America At Risk – premiering on 9/11

Citizens United Productions [CUP] has made a film titled 'America At Risk', which will be launched on September 11, 2010 in Washington DC.

Commenting on this movie, Lauren Fleming of Citizens United told Weekly Blitz "In America at Risk, Newt Gingrich and Callista Gingrich explore our current national security concerns and what is necessary to safeguard our country and our future. From Pearl Harbor to 9/11, from the Christmas Day airline bomber to the Ft. Hood massacre, we know that surprise is certain. It is a given that we will experience more attacks on our country.

"And in our dangerous world, fantasy and wishful thinking put our nation at risk.

From Iran, North Korea, and from radical Islam we face an existential threat. Nuclear weapons and being developed, and loose nuclear materials are at risk.

We also face a domestic terror threat. Most alarmingly, there are people in our homeland helping the enemy. Instances of homegrown jihad are increasing.

America at Risk will look at the problems we have experienced, current and future areas of concern, and potential solutions.

"In a recent speech, Newt Gingrich talked about what is really important, about what's vital not only to ourselves and our family and friends, but to our whole country. He talked about America's survival as a free country, and that we all should pay attention.

"The tone of America at Risk is not to scare but to awaken. It is our civic duty to be aware and to be vigilant."

This film is directed by Kevin Knoblock, who has written, produced and directed hundreds of hours of syndicated television, written and produced multiple hours of one-hour cable documentaries, and written, produced and directed three feature film documentaries, including BORDER WAR (Winner, Best Feature, 2006 Liberty Film Festival, Winner, Best Documentary 2006, American Film Renaissance).

In 2009, Knoblock wrote, produced and directed the feature documentary NINE DAYS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD about Pope John Paul II's historic trip to Poland, the beginning of the Solidarity movement and the collapse of Soviet Communism. NINE DAYS premiered in April, 2010 in the US and in June, 2010 in Warsaw, Krakow and Rome.

In 2008 Knoblock produced, wrote and directed the feature-length documentary RONALD REAGAN: RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY. It premiered at The Kennedy Center in February, 2009.

In 2008 Knoblock was also Producer of the documentary WE HAVE THE POWER about our energy crisis and Executive Producer of the feature-length documentary PERFECT VALOR about the effects of battle on those who served in Iraq. PERFECT VALOR was chosen as Best Documentary at the 2009 G.I. Film Festival.

In 2005, Knoblock produced, wrote and directed Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60 (2005 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival Special Jury Remi Prize winner). Narrated by Ron Silver and featuring interviews with Natan Sharansky, General Romeo Dallaire, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Donald Trump, and survivors from the genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda, the film examined the organization and its record on human rights, peacekeeping missions, and other UN Charter mandates since its inception.

In 2003, Knoblock was chosen to create and direct the season premiere of the highly rated series A&E Biography. This episode, on Arnold Schwarzenegger, was selected as the A&E Biography of the Year for 2003. Other A&E Biography titles include "The Biography of Oscar", a two-hour special on the history of the Academy Awards (2004), the A&E Biography on Kevin Bacon (2002) and the A&E Biography on Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (2004).

Other series titles include "America, The Story of Us" (History Channel, 2010), "Treasure!" (A&E), "Danger Zone" (TLC), "The Life and Times" (TNN), "The History of the Gun" (History Channel), "Trains Unlimited" (History Channel), "The Jim Rose Twisted Tour" (The Travel Channel), "Beyond: with James Van Praagh", "Lifetime's Intimate Portrait", and "Automaniac" (History Channel), hosted by Bill Goldberg.

Knoblock wrote and directed for a variety of magazine shows at NBC, MTV, KCBS, and as a staff director at KABC-TV where he received multiple Los Angeles Emmy Awards nominations.

At Paramount, he worked for 9 years as a staff director on "Entertainment Tonight". Knoblock contributed to over 2800 ET programs and wrote and directed over 1200 segments.

Knoblock attended San Diego State University, where he received a BS in Film and Television.

