‘They are looking overseas to have these spectacular attacks to further their narrative that the caliphate is growing and is successful, ‘ Brennan said.
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“I would anticipate that this is not the only operation ISIL has in the pipeline….it’s not going to content itself with violence inside of the Syrian and Iraqi borders”.
Terrorists are getting better at hiding their plans from global intelligence agencies and it’s important to find new ways to thwart their plans, CIA Director John Brennan said Monday. “This is a generational struggle that demands we provide more manpower to combat those who would destroy us and our values”, Prime Minister David Cameron said in announcing the initiative.
“We know that there are smuggling networks inside of Europe not just in terms of human traffickers – the stocks that were overrun in Eastern Europe as far as all of the AKs and other things- I think there is an active black market that all of the criminal elements will be able to take advantage of”, Brennan said.
Brennan’s comments come after terrorists linked to the Islamic State group (also known as ISIS or ISIL) killed at least 129 people in a wave of attacks throughout Paris on Friday night and into Saturday morning. “This was something that was deliberately and carefully planned over the course of several months, in terms of making sure that they has the operatives, the weapons, the explosives with the suicide belts”.
The CIA director also noted that fallout from leaks by former National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden and others about secret surveillance programs was still getting in the way of tracking terrorists, even as they become more sophisticated in hiding their operations. The IS had already claimed responsibility for the attacks. “I would never say that attacks are inevitable”. “This has put a definitive end to those hopes”.
When asked if the public should begin to accept that these attacks may now be inevitable, Brennan was resolute in his response. French intelligence services believe 1,800 French citizens have traveled to fight in Syria and Iraq since 2011.
Police stand guard in Place de la Republique following the series of deadly attacks in Paris, November 15, 2015.
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“We don’t want these terrorists to succeed in taking away the liberties we pride ourselves on. That is inconsistent with what our societies have been founded on”, said Brennan, as quoted by Business Insider.
