At a Counterterrorism Security Group meeting on April 30, 2001, Undersecretary of State Richard Armitage said “the top U.S. priority in Southeast Asia would be the complete destruction of al Qaeda. …The goal of eliminating al Qaeda, he said, was more important than stopping the spread of nuclear weapons in Asia, preventing another Indian-Pakistani war, or even restoring democracy in Pakistan in the event of a coup against General [Pervez] Musharraf. ‘Only al Qaeda,’ said Armitage, ‘is a direct threat to the United States.’ ”
– Gerald Posner, Why America Slept, Pages 172-173