America Should Fight Like a Girl
A senior counter-terrorism analyst, Gina Bennett authored some of the earliest warnings of today’s terrorism trends, including the 1993 report that warned of the growing danger of Osama Bin Laden and the extremist movement he was fomenting. Her analysis was subsequently called “prescient,” “genius,” and “prophetic” by major media and former government officials. Bennett has been an analyst at the C.I.A.'s Counterterrorism Center for 25 years and is the principal author of the 2006 National Intelligence Estimate "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the U.S." She appeared in the 2015 The Spymasters documentary that detailed the inside workings of the C.I.A. She was also one of the six women in the CIA's "band of sisters" that tracked down bin Laden and inspired the 2012 thriller Zero Dark Thirty.
Bennett is a mother of five and author of the book, "National Security Mom." In the book, Bennett writes about the underworld of terrorism, showing that securing our nation is similar to how parents secure their homes and families.
Ms. Bennett’s Athenaeum presentation is part of the Women in Security series at the Athenaeum this spring.