He is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

A number of internationally acclaimed peace activists, anti-Jihadist writers and editors have been interviewed in the film. They are:

1. Tony Blankley:

Tony Blankley joined Edelman's Washington office in September 2007 as executive vice president for global public affairs. For more than 25 years, Tony has been at the intersection of national politics, media and public policy.

For seven years, Tony served as press secretary to then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. Working for the most renowned speaker of the House in decades, Tony became one of the leading spokesmen for the Contract with America.

Prior to his career on Capitol Hill, Tony served President Ronald Reagan as a speechwriter and senior policy analyst. Before coming to Washington, Tony was a California deputy attorney general for seven years.

As a contributing editor, Tony wrote the monthly column "Between the Lines." He was a regular panelist on the McLaughlin Group for ten years. In addition, he appears regularly on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," CNBC's "Kudlow and Company," Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" and "Fox and Friends." Tony co-hosts KCRW's popular show, "Left, Right & Center."

In 1999, Tony founded his nationally syndicated political column with The Washington Times. In 2002 he began his service as the paper's editorial and opinion page editor.

His opinions and analysis of political events have been featured on the front pages of The New York Times, USA Today, and other major publications. Tony authored his first book in 2005, a New York Times bestseller, "The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?"

Born in London and a naturalized American citizen, Tony and his family moved to Los Angeles after World War II. Young Tony found work as a child actor in television and films, first encountering Mr. Reagan when both appeared at a 1950s-era USO performance. In the years that followed, he volunteered to work on all of Mr. Reagan's campaigns for governor and president.

2. Ambassador John Bolton:
Ambassador John Bolton U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 2005-2006

John R. Bolton currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His area of research is U.S. foreign and national security policy.

Prior to arriving at AEI, Amb. Bolton served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 1, 2005 to December 9, 2006. From June 2001 to May 2005, Ambassador Bolton served as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, also in the Bush Administration.

Prior to this, Ambassador Bolton was Senior Vice President of the (AEI).

Ambassador Bolton has spent many years of his career in public service. Previous positions he has held are Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Department of State, 1989-1993; Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, 1985-1989; Assistant Administrator for Program and Policy Coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1982-1983; General Counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1981-1982.

3. Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO):

Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO), Vice Chairman, U.S. Senate Select Committee On Intelligence.

4. Debra Burlingame:

Debra Burlingame , Co-Founder, 9/11 Families For a Safe and Strong America, Founding Board Member, Keep America Safe [KK note use both – once in act 1 – then in act 4 use the second one].

Debra Burlingame is the sister of Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame, III, pilot of American Airlines flight 77, which was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. She is co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America and a director on the board of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum Foundation at the World Trade Center. She is a co-founder, along with Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol, of Keep America Safe, a public advocacy group focused on national security.

Ms. Burlingame has published feature articles for the Wall Street Journal and other publications on national security issues, including the Patriot Act, the National Security Agency terrorist surveillance program, al Qaeda and the Saddam Hussein regime, the 9/11 Commission, aviation security and the Guantanamo detainees. She has testified before the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on terrorism-related issues and works with the Center for Security Policy as an advocate for its Divest Terror program aimed at Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea.

Ms. Burlingame has appeared on CBS World News, NBC Nightly News, NBC's Today Show, Fox's O'Reilly Factor, Fox & Friends, Your World with Neal Cavuto and Hannity & Colmes, CNN's Larry King Live and Paula Zahn Now, MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and various international media. A frequent radio talk show guest, she has been profiled in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Sun.

Ms. Burlingame was formerly a producer at Court TV where she covered dozens of civil and criminal legal proceedings ranging from the OJ Simpson trial and the Clinton impeachment hearings to the Microsoft anti-trust case. She wrote pieces for broadcast on Constitutional appellate cases, consumer law, and legal news and helped launch a documentary series involving cold criminal cases. Prior to her career in television, she was an attorney in New York City.

5. Secretary Michael Chertoff:

Secretary Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, 2005-2009, Senior Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP (C&B LLP), Education, Harvard Law School, J.D., 1978, magna cum laude, Harvard University, B.A., 1975 magna cum laude.

Michael Chertoff is senior of counsel in C&B LLP's Washington, DC office and a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group.

