Department of Homeland Security (DHS) became concerned that terrorists may had been planning to exploit the U.S. visa system... So why are we hinging the program’s expansion and U.S. public diplomacy on an unrealistic and expensive measure that will provide little added security?

The CSCC contains the germ of government-wide coordination in public diplomacy...If properly developed and meshed with the “hard power” tools of U.S. counterterrorism strategy, it could represent a clear advance in the battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims.

Declining U.S. military budgets not only would affect AFRICOM’s military-to-military activities but also could result in the command having to shed many of its support contractors. No specific orders to cut workers or contractors have yet been received, but are anticipated, Ham says.

Killing terrorists is eliminating the exponents but not the cause of terrorism, because it does not eliminate the ideas and motives that spawn terrorists. The fight against terrorism must proactively discourage people from resorting to terrorism by the use of "soft power".

The video was released as many analysts believe the terror network is struggling to cope with the loss of a string of leaders and has found its jihadist message undermined by popular protests against authoritarian regimes which have swept the Middle East.

9/11 was a fire that shaped a generation. It's true that Americans of all ages felt shock, fear, and uncertainty....Not all of them learned Arabic. Not all of them joined the military. Their lives may have been affected by Facebook and new social networks as much as by the visage of Osama bin Laden.

And we need effective international partners in government and civil society who can extend this effort to all the places where terrorists operate. To achieve these ends requires smart power, a strategy that integrates all our foreign policy tools...

Since 9/11, American views of Islam have grown more negative. However, views of Arab and Muslim people are moderately warm, and majorities continue to feel that the attacks of 9/11 do not represent mainstream thinking within Islam...