Terrorism

If in 2001, a few hours after the 9/11 attacks, you had described to Osama bin Laden the world that would exist exactly 11 years later, how would he have reacted?

There's one aspect of the current world we know he would frown on--the part about his bones lying at the bottom of the sea. And he'd probably be disappointed that there have been almost no successful radical Islamist terrorist attacks on American soil since the one he engineered.

Still, there's a lot for him to like, and it's far from clear that America is decisively winning the war he started 11 years ago today.

On August 15, Floyd Lee Corkins allegedly walked into the Family Research Council in Washington, a conservative think tank, and shot the building manager Leo Johnson in the arm, saying something along the lines of, "I don't like your politics," as he did so.

For many on the political left, and more than a few in the middle, drone strikes are the paradigmatic example of U.S. militarism run amok. I'm not crazy about the way the United States has been using drone strikes myself, but many of the most common objections to drones don't hold up well under scrutiny.

Let's review the case against the drones.

1. Drone strikes kill innocent civilians.

Michael Waltz explores the controversy surrounding the recently published ex-Navy SEAL book about the Osama Bin Laden raid, and Amy Laitinen explains how the credit hour – a ubiquitous metric never meant to measure learning – is threatening America's educational standing in the world. Elizabeth Weingarten hosts.

Covert drone strikes are one of Obama's key national security policies. He has already authorized 283 strikes in Pakistan, six times more than the number during President George W. Bush's eight years in office.

As a result, the number of estimated deaths from the Obama administration's drone strikes is more than four times what it was during the Bush administration -- somewhere between 1,494 and 2,618.

Steve Coll explores the Republican presidential hopeful's evolving foreign policy agenda and gaffe-ridden trip abroad. Jennifer Rowland illuminates the American group that poses a greater threat to our national security than al Qaeda. Elizabeth Weingarten hosts.

Peter Bergen discusses the Obama Administration's covert drone war in Yemen, White House information leaks, and the president's kill list. Evgeny Morozov explores the peaceful side of cyber warfare and the American cyber attacks on Iran. Elizabeth Weingarten Hosts.

The news that Abu Yahya al-Libi, the No.2 leader of al Qaeda, is now confirmed to have been killed in a CIA drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region along the border with Afghanistan further underlines that the terrorist group that launched the 9/11 attacks is now more or less out of business.

Under President Barack Obama, CIA drone strikes have killed 15 of the most important players in al Qaeda, according to a count maintained by the New America Foundation (a nonpartisan think tank where I am a director).

The implications of two global summits, the NATO Conference in Chicago and the Iranian nuclear talks in Baghdad are explored this week as Jennifer Rowland and Tom Kutsch join host Elizabeth Weingarten.

Since September 11, 2001, more than 300 U.S. residents have been prosecuted for crimes related to homegrown terrorism. About half were targeted by law enforcement using infiltration techniques – confidential informants, undercover operations, or, in some cases, both.[i]