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In the radical Islamist jihad world, you're seeing more and more recruits going to ISIS rather than al-Qaida.

Al Qaeda operates by launching surprise attacks on civilian targets with the goal of massive casualties. Our only means for preventing future attacks, which could use WMDs, is by acquiring information that allows for pre-emptive action.

Al Qaeda likes to coordinate, have a central command to be able to send out emissaries around that they have highly trained and say, 'This is the moment we're going to do a large-scale attack.'

A terrorist network that believes a nation so tested will fold under pressure of a few horrific acts may capture its attention, but will not achieve its submission.

ISIL are already using the Internet for hideous propaganda purposes - for radicalisation, for operational planning, too.

If Assad continues to conduct strikes against the Free Syrian Army at will, it would be very difficult for them to have any success against ISIS.

The reality is that al Qaeda has been trying to attack the United States since long before Iraq.

ISIL is not your parents' al Qaeda. It's a very different model.

Al-Qaida is a worldwide organization. It's a continuous threat.

In terms of the breadth of the threat of Al Qaeda itself - it's not the only terrorist organization, and it works with others as cells around the world in at least 60 countries. You potentially are talking about tens of thousands of followers who can be conscripted into service to carry out a terrorist plot.