Terrorism is an unmistakably serious problem and a threat to American lives and interests, but is the current "War on Terror" the solution? Indeed, the U.S. government's policies in the last five years have appeared to worsen the dangers, fan the flames of anti-American hatred, fail to catch the 9/11 perpetrators, render genuine efforts to secure the homeland more ineffective, and completely neglect what may be the root causes of anti-U.S. terrorism.

SPEAKERS:

Charles Pena is a Senior Fellow with the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, a Senior Fellow with the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute, an Adviser to the Straus Military Reform Project, and Analyst for MSNBC television. He has also appeared on CNN, Fox News, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and The McLaughlin Group, as well as international television and radio. Pena is the co-author of Exiting Iraq: Why the U.S. Must End the Military Occupation and Renew the War Against al-Qaeda, and author of Winning the Un-War: A New Strategy for the War on Terrorism.

Joseph Cirincione is Senior Vice President for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress. Prior to joining the Center in May 2006, he served as director for nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for eight years. He is the author of Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons (Columbia University Press, Spring 2007), Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Threats (Second Edition, 2005), and co-author of Universal Compliance: A Strategy for Nuclear Security (March 2005). He teaches at the graduate School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Roger W. Cressey is President of Good Harbor Consulting, LLC, advising clients on homeland security, cybersecurity and counterterrorism issues. He is an on-air Counterterrorism Analyst for NBC News. Previously, Mr. Cressey served as Chief of Staff to the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board at the White House from November 2001 to September 2002. From November 1999 to November 2001, Mr. Cressey served as Director for Transnational Threats on the National Security Council staff, where he was responsible for coordination and implementation of U.S. counter-terrorism policy. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches a graduate course on U.S. counter-terrorism policy. Mr. Cressey is the recipient of the State Department's Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards and the Defense Department's Exceptional Civilian Service Award.

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