Sen. Brownback Interview

COLMES: This is a FOX News alert.

The Associated Press reporting that U.S. intelligence analysts believe Al Qaeda is back to pre-9/11 strength. It's believed the terrorist network responsible for the most devastating attack on American soil has been able to rebuild its operating capability, despite near six years of tactics aimed at crippling it.

Joining us now is author of the book "From Power to Purpose," presidential candidate and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback.

Senator, in Iowa tonight, I suppose it has something to do with the presidential campaign, right?

SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: It does. I unveiled a major proposal today on an optional flat tax, and I had that scheduled in front of a Des Moines group and put that forward today and had a pretty good reception for it.

COLMES: Let me ask you about what we led into this with, this alert about Al Qaeda getting stronger, getting more pronounced. Does this indicate that, indeed, the war on terror as we have approached it has not been as successful as we'd like? We've redeployed resources to Iraq. Is this a wake-up call for us to reorient ourselves on how we fight this war?

BROWNBACK: Well, I don't know if you could say all that, and I'm not certain yet about the report. I mean, this is being reported out by the A.P., and so I think one has to really see if this is actually the case. But it is troubling what is taking place by Al Qaeda. There's just no question about that.

And when we went into 9/11, and the first thing we did was go at Afghanistan and the head of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, we really felt like that there was some severing of the head from the rest of the body. But what you're seeing it seems like is a reconstitution in many separate cell, a metastasizing of this taking place in a lot of different places, so it's a different Al Qaeda. But, in many respects, it's harder to get at, because it's in a lot of different places.

COLMES: But why is that? What have we not done? Why has this happened? Why is this five years, six years later continuing to metastasize and is bigger and better Al Qaeda than there was five-and-a- half years ago if we're accurately and properly directing the war on terror?

BROWNBACK: Well, and I've got to read the report and see, and I haven't seen that yet, Alan. But it seems to me what's taking place is you're in a generational conflict with fascist Islam. And what's taken place since 9/11 happened was we went right at the head of it. And a number of people said, "Look, I just don't agree with the United States' Western values, and I'm going to a cell myself or work with a separate group and call myself a part of Al Qaeda," or something of that nature, and that we've got to go at that tactics and try to stop the spread of this taking place, along with what we're doing directly on the field in places like Iraq.

COLMES: So what does President Brownback do, day one, when you're in office, to address this issue that's not being done now?

BROWNBACK: Well, I think one of the things we've got to do -- and I've been pushing this for some time -- is get a soft partition in Iraq so we get out of the Sunni-Shia fight and back into the fight on terrorism and directed at terrorism. Step two is I think we have to work with a number of regimes that we may not like all that well but that can help in containing Al Qaeda and the spread of Al Qaeda-like organizations that's working...

HANNITY: What regimes?

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: You're not talking about Iran, are you?

BROWNBACK: No. That's one you've got to confront, because they're funding the groups. They're one of the key groups, and I think you've got to confront Iran aggressively. But a group like Egypt, Pakistan, I think you've got to help them grow their economies to try to help stabilize their populations and so they don't get further into a more Islamic fascist type of area. But Iran, Sean, we've got to go directly at.

HANNITY: Do you mean -- would you support the idea of taking out their refineries, if they continue to thumb their nose at the world community, threaten Israel, fund Hezbollah and Hamas? Would you support the idea of a preemptive strike to stop them before they get nuclear capability?

BROWNBACK: I think we have to keep the military options on the table, and all of those towards Iran, because...

HANNITY: But if they seem...

BROWNBACK: ... that's one of the key funders, and that's one of the key organizing groups around these militant Islamic groups.

HANNITY: And I agree with everything you're saying, but I think we're getting to the point where, if we are to believe Ahmadinejad and his threats, and we watch their pursuit of nuclear weapons, there's probably going to come a point for the next president that they're going to have to determine whether to go out and have that preemptive strike. And you're ready and would be ready to do that?

BROWNBACK: Yes, I am, and I think we have to be. Sean, if we're going to be serious about this fight, and we're in this fight, and probably for a generation. We're probably in this fight for a generation. And we've got to Sean coming together on this, Republican and Democrat, and stop using it back and forth as a security issue or as a political issue. We've got to have the same sort of unity in this that we had in the Cold War, and that's lacking, and that's something that a President Brownback would work aggressively on.

HANNITY: I think it's going to be hard to work with people like Harry Reid, who send kids off to fight then tell them they've lost the war, who support the surge and say, "Believe the generals," and then say the generals are lying to us and don't give it an opportunity to work.

Let me ask you this. There seems to be some remaining controversy, and I want to set the record, in this most recent immigration vote that took place on this -- what I describe as an amnesty bill. You had voted one way first, and then you changed your vote. What happened? And why? Some are accusing you of having done that for political expediency.

BROWNBACK: Well, that would hardly be for political expediency, but I purposely did that. And I did that because I don't think this is the right bill or the right time, but I do think we need some form of a guest-worker program, some form of comprehensive reform, and that's what I was signaling with that. But this was the wrong bill at the wrong time.

HANNITY: Last question.

BROWNBACK: What we need to do now is to secure the borders and enforce the law.

HANNITY: What do you think about what we were discussing in the first segment about your colleague, Senator Vitter from Louisiana, and the situation he's in? New information coming out that this might be a pattern of behavior. Are senators potentially targets for some type blackmail? Should Americans be concerned about their personal behavior?

BROWNBACK: Well, I think Americans should be concerned about their personal behavior, yes. Are they subject to blackmail? I suppose as well. I was pleased that David admitted that this took place and took responsibility for it. I think that's the thing that you should to and then put it to the voters and say, "I did this. I confessed this. Now you decide whether or not I'm worthy to hold office."

COLMES: We thank you very much for being on the show tonight. Thanks for your time.

BROWNBACK: Thank you, Alan.

Thank you, Sean.