Most recently, Mr. Chertoff served as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. As Secretary, he led a 218,000 person department with a budget of $50 billion. Mr. Chertoff developed and implemented border security and immigration policy; promulgated homeland security regulations; and spearheaded a national cyber security strategy. He also served periodically on the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council, and on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Prior to his appointment to the Cabinet, Mr. Chertoff served from 2003 to 2005 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Before becoming a federal judge, Mr. Chertoff was the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In that position, he oversaw the investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and formed the Enron Task Force, which produced more than 20

convictions, including those of CEOs Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay.

Mr. Chertoff's career includes more than a decade as a federal prosecutor, including service as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Chertoff investigated and personally prosecuted significant cases of political corruption, organized crime, and corporate fraud.

6. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury:

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, Editor, Weekly Blitz is an award winning anti Jihadist Muslim journalist in Bangladesh. He is the editor of Weekly Blitz. This newspaper has both print and online edition reaching mostly policymakers, politicians, entrepreneurs, students, think tanks, civil and military officials, clergies and cross section of people in the world. Weekly Blitz is the largest and most influential English language newspaper published in Bangladesh.

Journalist, writer, poet, lyricist, author, political analyst and peace activist, Choudhury, started his career in journalism in 1989 as the Correspondent of TASS, state news agency of Soviet Union. Later he was promoted as the Chief Correspodent of Itar-Tass in Bangladesh.

On November 29, 2003, he was arrested at Zia International Airport in Bangladesh on his way to Israel to attend a peace conference. Choudhury was tortured, imprisoned and denied medical treatment in prison. Government brought sedition, treason and blasphemy charges against him for confronting religious extremism, advocating inter-faith dialogue and demanding relations between Dhaka and Jerusalem. He was released on April 30, 2005 after imprisonment of seventeen months. Although released on bail, Choudhury continues to face sedition, treason and blasphemy charges and the trial continues in a court in Dhaka. Sedition bears capital punishment [death penalty] according to law in Bangladesh.

Choudhury is the recipient of PEN USA Freedom to Write Award in 2005; American Jewish Committee's Moral Courage Award in 2006; Monaco Media Award in 2007 and Key to Englewood City [NJ, USA] in 2007.

He has written a number of books on various issues. His book titled 'Injustice and Jihad' was published in October 2007. Italian publication house Neftasia Editore has published Choudhury's book titled 'Non Sono Colpevole' in May 2008.

Choudhury's latest book titled 'Inside Madrassa', which contains descriptive and elaborate information on condition of Madrassas in Bangladesh, Pakistan and other Muslim nations has been published in October 2009. This book is a result of comprehensive research by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury for several years.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is perhaps the most quoted Bangladeshi journalist in the international media. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Sun, The Washington Times, The Australian, The Berliner Zeitung, The Jewish State, The Jewish Week, The Guardian and many other leading international and regional dailies and periodicals have published numerous editorials on Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury.

Office of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury's newspaper, Weekly Blitz was bombed by Islamist millitants in Dhaka [Bangladesh] in July 2006. On October 5, 2006, armed terrorists attacked the his office and physically assaulted him.

On 18th March 2008, members of Rapid Action Battalion [infamous of extra-judicial murders] abducted Mr. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury at gun point from his office. He was blind-folded and physically assaulted. Because of quick actions by US Peace Activist Dr. Richard L Benkin and Rep. Mark Steven Kirk and other esteemed members of United States Congress, Choudhury escaped RAB's deathtrap. On February 22, 2009, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury's newspaper office was once again attacked by the armed thugs belonging to ruling party. He and his staffs were physically assaulted and the attackers looted his laptop along with two manuscripts of his un-published books.

US Congress, European Parliament, Australian Senate passed resolutions demanding dropping of the false case of Mr. Choudhury and to give him proper security and stop all forms of harassments. But, Bangladeshi authorities in Dhaka, instead of showing minimum respect to such calls, withdrew police protection from the residence of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury in May 2008.

