House Press

Dodging the al-Qaeda question

Once again, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas makes me proud to be a journalist.

Ms Thomas pushed a critical but still taboo question at a White House press conference the other day. 

She dared to ask top US administration officials why al-Qaeda and its affiliates continue to try and attack the American people.

The response by John O. Brennan was disappointing - but what many have come to expect from political appointees regardless of party affiliation.  Brennan, the advisor to President Obama on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism gave a response that evaded the truths he learned over 25 years in the intelligence field, with much of it spent in the Middle East.