CIA Chief Just Confirmed "War on Terror" Has Created A Lot More Terrorists
John Brennan tells Senate Intelligence Committee "our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach"
Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan said Thursday that, years into the United States' fight against the Islamic State, the terrorist group's reach and power have not been diminished and that it has even more fighters than al-Qaeda had at its height.
Speaking to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Brennan said, "Unfortunately, despite all our progress against ISIL on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach. The resources needed for terrorism are very modest, and the group would have to suffer even heavier losses of territory, manpower, and money for its terrorist capacity to decline significantly."
He also said the group is still "a formidable adversary," adding, "The branch in Libya is probably the most developed and the most dangerous."
He also projected that it "will intensify its global terror campaign to maintain its dominance of the global terrorism agenda."
And, despite the apparent failure of the military strategy, Brennan said "a long and difficult fight" would continue against the group whose number of fighters now "far exceeds what al-Qaeda had at its height."
His comments confirm warnings from many on the left that a military strategy to defeat ISIL, or ISIS, as it is also known, would only foment further acts of terrorism. Institute for Policy Studies fellow Phyllis Bennis, for example, warned in 2014, when President Barack Obama said he authorized new U.S. military airstrikes in Iraq to target ISIS, "it should be eminently clear that we cannot bomb Islamist extremists into submission or disappearance. Every bomb recruits more supporters."
And Jeremy Scahill, co-founding editor of the The Intercept and author of the book Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield, previously called Obama's war on ISIS an "epic formula for blowback."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just four days to go in our Spring Campaign, we are not even halfway to our goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan said Thursday that, years into the United States' fight against the Islamic State, the terrorist group's reach and power have not been diminished and that it has even more fighters than al-Qaeda had at its height.
Speaking to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Brennan said, "Unfortunately, despite all our progress against ISIL on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach. The resources needed for terrorism are very modest, and the group would have to suffer even heavier losses of territory, manpower, and money for its terrorist capacity to decline significantly."
He also said the group is still "a formidable adversary," adding, "The branch in Libya is probably the most developed and the most dangerous."
He also projected that it "will intensify its global terror campaign to maintain its dominance of the global terrorism agenda."
And, despite the apparent failure of the military strategy, Brennan said "a long and difficult fight" would continue against the group whose number of fighters now "far exceeds what al-Qaeda had at its height."
His comments confirm warnings from many on the left that a military strategy to defeat ISIL, or ISIS, as it is also known, would only foment further acts of terrorism. Institute for Policy Studies fellow Phyllis Bennis, for example, warned in 2014, when President Barack Obama said he authorized new U.S. military airstrikes in Iraq to target ISIS, "it should be eminently clear that we cannot bomb Islamist extremists into submission or disappearance. Every bomb recruits more supporters."
And Jeremy Scahill, co-founding editor of the The Intercept and author of the book Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield, previously called Obama's war on ISIS an "epic formula for blowback."
Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan said Thursday that, years into the United States' fight against the Islamic State, the terrorist group's reach and power have not been diminished and that it has even more fighters than al-Qaeda had at its height.
Speaking to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Brennan said, "Unfortunately, despite all our progress against ISIL on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach. The resources needed for terrorism are very modest, and the group would have to suffer even heavier losses of territory, manpower, and money for its terrorist capacity to decline significantly."
He also said the group is still "a formidable adversary," adding, "The branch in Libya is probably the most developed and the most dangerous."
He also projected that it "will intensify its global terror campaign to maintain its dominance of the global terrorism agenda."
And, despite the apparent failure of the military strategy, Brennan said "a long and difficult fight" would continue against the group whose number of fighters now "far exceeds what al-Qaeda had at its height."
His comments confirm warnings from many on the left that a military strategy to defeat ISIL, or ISIS, as it is also known, would only foment further acts of terrorism. Institute for Policy Studies fellow Phyllis Bennis, for example, warned in 2014, when President Barack Obama said he authorized new U.S. military airstrikes in Iraq to target ISIS, "it should be eminently clear that we cannot bomb Islamist extremists into submission or disappearance. Every bomb recruits more supporters."
And Jeremy Scahill, co-founding editor of the The Intercept and author of the book Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield, previously called Obama's war on ISIS an "epic formula for blowback."