Shoaib Choudhury is a permanent member of PENUSA; Advisory Board Member of Islam-Israel Fellowship; Director, Forcefield, NFP.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is regularly invited by many prestigious institutions in the world for giving lecture on the topic of his work. Yale University [New Haven, USA], Rutgers University [New Jersey, USA] and Hudson Institute [NYC] have invited Choudhury to give lectures.

7. Steven Emerson:

Steven Emerson , Executive Director, The Investigative Project on Terrorism.

Steven Emerson is considered one of the leading authorities on Islamic extremist networks, financing and operations. He serves as the Executive Director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, a non-profit organization that serves one of the world's largest storehouses of archival data and intelligence on Islamic and Middle Eastern terrorist groups. Emerson and his staff frequently provide briefings to U.S. government and law enforcement agencies, members of Congress and congressional committees, and print and electronic media on terrorist financing and operational networks of Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the rest of the worldwide Islamic militant spectrum. Since 9-11, Emerson has been interviewed frequently on all the major television networks and in the national and international print media. The website of the Investigative Project on Terrorism is considered one of the top counter-terrorism websites in the world and can be accessed at www.investigativeproject.org.

Emerson launched The Investigative Project on Terrorism in 1995, following the November 1994 broadcast of his documentary film, "Jihad in America," on public television. The film exposed clandestine operations of militant Islamic terrorist groups on American soil. For the film, Emerson received numerous awards including the George Polk Award for best television documentary, one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. He also received the top prize from the Investigative Reporters and Editors Organization (IRE) for best investigative report in both print and television for the documentary. The award from IRE was the fourth he had received from that group. The documentary, which was featured on 60 Minutes, has become standard viewing for federal law enforcement and intelligence organizations.

Emerson is recognized as one of the first terrorism experts to have testified and warned about the threat of Islamic militant networks operating in the United States and their connections worldwide. In a pioneering congressional testimony delivered in 1998, he specifically warned about the threat of Osama Bin Laden's network. Nearly every one of the terrorist suspects and groups first identified in his 1994 film have been indicted, convicted, or deported since 9-11.

Emerson is the author or co-author of six books on terrorism and national security, including:
"Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the U.S." (Prometheus, 2006)

8. Frank J. Gaffney, Jr:

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr, President, Center for Security Policy.

Frank Gaffney is the Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C. The Center is a not-for-profit, non-partisan educational corporation established in 1988. Under Mr. Gaffney's leadership, the Center has been nationally and internationally recognized as a resource for timely, informed and penetrating analyses of foreign and defense policy matters.

Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throught the country. On Secure Freedom Radio, Mr. Gaffney addresses current and emerging threats to national security, sovereignty and our ways of life. Featured guests have included Newt Gingrich, John Bolton, and many current and former policymakers and elected officials.

Mr. Gaffney is the lead-author of War Footing: Ten Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World (Naval Institute Press, 2005). With a foreword by former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, an introduction by Victor Davis Hanson and contributions from thirty-two other accomplished security policy practitioners, this highly acclaimed volume constitutes an "owners manual" for the new global conflict in which America finds itself engaged - the War for the Free World. War Footing offers practical steps for mobilizing the Nation and other freedom-loving peoples to enable their victory over those who would destroy them.

Mr. Gaffney also contributes actively to the security policy debate in his capacity as a weekly columnist for the Washington Times, TownHall.com, and

JewishWorldReview.com. He is a contributor to National Review Online and his columns also appear periodically in WorldNetDaily.com, the New York Post and FrontPageMagazine.com.

In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving nuclear forces, arms control and U.S.-European defense relations. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO's senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.

9. Jessica Hansen:

Jessica Hansen, Fiancée, Ft. Hood Victim, Staff Sergeant Patrick Zeigler.

Jessica Hansen was born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota. She graduated high school in 2006 and went on to Boston University where she majored in Psychology with a neuropsychology track. She also minored in Sociology and Political Science. Jessica met Army SSG Patrick Zeigler in 2008 while they were both separately vacationing in Hawaii. Patrick extended Jessica's plane ticket so that the two could spend more time together on the beaches of Oahu. Jessica returned to Boston, and Patrick returned to Ft. Hood where he was stationed. Despite the distance and fact that he soon deployed to Iraq, the two began a long distance relationship. The two later became engaged.

