“President-elect Donald Trump has a host of national security challenge...” — Peter Bergen Quote

“President-elect Donald Trump has a host of national security challenges to deal with as he assumes office, from the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan to the grinding Syrian civil war to the flexing of Russian muscles under President Vladimir Putin to how to deal with ISIS as the terrorist army retreats in Iraq.”

“Assad owes his continuation in power to the intervention of Russia in 2015 to prop up his regime.”

“'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.”

“I stepped into the bedroom where he was killed and looked up at the ceiling, where you could still see the patterns of blood that had spurted from bin Laden's head when the bullet fired by a U.S. Navy SEAL tore through the terrorist leader's face.”

“The diagnosis that poverty, lack of education, or lack of opportunities have much to do with terrorism requires a fundamentally optimistic view of human nature. This diagnosis leads to the prognosis that all we need to do to solve the terrorism problem is to create societies that are less poor, better educated and have more opportunities.”

“Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on earth. Security issue or no security issue, there would need to be a focus on it.”

“The fact is that Germany is taking on its responsibility in the world - in the fight against IS, but also in the Middle East, in Africa and in Afghanistan.”

“By the time the United States went to war with Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, I had made three trips to the country. I covered the fall of the Taliban in Kandahar and have been returning routinely for the past 14 years.”

“At CNN, we didn't let candidates' claims go unchecked. So, for example, in an interview with me, when Trump claimed he had never expressed disapproval about the United States going into Afghanistan, I had to correct him.”

“I have defended the interests of France at the G8 in Washington; afterwards I was at Chicago to announce the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan; I have participated in two European summits, so I have fully respected the engagements I made to the French.”