From the very beginning of this movement, Scientology has always been a very closeted organization. That aura of secrecy is something that the present-day management continues.

It's easy enough to predict that there will be conflict, but you place yourself in a maelstrom when you offer a view about the conflict, and I don't have an investment in one side or the other; I feel compassion for both sides. I've spent a fair amount of time in Gaza and Israel, done a lot of reporting and lived over there, and the tragedy is sometimes overwhelming. At the same time, America does have an investment in what happens.

Having written Camp David as a drama, I could see the drama maybe a little more clearly when I wrote the book.

I don't dispute Scientology can help people; I think that is a very important fact to keep in mind.

I don't want to constantly be writing about terrorism and strife.

Jimmy Carter is not loved in Israel, and yet no American president gave them a greater gift than Jimmy Carter gave them with peace with Egypt, and the opportunity to make peace with the Palestinians.

Unlike the talent for war, the ability to make peace has always been rare.