“Iraq broke our back in terms of counterterrorism. There's no doubt about it. The first thing, though, that hurt us was the fact that the U.S. military was absolutely unprepared to do anything on 9/11 - or 9/12 or 9/13. And by the time we actually attacked Afghanistan, al Qaeda and the Taliban had dispersed.” FirstsFactsTermHurtDoubtMilitaryIraqBrokeNo DoubtAlsAfghanistanAl QaedaTalibanUnprepared Author:Michael Scheuer
“But the Iranians are surrounded by a sea of Sunnis who hate them. And if you look on the map, you can see that they're also surrounded by a bunch of American bases that certainly could hit them at any moment. The idea that the Iranians are a threat to the United States is absurd really. How are they going to hurt the United States of America? Unless we attack them first and then they use terrorism inside America.” IfsFirstsLooksIdeasStatesMomentsUseAmericaHateHurtUnitedUnited StatesSeaBasesThreatTerrorismBunchAbsurdMapsUnited States Of America Author:Michael Scheuer
“If the Americans attack Iran for the first time in 1,400 years, we may unite Sunnis and Shias against us. So I guess there is room for accomplishment everywhere.” IfsYearsFirstsMayRoomsFirst TimeAccomplishmentIranShia Author:Michael Scheuer
“There is a direct correlation between what al Qaeda says and what it does. And the one thing that has been the gold standard of correlation has been bin Laden's 1995 - or was it 1996? - pledge that every attack is going to be more powerful than the last. If you go back to the first attack in Yemen in 1992 and chart it out, every attack has been more powerful, more destructive than the last one.” IfsFirstsDoeHas BeensLastsPowerfulOne ThingStandardsDirectGoldDestructiveAlsPledgeBin LadenAl QaedaCorrelationGold StandardYemen Author:Michael Scheuer
“Iraq, for the first time, gives al Qaeda and its allies contiguous safe-haven territory to train and launch attacks into the Levant. First into Jordan and Syria, and then into Lebanon, and virtually and ultimately into Israel and probably Egypt too. It also gives them haven to eventually work their way toward Turkey and into the Arabian Peninsula.” WayGivingFirstsHavensSafeFirst TimeTrainIraqIsraelAlsTerritoryAlliesSyriaEgyptTurkeysJordanAl QaedaLebanonSafe HavenArabianPeninsulas Author:Michael Scheuer
“If you look at groups in the Palestine region, Hamas and the Palestine Islamic jihad, more often than not in their first operations they would accidentally blow themselves up on the way to the target or the bomb wouldn't go off.” IfsWayFirstsLooksGroupsBlowOperationsIslamicBombsRegionsTargetPalestineJihadHamas Author:Michael Scheuer
“The second part of that war was that Muslims came from all over the country to Pakistan, and they met each other. For the first time those men had an awareness of the Islamic world as a whole, not of just Egypt or Algeria or Indonesia, but of what Muslims call the Uma, the Islamic community. And that's an extraordinarily important thing. And that emanated in Pakistan.” MenWorldFirstsImportantWarCountryWholeCommunityAwarenessMetsFirst TimeImportant ThingsIslamicEgyptPakistanIndonesiaAlgeria Author:Michael Scheuer
“First of all, there's no separation of church and state in the Islamic world. They're one and the same. And so when President Bush or Senator Kerry or Prime Minister Blair says, "Look, adopt our secular democracy, look at how good we've done. We have a wonderful level of standard of living for our people," what many Muslims hear is, "Turn your back on God and follow what men say."” PeopleMenWorldFirstsLooksStatesDoneTurnsPresidentChurchLevelsDemocracyWonderfulStandardsSeparationMinistersIslamicPrimeSecularSenatorsPrime MinisterPresident BushChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateStandards Of LivingBlair Author:Michael Scheuer
