Please join us for a lively discussion about Jack Goldsmith's new book, "Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency after 9/11," hosted by AEI and the Federalist Society.

How should al Qaeda terrorist suspects held in Western detention be brought to justice? In his new book, "Justice and the Enemy" (PublicAffairs, 2012), British author William Shawcross describes how the lessons of the past can direct us in confronting our enemies today.

The United States remains the ultimate target of nihilist extremists who distort religion as a justification for murdering innocent men and women. We can try to behave as if that were not the case, but that sort of self-delusion could put the lives of innocent U.S. citizens at risk.

In some important ways we are safer, but in many others we are not. We have taken significant steps to become safer, but not enough. To be equally honest and realistic looking ahead, we must admit that the United States unquestionably faces a dangerous and uncertain future.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were put in concentration camps. That there was no comparable overreaction after 9/11, and that we have been able to preserve a free and open society, owes much to the fact that for 10 years there has been no repetition of those terrible attacks.

Defeating al Qaeda in Yemen cannot be achieved solely through the removal of its top leadership. Conditions in Yemen, even before the outbreak of the Arab Spring, are favorable for al Qaeda’s operations. Ten years after 9/11, al Qaeda in Yemen is stronger and perhaps better positioned to attack the United States.