After Patrick was a victim of the November 5th attack at Ft. Hood, Jessica quit her jobs in Boston and took a leave of absence from school to be at Patrick's side. She spent every single night in the hospital with him, never leaving his side, for almost 9 months, until the day he was discharged to outpatient care. Because of her fiance's Traumatic Brain Injury, she now cares for him on her own, 24 hours a day. The two plan to be married in July of 2011.

Even while caring for Patrick in such a large capacity, Jessica is very involved in her communities and spends time volunteering for various causes. Since the attack on November Fifth, she has become an advocate for all of the victims and has set up several resources to aid the survivors and family members in their physical and mental recoveries. She is currently founding a non-profit in order to serve the victims, long-term. She is also spearheading Memorial Events to mark the one-year anniversary of the attack and is behind planning a half-marathon to honor the victims and inspire the survivors. She is also doing research and writing a book for spouses and loved ones of people with traumatic brain injuries. Jessica plans to continue her education while continuing to care for Patrick from Ft. Hood. She plans to pursue a PhD and continue research and writing in order to aid those suffering from TBI and PTSD. Jessica hopes to continue to aid soldiers and use her education to change policies within the military in regards to the treatment of TBI and PTSD.

9. M. Zuhdi Jasser

M. Zuhdi Jasser, President, American Islamic Forum for Democracy.

M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D. is the President and Founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD). A devout Muslim, Dr. Jasser founded AIFD in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States as an effort to provide an American Muslim voice advocating for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, and the separation of mosque and state. He is leading the fight to shake the hold that the Muslim Brotherhood and their Network of American Islamist organizations and Mosques have on organized Islam in America.

A former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy, Dr. Jasser served 11 years as a medical officer. He is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal.

Dr. Jasser is a nationally recognized expert in the contest of ideas against political Islam and American Islamist organizations. He has spoken at hundreds of national and international events including colleges and universities, places of worship, government venues and many other public functions. On October 1, 2009, Dr. Jasser briefed members of Congress on the threat of Political Islam. He regularly briefs members of the House and Senate congressional anti-terror caucuses.

Dr. Jasser is a contributing writer to the newly released books The Other Muslims: Moderate and Secular, The Impact of 9-11 on Religion and Philosophy – The Day that Changed Everything, and Islamism – Contested Perspectives on Political Islam. Dr. Jasser was recently featured in The Third Jihad, produced by PublicScope Films. Dr. Jasser narrates this documentary about the threat of radical Islamism to the West. Dr. Jasser is also featured in the controversial PBS film, Islam v Islamists produced by ABG Films, Inc. in 2007. This film was initially banned from distribution on PBS stations as originally intended in the Crossroads program, but was then aired in a limited distribution to some affiliates.

9. Michael Ledeen:

Michael Ledeen, Foreign Policy Specialist, Founder, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.

Dr. Michael Ledeen is the Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He is also a contributing editor at National Review Online.

Previously, he served as a consultant to the National Security Council, the State Department, and the Defense Department. He has also served as a special adviser to the Secretary of State. He holds a Ph.D. in modern European history and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, and has taught at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Rome.

He is author of more than 20 books, the most recent include: Accomplice of Evil: Iran and the War Against the West; The War Against the Terror Masters; The Iranian Time Bomb; Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are As Timely and Important Today As Five Centuries Ago, Tocqueville on American Character: Why Tocqueville's Brilliant Exploration of the American Spirit Is As Vital and Important Today As It Was Nearly Two Hundred Years Ago; and, Freedom Betrayed: How America Led a Global Democratic Revolution, Won the Cold War, and Walked Away.

Dr. Ledeen regularly appears on Fox News, and on a variety of radio talk shows. He has been on PBS's NewsHour and CNN's Larry King Live, among others, and regularly contributes to the Wall Street Journal and to National Review Online. He has a blog on www.pajamasmedia.com.

10. Bernard Lewis:

Bernard Lewis , Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University.

