Russ Feingold: “During the Senate recess at the end of last month, I visited the central front in our Nation's fight against al-Qaida…”

“During the Senate recess at the end of last month, I visited the central front in our Nation's fight against al-Qaida: Pakistan. During my 4-day stay, I met with a broad range of political officials from numerous parties, including the Pakistan People's Party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the PLM-N of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as well as with President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani intelligence officials, the ousted chief justice, and representatives of Pakistan's civil society. Outside of Islamabad, my visit included a trip to Peshawar, in the tumultuous Northwest Frontier Province, where I met with local officials, and Kashmir, where the United States has funded numerous successful humanitarian and development programs in the wake of the devastating 2005 earthquake. The breadth of this trip was commensurate with the critical importance of Pakistan to our country's national security. Despite recent claims by CIA Director Michael Hayden that al-Qaida is now on the defensive, including in its safe haven in Pakistan, I traveled there because it is out of that country that we face our most serious national security threat. As the intelligence community has said again and again, the fight against al-Qaida begins in Pakistan. According to the State Department's 2007 terrorism report which was released this past April, al-Qaida and associated networks remain the greatest terrorist threat to the United States.”