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.

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.

You always, I think, debate with yourself about whether or not you made the right decision. And you have to then give the person that you’re working for - in my instance, the president - your best judgment based on your understanding of the facts, but also the calculus you use to make a determination about what’s the best way to go forward.

Terrorists are not 100 feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill.

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

By the time President Obama took office, Guantánamo was viewed internationally as a symbol of a counterterrorism approach that flouted our laws and strayed from our values, undercutting the perceived legitimacy - and therefore the effectiveness - of our efforts.

We need to make sure that leaks of classified information, of national security secrets, needs to be rigorously pursued and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.