That means that as opposed to waiting for full-fledged conspiracies, they may be picking up individuals when they are still in the early part of this [recruiting] trajectory. They may have only taken a few steps down the path. But if you're going to wait until there are mature terrorist plans, then that runs a risk. And in this post-9/11 environment, authorities are unwilling to take that risk. |
The Internet gives them direct access. It even allows them to segment their audiences so they can communicate with potential recruits, with those who are already in the organization, and with broader sympathetic audiences as well as their enemy. They can do ... modern marketing and these communications have enabled them to be very, very effective and they've been increasingly adept in exploiting this. I don't think we have yet fully fathomed the sophistication of their communication strategy. |
The results of the probe are disturbing, but they are not surprising, |
The results of the probe are disturbing, but they are not surprising. People believe what they see or what they think they see. Deception and disguise often work. |
These threats are real, ... but the increased probability of a terrorist attack does not increase the risks to any single individual. |
This demonstrates their resolve and courage to impact us, to create fear. But it also is aimed at their own audience, their own constituents to demonstrate their prowess to their own warrior subculture. |
This is not the Prussian general staff. They don't think about operations the way we think about operations. |
This is the way cults recruit. To a certain extent ... this is the way armies recruit. |
We are now dealing with many little al-Qaidas with the potential of neighborhood al-Qaidas. They may not be able to carry out specialized operations ... but they can still operate at a lethal level. |
We believed or hoped that the tactic of a suicide bombing would not be exported. This is a new threat for us. |
What we've learned from the British experience is that if people are admonished to notify authorities of suspicious activity or abandoned parcels, if you then readily have communications systems for them to do that -- telephones that are marked -- and you provide rapid response when reports are made, then in effect you have closed the loop. |
When you're dealing with a disparate host of terrorist foes over time, as the Israelis have confronted, then it has less effect. |