taliban and al-Qaida have been able to takeover the tribal lands on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.(0:30)
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Al-Qaida may try to influence election

Specialist in Terrorism and National Security Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division John Rollins mentions that the attack on the U.S. embassy in Yemen might have been an attempt to influence the election.
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al-Qaida affiliate warns of “blacker days than the 11th September incident”

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley says at an address to the Proliferation Society Initiative that the new global terrorists are ideologically driven, and have slaughter innocent people in the United States and many other nations. He says these terrorists seek “even more destructive power” through weapons of mass destructions. He quoted a warning by an al-Qaida affiliate that they are seeking conventional, chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons, and that there will be “blacker days than the 11th September incident.” (0:32)
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Where al- Qaida attacks in Iraq, targets Iraqi security forces

During a live satellite press conference at the Pentagon, Col. Louis Craparotta, commander of Regional Command 1 out of Camp Fallujah, said that while he considers the enemy neutralized, when al-Qaida in Iraq does attack it attacks Iraqi security forces in an attempt to destabilize security operations. (1:07)
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Crocker: Status of forces will not tie the hands of the next president

Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) questions Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multinational Forces Iraq, and Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker about the future of U.S. politics and Iraq. (1:51)
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Senator Obama says we should be talking to Iran

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Iraq After the Surge: What Next?" Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) says he thinks the surge has reduced violence and given breathing room, but that breathing room has not been taken the way they would all like it to be taken. The political situation is complicated there, and we have to work vigorously to resolve it. In your own words Ambassador [Ryan Crocker], Obama says, if we increase pressure in a measured way, that, in my mind, includes a timetable for withdrawal. It has to be a diplomatic surge that includes Iran, because if Maliki can tolerate normal neighbor to neighbor relations in Iran, then we should be talking to them as well because I don't believe we are going to be able to stabilize the situation without them. (:28)
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Senator Obama says a messy sloppy status quo is an achievable goal

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Iraq After the Surge: What Next?" Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) says he's not suggesting that we yank out our troops all the way, but the problem that he has is that the definition of success is so high with no traces of al-Qaida, no possibility of reconstitution, a highly effective Iraqi government, a functioning democracy, no Iranian influence (the kind we don't like), and so that gives the possibility of us staying for twenty or thirty years. If our criteria is a messy, sloppy status quo but there is not a huge outbreak of violence, and its not a threat to its neighbors, that is an achievable goal within a measurable time frame, and that is what I think the committee is trying to get to. (1:10)
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General Petraeus says we have our teeth in their jugular

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Iraq After the Surge: What Next?" General David Petraeus says if the progress [in Iraq] revolves around al-Qaida regaining lost ground and gaining influence and using that as a base to spread further, [questioned by Senator Richard Lugar, (R-IN)] we will stay after them tenaciously and stay after them every day. We've got the forces we need, I believe, and we've got our teeth into their jugular and we need to keep it there. (:41)
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Ambassador Crocker says the gains in Iraq are fragile

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Iraq After the Surge: What Next?" Ambassador Ryan Crocker says everything in Iraq is hard, and it will continue to be hard. But hard does not mean hopeless, he says, and the progress is significant. The gains are fragile and they are reversible. (:24)
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If God came down and chose which section of al-Qaida to eliminate, what section should it be?

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Iraq After the Surge: What Next?" Chairman Joseph Biden (D-DE) says "In a choice, the Lord Almighty came down and sat in the middle of the table there and said, 'Mr. Ambassador, you can eliminate every al-Qaida source in Afghanistan and Pakistan or every al-Qaida personnel in Iraq,' which would you pick?" U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, says he would choose al-Qaida in the Afghanistan Pakistan border area. "That would be a smart choice," Biden says. (:33)
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Petraeus: al-Qaida is farther from their goal

Answering questions from Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of Multinational Forces Iraq says that al-Qaida is further from their goal of establishing a base in the Middle East because of the surge in U.S. forces in 2007. (0:42)
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Gen. Odierno credits change in tactics for post-surge security improvements

Gen. Raymond Odierno, former commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, summarizing his 15 months in Iraq, says that a change in tactics following the surge helped to eliminate safe havens for al-Qaida. (0:42)
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Gen. Odierno says assessment will be important to the next U.S. president

Gen. Raymond Odierno, former commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, says that no matter who the next president is they should keep in mind assessment of conditions on the ground before implementing a new troop withdrawal strategy. (0:44)
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Gen. Odierno blames "Iranian surrogates" for security troubles in Iraq

Gen. Raymond Odierno, former commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, gave his assessment of Iranian involvement in Iraq through their training and funding of other militant groups inside Iraq. He said that president Ahmadinejad's recent safe visit was due to these surrogates backing off in the Iranian leader's presence. (0:55)
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Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte Discusses Spreading Violence in Pakistan at Senate Foreign Relations Committee

At a hearing entitled “U.S. Policy Options in Post-Election Pakistan,” Negroponte discusses the threat posed by violence spreading out of the "FATA" (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) into the 'settled' areas. However, he also notes the recent election and other indications from the Pakistani people of their interest in stability, democracy, and combating such threats of violence within their borders. (0:39)
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Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte Calls Afghanistan and Pakistan 'Flip Sides of the Same Coin' at Senate Foreign Relations Committee

At a hearing entitled “U.S. Policy Options in Post-Election Pakistan,” Negroponte discusses the importance of the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in winning the fight against terror, stressing that problems on one side can't be solved without addressing those of the other. (0:34)
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FBI Director Mueller states the three largest threats to the U.S.

During the Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National Intelligence for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, FBI Director Robert Mueller says that Al-Qa'ida is a critical threat to the Homeland. He says that a second threat is self-directed groups not part of Al-Qa'ida's formal structure but that are tied to Al-Qa'ida through money or training. The third threat, he says, is "self-radicalized, home grown extremists" in the United States. They are inspired, he said, by messages of violence often through the internet and that they are difficult to detect because they lack formal ties to Al-Qa'ida. (:30)
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