Dec 3, 2013

Steve Weber on al Qaeda

From The Week

No, al Qaeda is not more dangerous now than before 9/11

By Dana Liebelson

It's been more than 12 years since al Qaeda launched its devastating attack on the U.S., killing almost 3,000 people and changing the course of American history. And despite a host of ensuing counterterrorism efforts to debilitate al Qaeda, including the killing of Osama bin Laden, some are now claiming that the terrorist network is stronger than ever.

On Nov. 15, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) — a champion of NSA surveillance — told CNN that al Qaeda "poses a bigger threat to attack inside the U.S. right now than it did before 9/11."...

So is it time to hit the giant red panic button? Not exactly....

In the last ten years, al Qaeda has come to resemble a wounded hydra-headed snake. Steven Weber, a political science [and information] professor at the University of California at Berkeley, says, "Everybody agrees that the United States has done a pretty good job of chopping off the heads of the organization."...

Weber from UC Berkeley adds, "There's nothing worse in a democratic conversation than to have people in authority say, 'If you knew what I knew, you'd agree with me.' Do you take them on faith or not? How the hell do you know?"

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Last updated:

October 4, 2016