Born in London, Professor Lewis received the B.A. degree in 1936 from the University of London and the Ph.D. degree from the same university in 1939. In 1940-41, he served in the British Army (RAC and IC) and from 1941 to 1945 was attached to a department of the Foreign Office. He was Professor of History of the Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London (1949-1974). His publications include The Political Language of Islam, Race and Slavery in the Middle East, Islam and the West, The Shaping of the Modern Middle East, Cultures in Conflict, The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2000 Years, The Multiple Identities of the Middle East, A Middle East Mosaic: Fragments of life, letters and history, Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hebrew Poems, What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror; From Babel to Dragomans:

Interpreting the Middle East; and Political Words and Ideas in Islam. His works have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. His most recent book, Faith and Power: Religion and Politics in the Middle East has just been published by Oxford University Press in New York. Professor Lewis has lectured internationally in over two dozen countries.

Professor Lewis holds fifteen honorary doctorates and is a Fellow of the British Academy, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Philosophical Society, a corresponding member of the Institut de France, etc.

10. Andrew McCarthy:

Andrew McCarthy, Senior Fellow, National Review Institute.

ANDREW C. McCARTHY is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and a contributing editor at National Review. He is the author most recently of the New York Times bestseller, The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America (Encounter Books, 2010). His 2008 Times bestseller, Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad, is now available in paperback. Andy is a decorated former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney who led the terrorism prosecution against Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (the "Blind Sheikh") and eleven others in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb New York City landmarks. Following the 9/11 attacks, he supervised the Justice Department's Command Post near Ground Zero in New York City, and later served as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Formerly an adjunct law professor at Fordham University and New York Law School, Andy writes a twice-weekly column at National Review Online. His essays appear in major publications and his commentary is featured regularly on national radio and television broadcasts.

11. Walid Phares:

Walid Phares, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Professor Walid Phares is a Senior Fellow and the director for Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington (2001-2010). He is also a Visiting Fellow with the European Foundation for Democracies in Brussels (2006-2010).

He is Fox News Terrorism and Middle East Expert since 2007 and has been MSNBC-NBC Terrorism Analyst from 2003 to the end of 2006.

Professor Phares has been an advisor to the US House of Representatives Caucus on Counter Terrorism since 2007 and to the Trans Atlantic Legislative Group on Counter Terrorism since 2008.

He teaches Global Strategies at the National Defense University in Washington DC since 2006 and he

has been a Professor of Middle East Studies, Ethnic and Religious Conflict at the Department of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) from 1993 to 2006. Professor Phares has also been a senior lecturer on the War on Terror and Global Conflicts at the LLS Program of FAU and the IRP Program at the University of Miami. Previously he taught at Florida International University and at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.

Professor Phares lectures on US campuses, nationwide, and internationally. He published several books and articles including in the Middle East Quarterly, Global Affairs, Journal of Middle East and South Asian Studies, Journal of International Security Affairs, Journal of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence, Homeland Security Today, and other specialized journals. He has been interviewed by national and international networks including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC, PBS, Discovery Channel, C-Span, BBC TV (English-Arabic), Sky News, France 24 (English, Arabic, French), CTV, CBC, Canada Global TV, al Jazeera, al Hurra, Abu Dhabi TV, al Arabiya, LBCI, Russia Today TV, Voice of America TV. He appears on European, Arab, South Asian and Latin American outlets and is a frequent contributor to many US and international radio programs including BBC English and Arabic and French Canadian Radio.

Dr Phares academic field covers comparative politics and conflict and strategic studies. His current research interest focuses on the Jihadist movements and strategies worldwide, Human Rights under Islamist regimes, ethnic minorities, women, and democratic processes within the Greater Middle East and the Muslim world, Terrorism, as well as the international relations of Civilizations.

He has served as an analyst to Governments, International Organizations, NGOs and media of the ongoing world conflicts, including the War on Terrorism and the War of Ideas particularly since September 11, 2001 with regards to al Qaida and Hezbollah's ideologies and strategies, regional and local Jihadic groups, as well as Islamist strategies within the West. Dr Phares analyses the surge and development of those movements within the West, as well as in other regions including the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Since 1979, Dr Phares has published ten books on Middle East Conflicts and International Terrorism. His first post 9/11 book with Palgrave St Martin, Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against America, was a Foreign Affairs best seller in 2006

12. Melanie Phillips:

Melanie Phillips, Author, The World Turned Upside Down.

