On the July 17 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, during an interview with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff about the recently released National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), anchor Katie Couric did not ask Chertoff about the NIE's finding that Al Qaeda has “regenerated” several elements of its infrastructure, including a “safehaven” in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). A July 18 New York Times article reported that "[i]n identifying the main reasons for Al Qaeda's resurgence, intelligence officials and White House aides pointed the finger squarely at a hands-off approach toward the tribal areas by Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf," following a cease-fire deal between tribal leaders and the government that the Bush administration “reluctantly endorsed,” according to the Times.

Couric asked Chertoff: “With the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been spent and the thousands of lives lost, how is it possible that Al Qaeda has managed to rebuild itself to the degree it has?” Chertoff responded that while the United States had “devoted a lot of energy to increasing our defenses,” Al Qaeda hasn't “been standing still.” Chertoff added that through “observing what we've done” and “learn[ing] lessons” accordingly, “they continue to grow and they morph,” and “they begin to stretch into places like Europe, North Africa, and East Africa. ... It's a long war, and it's one in which we can't afford to rest on our laurels because I will tell you, the enemy is not resting on its laurels.” Couric then ended the interview.

Couric did not ask Chertoff about the NIE's assessment that Al Qaeda has been able to “protect[] or regenerate[] key elements of its Homeland attack capability,” including the “safehaven” in the FATA, which, as The New York Times reported, “intelligence officials and White House aides” claim is the result of the cease-fire agreement between the tribal leaders and Musharraf. The Times further reported that the Bush administration “had reluctantly endorsed the cease-fire as part of their effort to prop up” Musharraf's government, which prompted "[s]ome members of Congress [to] argue that" the administration's support for Musharraf had “thwart[ed] American counterterrorism efforts.”

The NIE concluded that due to Al Qaeda's ability to protect or regenerate its capability to attack, “the United States currently is in a heightened threat environment.”

From the NIE's “Key Judgments”:

Al-Qa'ida is and will remain the most serious terrorist threat to the Homeland, as its central leadership continues to plan high-impact plots, while pushing others in extremist Sunni communities to mimic its efforts and to supplement its capabilities. We assess the group has protected or regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability, including: a safehaven in the Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), operational lieutenants, and its top leadership. Although we have discovered only a handful of individuals in the United States with ties to al-Qa'ida senior leadership since 9/11, we judge that al-Qa'ida will intensify its efforts to put operatives here.

• As a result, we judge that the United States currently is in a heightened threat environment.

According to the Times, “President Bush's top counterterrorism advisers acknowledged Tuesday that the strategy for fighting Osama bin Laden's leadership of Al Qaeda in Pakistan had failed,” and a July 18 Washington Post article reported that “Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, said yesterday that Musharraf is 'moving forces, again, into that region to put pressure on al-Qaeda.' ”

From the July 18 New York Times article:

The growing Qaeda threat in Pakistan has prompted repeated trips to Islamabad by senior administration officials to lean on officials there and calls by lawmakers to make American aid to Pakistan contingent on a sustained counterterrorism effort by General Musharraf's government.

Some members of Congress argue that concern for the stability of General Musharraf's government had for too long dominated the White House strategy for dealing with Pakistan, thwarting American counterterrorism efforts.

“We have to change policy,” said Representative Mike Rogers of Michigan, a Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee who has long advocated a more aggressive American intelligence campaign in Pakistan.

From the July 17 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:

COURIC: What specific new action is being taken in the face of this heightened threat?

CHERTOFF: We're beginning, of course, outside the country with increased deployment of air marshals, more vigorous collection and analysis of intelligence. We've done more in terms of surging our security capabilities in the aviation sector. We've got more visible canine teams and other personnel, and some that are not visible, in our airports and in our mass transit.

COURIC: It's been about six years since the war on terror began. With the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been spent and the thousands of lives lost, how is it possible that Al Qaeda has managed to rebuild itself to the degree it has?

CHERTOFF: Well, I think it's a recognition of the fact that just as we've devoted a lot of energy to increasing our defenses, they haven't been standing still. They've learned lessons, observing what we've done, and as they continue to grow and they morph, they begin to stretch into places like Europe, North Africa, and East Africa. This is a dynamic situation. It's a long war, and it's one in which we can't afford to rest on our laurels because I will tell you, the enemy is not resting on its laurels.

COURIC: Michael Chertoff, thanks so much for your time.