Tora Bora
Atwan has repeatedly expressed his view that the war on terror is the root cause for the creation of numerous regional Al-Qaeda offshoots. At the second Dubai Debates on 31 May 2011, he stated: "We used to have one address for Al Qaeda. [...] Tora Bora, Tora Bora main square, Tora Bora highroad, the third cave on the left. [...] Now we have Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and in the Islamic Maghreb".