Melanie Phillips is a British journalist, broadcaster, author and blogger.

She writes a controversial column about political and social issues, which currently appears in the UK Daily Mail, and was awarded the Orwell Prize for journalism in 1996.

Her most recent book is The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle over God, Truth and Power, published in the US by Encounter in 2010. She is also the author of Londonistan, an analysis of Britain's appeasement of Islamist extremism, which was published in 2006 by Encounter and in the UK by Gibson Square.

Born in 1951, Melanie read English at St Anne's College, Oxford and has previously worked for the Guardian, Observer and Sunday Times. She writes a monthly column for the Jewish Chronicle in the UK, is a regular panellist on BBC Radio Four's The Moral Maze, and frequently contributes to other publications around the world including Standpoint magazine, the Australian and Wall Street Journal.

Her other books include Londonistan, The Ascent of Woman; Little Brown, 2003; The Sex-Change Society: Feminised Britain and the Neutered Male; Social Market Foundation, 1999; All Must Have Prizes; Warner, 1996. She also wrote a play, Traitors, which was performed at the Drill Hall in London in 1985.

13. Reihan Salam:

Reihan Salam, Policy Advisor, Economics 21.

Reihan Salam is a Policy Advisor at e21. Earlier on, he worked as a reporter-researcher at The New Republic, a national security research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations, an editorial researcher and junior op-ed editor at The New York Times, a producer at NBC News, and an associate editor at The Atlantic.

Mr. Salam is a fellow at the New America Foundation and he writes regularly for Forbes.com, The Daily Beast, and National Review Online. He is the co-author, with Ross Douthat, of Grand New Party.

He is also a contributing editor at National Affairs and editor of The American Scene, and he has served as a political commentator on a number of radio and television programs. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he attended New York city public schools.

14. Michael Scheuer:

Michael Scheuer, Former Senior CIA Officer.

New York Times and Washington Post bestselling author Michael Scheuer is the former head of the CIA's Bin Laden Unit, where he also ran the Rendition Program. He resigned from CIA in November 2004 after nearly two decades of experience in covert action and national security issues related to Afghanistan, South Asia, and the Middle East. He is the author of the new book, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq (Free Press, 2008). He also wrote Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terrorism (Potomac Books, 2004), and Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America (Potomac Books, 2002). He will publish, Osama bin Laden: A Biography in February, 2011, with Oxford University Press.

Scheuer's writings also have appeared in the Atlantic, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Antiwar.com, New York Times, American Conservative, Dallas Morning News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, India Today, Washington Post, the National Interest, and the American Interest. Scheuer has been featured on such national television news programs as Meet the Press, Glen Beck, Nightline, 60 Minutes, the O'Reilly Factor, and the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, as well as on international television news programs in Britain, Australia, France, Spain, Japan, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, China, and Germany. He has been interviewed for broadcast media and documentaries -- including Frontline, the History Channel, the BBC, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and PBS -- and has been the focus of print media worldwide. He writes frequently for Non-Intervention.com.

Scheuer holds a B.A., two M.A.'s, and a Ph. D. He is an Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University.

15. Marc Thiessen:

Marc Thiessen, Author, Courting Disaster.

A member of the White House senior staff under President George W. Bush, Marc A. Thiessen served as chief speechwriter to the president and to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Thiessen spent more than six years as spokesman and senior policy adviser to Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). He is a weekly columnist for the Washington Post, and his articles can be found in many major publications. His book on the Central Intelligence Agency's interrogation program, Courting Disaster (Regnery Press, 2010), is a New York Times bestseller. At the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Thiessen writes about U.S. foreign and defense policy issues for The American and the Enterprise Blog.

16. Leila Hunt Willingham:

Leila Hunt Willingham, Sister to Ft. Hood Victim Spc. Jason Dean Hunt.

