Terrorist Attack on the U.S. Within Six Months a Certainty
Another attempted terrorist attack on the United States in coming months is “certain,” the heads of major U.S intelligence agencies told a Senate committee Tuesday.
According to CNN, when asked by committee chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein of the likelihood of another attempted terror attack on the United States in the next three to six months, the officials agreed with Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair’s initial answer of “certain.”
While none of the intelligence chiefs, who included CIA Director Leon Panetta, FBI Director Robert Mueller and others, cited a specific pending threat, their testimony made clear that an evolving al Qaeda remains their top concern, CNN reported.
“My greatest concern, and what keeps me awake at night, is that al Qaeda and its terrorist allies and affiliates could very well attack the United States,” Panetta said.
CNN added the following:
Al Qaeda is adapting methods to make their plots more difficult to detect, shifting from large attacks with multiple players to using individuals without any background in terrorism, Panetta said.
He noted the failed Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner as an example, saying the suspect had a U.S. visa but little history of involvement with terrorist groups.
“Obviously, they decided to make use of someone like that within a very short period of time” of the suspect coming into contact with al Qaeda, Panetta said.
