The Aspen Security Forum Releases Certain 2011 Forum Panels

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Aspen Institute Homeland Security Program today releases details about certain sessions for the second annual forum on homeland security and counterterrorism, the Aspen Security Forum, to be held on July 27-30. A full schedule will be available on the forum website, www.aspensecurityforum.org, in early July. Dates and times of sessions are subject to change.

Notable sessions include:

July 27

• "Afghanistan/Pakistan and the Nexus to Homeland Security" – Admiral Eric Olson, Commander of US Special Operations Command, will appear in conversation with Martha Raddatz, ABC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent, at 6:00 p.m.

July 28

• TSA Administrator John Pistole will discuss aviation security with Jeanne Meserve, CNN's Homeland Security Correspondent, at 10:15 a.m.
• "Terrorist Threat Picture and Counterterrorism Strategy" – John McLaughlin, former Deputy and Acting CIA Director, and Charlie Allen, former CIA official and former Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, will appear in conversation with Michael Isikoff, NBC News' National Investigative Correspondent, at 12:45 p.m.
• Admiral Dennis Blair, former Director of National Intelligence, will discuss whether the cost of the war on terrorism is proportionate to the actual threat from Al Qaeda with CBS News' "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl at 4:30 p.m.
• Killing in the Name, the Oscar-nominated short documentary about terror victims' and survivors' speaking truth to terror, will be screened at 6:30 p.m. Following the screening, a panel of terrorism experts (namely, Steven Simon of the Council on Foreign Relations; CNN's Peter Bergen; and MSNBC's Evan Kohlmann) will discuss the film, along with its executive producer, Carie Lemack, the founder of Global Survivors Network and whose mother was among the victims on 9/11. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston will moderate the discussion.

July 29

• Former White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and former Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Fran Townsend will discuss national security and counterterrorism strategy with Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson at 9:00 a.m.
• Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan General Douglas Lute; Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs Paul Stockton; and Commander of NORAD and US Northern Command Admiral James Winnefeld will discuss the Department of Defense's role in homeland security with the AP's Kimberly Dozier at 12:00 p.m.
• "The View from Abroad" – Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani; Afghan Ambassador to the US Eklil Hakimi; former Yemeni Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Alsaidi; Coordinator of the United Nations Al-Qaida Taliban Monitoring Team Richard Barrett; and European Union Counterterrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove will be in conversation with Time's Massimo Calabresi on the international dimensions of homeland security and counterterrorism at 3:45 p.m.

July 30

• Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, the State Department's Coordinator for Counterterrorism, will be in conversation with former Newsweek Managing Editor Dan Klaidman on the international dimensions of homeland security and counterterrorism at 12:00 p.m.
• Former Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the US Treasury Stuart Levey and former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser for Combating Terrorism Juan Zarate will discuss terrorism finance-related issues with CNBC's Erin Burnett at 1:30 p.m.
• Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and her predecessor, Michael Chertoff, will bring the forum to a close at 6:00 p.m. by their conversation with NBC News' Pete Williams.

Additional topics discussed will include maritime security; mass transit security; critical infrastructure protection and "soft targets" security; cyber-security; legal issues in the war on terrorism; and the role and responsibilities of the media in reporting on sensitive homeland security/counterterrorism-related issues.

Daily video highlights from the forum will be posted at www.aspensecurityforum.org, and event updates will be featured at www.twitter.com/aspeninstitute and www.facebook.com/aspeninstitute. For information on last year's inaugural forum, please see www.aspensecurityforum.org.

A limited number of press passes are available. For more information and to register, please visit https://aspeninstitute.wufoo.com/forms/2011-aspen-security-forum-press-registration/.

For other media questions, please contact Jennifer Myers at [email protected] or 202-736-2906. For general information about the forum, please contact Josh Diamonstein at [email protected] or 202-736-2904. For sponsorship information, please contact Deborah Cunningham at [email protected]. All sessions will be on the record.

Sponsors for the 2011 Aspen Security Forum to date are AGT International, IBM, i2, and Mission Essential Personnel.

The Aspen Institute Homeland Security Program works to heighten public awareness as to the nation's continued vulnerability to terrorism, and to persuade the nation to take the necessary steps to close the gap between how secure we should be and how secure we actually are. For more information, please visit www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/homeland-security.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has an international network of partners.

SOURCE The Aspen Institute