Leila Hunt-Willingham was born and raised in Oklahoma with her brother, lovingly known as "J.D." Hunt. They both graduated high school in Tipton, Oklahoma - Leila in 1998; J.D. in 2005. Leila obtained a bachelor of arts in corporate communications from the University of Central Oklahoma and J.D. enlisted in the U.S Army in 2006. After the tragic death of her only brother in the Fort Hood shooting in November 2009, Leila has been active in garnering support for our troops as well as other Gold Star families. She has been speaking publicly as a keynote speaker in honor of her brother and supports soldiers who suffer from PTSD as well as non-profit organizations that support our military such as TAPS and Operation Homefront.

She ran 3 half marathons (2 in honor of her brother) and 1 full marathon and is involved in the planning of the Fort Hood Memorial Run this November. Leila has been married to Mitch Willingham for 7 years and resides in McKinney, Texas with her husband and 2 children as a stay-at-home mom.

17. R. James Woolsey:

R. James Woolsey, Former Director of Central Intelligence.

R. James Woolsey is Chairman of Woolsey Partners LLC. He is also a Venture Partner and Senior Advisor to VantagePoint Venture Partners of San Bruno, California.

Mr. Woolsey currently chairs the Strategic Advisory Group of the Washington, D.C. private equity fund, Paladin Capital Group, and he is Of Counsel to the Washington, D.C. office of the Boston-based law firm, Goodwin Procter. In the above capacities he specializes in a range of alternative energy and security issues.

Mr. Woolsey previously served in the U.S. Government on five different occasions, where he held Presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, most recently (1993-95) as Director of Central Intelligence. From July 2002 to March 2008 Mr. Woolsey was a Vice President and officer of Booz Allen Hamilton. He was also previously a partner at the law firm of Shea & Gardner in Washington, DC, now Goodwin Procter, where he practiced for 22 years in the fields of civil litigation, arbitration, and mediation.

During his 12 years of government service, in addition to heading the CIA and the Intelligence Community, Mr. Woolsey was: Ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Vienna, 1989–1991; Under Secretary of the Navy, 1977–1979; and General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, 1970–1973. He was also appointed by the President to serve on a part-time basis in Geneva, Switzerland, 1983–1986, as Delegate at Large to the U.S.–Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and Nuclear and Space Arms Talks (NST). As an officer in the U.S. Army, he was an adviser on the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), Helsinki and Vienna, 1969–1970.

18. Robert Zubrin:

Robert Zubrin, Author, Energy Victor.

Robert Zubrin is President of Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace R&D company located in Lakewood, Colorado. He is also the founder and President of the Mars Society, an international non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the exploration and settlement of Mars by both public and private means. Formerly a Staff Engineer at Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver, he holds a Masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Washington. Zubrin is the inventor of several unique concepts for space propulsion and exploration, and alternate fuels development, the author of over 200 published technical and non-technical papers in the field, and is the holder of two US Patents, and has five more pending. Dr. Zubrin is also the author of six books, including The Case for Mars: How We Shall Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must, published by Simon and Schuster's Free Press Division in Oct. 1996, Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization, published by Tarcher Putnam in Aug. 1999, Mars on Earth, published by Tarcher Penguin in Sept. 2003, and Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil, published by Prometheus Books in November 2007.

Dr. Zubrin is known internationally as one of the most creative engineers working in the aerospace industry today, and he and his work have been subject of much favorable press coverage in The Economist, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the London Times, The Washington Post, Fortune Magazine, Newsweek, Air and Space Smithsonian, Popular Science, Space News, and many other publications.

In March 2006, Dr. Zubrin published an article in The American Enterprise magazine, outlining a forceful plan for the near-term achievement of western energy independence through the rapid expansion of the production and use of alcohol fuels. This plan, which has since been the subject of considerable discussion and debate, is laid out in detail in his just published book Energy Victory, which has been hailed by leading energy security expert Gal Luft as "a vitally important book about the most critical issue we face today."

19. Nelly Braginsky, Protester, Ground Zero Mosque Rally.

20. Simon Deng, Former Sudanese Slave, Human Rights Activist

Ground Zero Mosque Rally.

21. Francine Lipstein, Protester, Ground Zero Mosque Rally.

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