The United States didn’t ban Italian immigration in the 1920s because a small minority of Italians became members of the Mafia, and the country is a richer place for it. – Peter L. Bergen
Today, we are not likely to need to organize local militias for our defense now we have something called the Pentagon. – Peter L. Bergen
The Japanese scored an important victory at Pearl Harbor, but the attack pulled the United States into World War II, and four years later, Japan was in ruins, utterly defeated. – Peter L. Bergen
There is no hint that Trump wishes to engage in or to foment violence against the enemies, such as immigrants, he has identified as undermining the American way of life. – Peter L. Bergen
When Congress passed the Authorization for the Use of Military Force immediately after the 9/11 attacks, no one could have imagined this authorization would continue to be the basis for American wars that persist a decade and a half later. – Peter L. Bergen
Nothing is more powerful than hearing from former members of the group that ISIS is not creating an Islamist utopia in the areas it controls, but a hell on earth. – Peter L. Bergen
I am very suspicious of the notion that somehow bin Laden was a media creation… Bin Laden’s actions made him into a big deal. Not the media. – Peter L. Bergen
Trump displays many of the traits of a proto-fascist, and he is also part of a wave of right-wing nationalist movements that is sweeping the West. He can also be positioned in the long, American right-wing tradition of fearing ‘the Other,’ whether they are Catholics or Jews or, now, Muslims. – Peter L. Bergen
The fact is, working stiffs with few opportunities and scant education are generally too busy getting by to engage in revolutionary projects to remake society. And history, in fact, shows us that terrorism is generally a bourgeois endeavor. – Peter L. Bergen
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein brutally repressed all forms of opposition to his regime, and before the Iraq War, al Qaeda had no presence in Iraq. – Peter L. Bergen
Trump has long said he favors a ‘safe zone’ in Syria to prevent Basher al Assad’s regime from carrying out indiscriminate airstrikes against Syrian civilians and to halt the refugee flow out of Syria. – Peter L. Bergen
American jihadists are generally motivated by a mix of factors, including dislike of U.S. foreign policy in the Muslim world. – Peter L. Bergen
‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is a great piece of filmmaking and does a valuable public service by raising difficult questions most Hollywood movies shy away from, but as of this writing, it seems that one of its central themes – that torture was instrumental to tracking down bin Laden – is not supported by the facts. – Peter L. Bergen
For Islamist terrorist groups such as ISIS, the holy month of Ramadan – a time of fasting and prayer for the vast majority of Muslims – is seen as a particularly auspicious time to launch terrorist attacks. – Peter L. Bergen