Al Qa'ida in 2010
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i [H.A.S.C. No. 111–119] AL QA’IDA IN 2010: HOW SHOULD THE U.S. RESPOND? COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION HEARING HELD JANUARY 27, 2010 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 58–293 WASHINGTON : 2010 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center, U.S. Government Printing Office. Phone 202–512–1800, or 866–512–1800 (toll-free). E-mail, [email protected]. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS IKE SKELTON, Missouri, Chairman JOHN SPRATT, South Carolina HOWARD P. ‘‘BUCK’’ MCKEON, California SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi MAC THORNBERRY, Texas NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina SILVESTRE REYES, Texas W. TODD AKIN, Missouri VIC SNYDER, Arkansas J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia ADAM SMITH, Washington JEFF MILLER, Florida LORETTA SANCHEZ, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina MIKE MCINTYRE, North Carolina FRANK A. LOBIONDO, New Jersey ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania ROB BISHOP, Utah ROBERT ANDREWS, New Jersey MICHAEL TURNER, Ohio SUSAN A. DAVIS, California JOHN KLINE, Minnesota JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island MIKE ROGERS, Alabama RICK LARSEN, Washington TRENT FRANKS, Arizona JIM COOPER, Tennessee BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania JIM MARSHALL, Georgia CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS, Washington MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado PATRICK J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania ROB WITTMAN, Virginia HANK JOHNSON, Georgia MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma CAROL SHEA-PORTER, New Hampshire DUNCAN HUNTER, California JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut JOHN C. FLEMING, Louisiana DAVID LOEBSACK, Iowa MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania THOMAS J. ROONEY, Florida GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts GLENN NYE, Virginia CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine LARRY KISSELL, North Carolina MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico FRANK M. KRATOVIL, Jr., Maryland ERIC J.J. MASSA, New York BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama SCOTT MURPHY, New York WILLIAM L. OWENS, New York DAN BOREN, Oklahoma ERIN C. CONATON, Staff Director TIM MCCLEES, Professional Staff Member ALEX KUGAJEVSKY, Professional Staff Member ANDREW TABLER, Staff Assistant (II) C O N T E N T S CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS 2010 Page HEARING: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, Al Qa’ida in 2010: How Should the U.S. Respond? ............................................................................................................... 1 APPENDIX: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 ................................................................................ 35 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2010 AL QA’IDA IN 2010: HOW SHOULD THE U.S. RESPOND? STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS McKeon, Hon. Howard P. ‘‘Buck,’’ a Representative from California, Ranking Member, Committee on Armed Services ............................................................ 2 Skelton, Hon. Ike, a Representative from Missouri, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services ................................................................................................ 1 WITNESSES Clarke, Hon. Richard A., Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Govern- ment, Harvard University ................................................................................... 5 Coll, Steve, President, New America Foundation ................................................. 10 Zarate, Hon. Juan Carlos, Senior Adviser, Transnational Threats Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies ................................................. 7 APPENDIX PREPARED STATEMENTS: Clarke, Hon. Richard A. ................................................................................... 44 Coll, Steve ......................................................................................................... 66 McKeon, Hon. Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ .................................................................... 41 Skelton, Hon. Ike .............................................................................................. 39 Zarate, Hon. Juan Carlos ................................................................................. 48 DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: [There were no Documents submitted.] WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE HEARING: Mr. Shuster ....................................................................................................... 79 QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING: Mrs. McMorris Rodgers .................................................................................... 89 Ms. Sanchez ...................................................................................................... 85 Mr. Skelton ....................................................................................................... 83 Mr. Smith .......................................................................................................... 85 Ms. Tsongas ...................................................................................................... 85 Mr. Wilson ......................................................................................................... 87 (III) AL QA’IDA IN 2010: HOW SHOULD THE U.S. RESPOND? HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, Washington, DC, Wednesday, January 27, 2010. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:07 a.m., in room HVC–210, Capitol Visitor Center, Hon. Ike Skelton (chairman of the committee) presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. IKE SKELTON, A REPRESENTA- TIVE FROM MISSOURI, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES The CHAIRMAN. Good morning. Today the House Armed Services Committee meets to receive testimony on ‘‘Al Qa’ida in 2010: How Should the U.S. Respond?’’ Our witnesses today: Richard Clarke, currently an adjunct lec- turer at Harvard University and previously the national coordi- nator for security and counterterrorism; Juan Zarate, senior advi- sor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the former deputy national security advisor for combatting terrorism; Steve Coll, president of the New America Foundation and the Pul- itzer Prize-winning author of ‘‘Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001.’’ We welcome you, and we thank our witnesses for being with us. Since the attacks on September the 11th, 2001, the United States has acted forcefully to disrupt and defeat al Qa’ida [AQ] and to eliminate their safe havens in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I firm- ly support our ongoing efforts in Afghanistan. I believe it is vital that we succeed there. And I commend the President on his recent decision to increase our force levels in that conflict. But as the attempted bombing of an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day by an al Qa’ida affiliate reminds us, even as we pursue bin Laden and his allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, al Qa’ida has continued to evolve as an organization and inspiration to terrorist groups around the world. In order for us to combat this evolving threat, I believe we must understand the state of al Qa’ida and how it has changed over the years. In this effort, the committee’s hearing today with outside ex- perts builds on the classified briefing we held recently in past full committee hearings. The Terrorism and Unconventional Threats Subcommittee, led by Adam Smith and Jeff Miller, have done great work in this area over the years and, I am sure, will continue to do so under the leadership of Chairwoman Loretta Sanchez. The title of this hearing, ‘‘Al Qa’ida in 2010: How Should the U.S. Respond?’’, poses a deceptively simple question that I hope our (1) 2 witnesses can help us with. But the real questions are harder: What is al Qa’ida today, and how has that organization evolved? How can the United States Government, in particular the Depart- ment of Defense, take effective action to end the threat posed by al Qa’ida, its allies, and its affiliates around the globe? What tools do we have, and how should we employ them? How can we under- mine their media campaign and attempt to provide an ideology jus- tifying attacks against the United States? In short, what actions can we and should we take to minimize the chances that we are faced with future attacks like the at- tempted attack on Christmas? I hope our witnesses can help us with these questions. By the way, this is a reminder. Today, a Members-only meeting, a China briefing, at 2:30 this afternoon in Room 2118, our new old committee room. And you will be pleased when you come back and see the work that has been done there. I turn to our friend, the ranking gentleman from California, Buck McKeon, for his comments. [The prepared statement of Mr. Skelton can be found in the Ap- pendix on page 39.] STATEMENT OF HON. HOWARD P. ‘‘BUCK’’ MCKEON, A REP- RESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA, RANKING MEMBER, COM- MITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES Mr. MCKEON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank you for holding today’s hearing on al Qa’ida and the continuing threat that it poses. For nearly two decades, al Qa’ida had waged war against the U.S., its citizens, and the modern world. We may not have fully re- alized the destructive nature of al Qa’ida until the tragic events of 9/11, but we must not allow our determination and vigilance to wane. We can be assured that al Qa’ida remains as relentless and as violent as ever, and today’s hearing