The men and women of the CIA are a national treasure.

Our democratic values also include - and our national security demands - open and transparent government. Some information obviously needs to be protected. And since his first days in office, President Obama has worked to strike the proper balance between the security the American people deserve and the openness our democratic society expects.

Jihad is holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam meaning to purify oneself or one's community.

Terrorism needs to be fought against and certainly delegitimized or attacked, but some of the underlying grievances that might in fact lead individuals astray to terrorism cannot be ignored.

The whole technological revolution and evolution gives man tremendous capabilities for good, and it also gives individuals tremendous capability to carry out what result in lethal action.

The misunderstandings - or, what really bothers me are the intentional misrepresentations of the facts, which take place on a fairly regular basis. To think that we, people who are involved in counterterrorism, do not care about civilian casualties or deaths or injuries, is just totally, totally wrong.

Throughout my career, I had the great fortune to experience firsthand as well as to witness what it means to be a CIA officer.