US Intelligence: American Militants in Syria may Attack Us, Rebels Too weak to Overthrow Strong Al-Assad

Local Editor

For the second time in a week, the US top intelligence chiefs Tuesday issued a scathing assessment of the global threats facing the United States, warning that Syria is becoming a base from which extremist, al Qaeda-linked groups could attack the US.

"We are concerned about the use of Syrian territory by the al- Qaeda organization to recruit individuals and develop the capability to be able not just to carry out attacks inside of Syria, but also to use Syria as a launching pad," said CIA Director John Brennan at a hearing before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
He further stated: "There are camps inside of both Iraq and Syria that are used by al-Qaeda to develop capabilities that are applicable, both in the theater, as well as beyond."

For his part, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper put the threat assessment in stark terms: "Looking back over my more than half a century in intelligence, I have not experienced a time when we've been beset by more crises and threats around the globe," he said.

Clapper and Brennan were joined at the hearing by the head of the FBI, James Comey, War Intelligence Chief Gen. Mike Flynn and Matt Olson, who heads the so-called National Counterterrorism Center.
The Syrian insurgency, Clapper said in opening remarks, is made up of between 75,000 and 110,000 fighters from about 1500 different groups.
"Complicating this further are the 7500 or so foreign fighters from some 50 countries who have gravitated to Syria," Clapper told the committee.

In parallel, he noted that "among them are a small group of Af-Pak al-Qaeda veterans with aspirations of external attack in Europe, if not the homeland."
Moreover, Clapper said that the militants are too weak to overthrow the Syrian government and President Bashar al-Assad is likely to stay in power.
"I foresee kind of more of the same, sort of a perpetual state of a stalemate where ... neither the regime nor the opposition can prevail."

He also pointed to an agreement struck in 2013 to eliminate the Arab country's chemical weapons, saying the deal strengthened the position of President Assad.
But he criticized the slow process of chemical weapons' removal in Syria, saying that only two shipments totaling about 53 metric tons have left the country so far.
Meanwhile, at the White House Tuesday, Gen. Joe Dunford, the top US commander in Afghanistan, scheduled a meeting with President Obama and his national security team to brief them on the way ahead in Afghanistan and how many troops he needs post-2014.

Clapper gave his assessment of the future in Afghanistan: "We know our vital national security interest there will not cease. We need to maintain our intelligence efforts there, even after the military withdraws."
"Core al-Qaeda and the Taliban will continue to represent a threat, but we must not forget that Afghanistan is more than a front in the counter-terrorism war."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team