Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The interrogator who understood al Qaeda

In the ten years since 9/11/2001, it's amazing how many things we've gotten wrong and still had success in the war on terror and against al Qaeda. In the aftermath we were told by the President that people in the region hated our values and what we stood for. Yet hundred of thousands have marched this Spring, for freedom dignity and the expansion of "our values." We are still told by the former Vice President that torture and so called "enhanced interrogation" works. Yet our greatest success in the battle against al Qaeda comes from understanding our opponents and using cleverness, wisdom and outsmarting, not our brutalizing them.

Through all of this, through the additions of layers and layers of top secret bureaucracy, one mans efforts have truly made a difference. That man is Ali Soufan, a former FBI Supervisory Special Agent. He takes us through his journey in his new book, The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda.

My conversation with Ali Soufan:



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