CNN correspondent discusses terrorism's future

UCF was host to CNN correspondent Peter Bergen at 3 p.m. on Tuesday in the Student Union's Cape Florida Ballroom. Bergen's topic, "After Osama Bin Laden: Terrorism's Future Prospects," illuminated foreign nation policy initiatives and the diminishing criticality of terrorist threats upon the nation. The lecture was organized by UCF's Office of Global Perspectives as a part of their fall journalism speaker series.

Known for his books on terrorism, "Holy War, Inc." and "The Osama bin Laden I Know," Bergen spoke about the four strategic weaknesses that both bin Laden and the al-Qaida terrorist organization presented through the attack of the World Trade Center on 9/11.

These weaknesses are: the killing of the largest number of Muslim civilians, the lack of clarity al-Qaida presented in terms of what they supported versus what they were against, the acquisition of a "world of enemies," and the absence of an engagement in conventional politics and philanthropic activities.

Bergen also reflected upon his experience interviewing bin Laden face-to-face in 1997, after the first attack on the World Trade Center in February of 1993. Bergen described his first glimpse at bin Laden.

"I estimated it was around midnight when bin Laden came out of the darkness," Bergen said. "He actually portrayed himself like a cleric… if you didn't know what he was talking about, it sounded like he was reading the phonebook. But in fact, he was basically declaring war against the United States."

Contradictory to others' expectations of nervousness and fear, Bergan spoke of the excitement he felt while interviewing bin Laden.

"Some people asked me [if I was] worried. I wasn't worried at all," Bergen said. "This was great, this was interesting, this was exciting. We went back to the United States and we showed the [clip] on CNN. Basically no one cared; it was a 20-minute story and just disappeared, virtually no interest in it."

Two years after the interview took place, al-Qaida was implemented in several terrorist attacks in parts of Africa. These demonstrations led to a responding attack by the United States for fear of the group's nonsensical and unethical violence.

Bergen commented on 9/11 as a key catalyst, but not the establishing factor, to America's involvement in the Middle East.

"The important thing to understand is 9/11 wasn't the beginning of something, it was actually the climax of something," Bergen said. "The point of 9/11 was to get us out of the Middle East. Well quite the opposite happened; bin Laden's strategic goal wasn't achieved. 9/11 was the beginning of the end for al-Qaida."

UCF graduate Kimberly Reinhold, who described herself as a "CNN junkie," spoke of her hopes for the speaker's lecture.

"I'm just really interested in news and foreign policy. I just want to see what he has to say and learn some new information," Reinhold said.

Freshman Justin Guerra, an aerospace engineering major, thought the event was as interesting as it was neutral.

"The information he gave about the Arab Spring and his comments on that were very intelligent and thought-provoking," Guerra said. "I didn't feel like he swung in any direction that I felt was too extreme, especially considering he's entitled to his own opinion. I felt like, even then, he was more informative and less controversial."

Bergen went on to describe his prospects for the future of American foreign policy as well as the miniscule worry needed toward critical terrorist threats on or toward American soil now that bin Laden is dead.

Instead, he suggested, American government should turn toward problems at home, where the national economic issue is more of an issue than the chance of another 9/11 attack.