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The state of the world speech, its worth reading, he touches on many different topics.
America’s top intelligence official, James Clapper, opened his testimony before Tuesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee’s worldwide threats hearing with what he called a “litany of doom”: nation-states crumbling, resource scarcity driving armed conflict, and the migrant crisis in Europe continuing. Oh, and Afghanistan is at serious risk of a political breakdown.
Indeed, Clapper and his fellow witnesses – the heads of the CIA, FBI, NSA, and Defense Intelligence Agency – had scant good news to offer. From the latest on the San Bernardino terror attack to how your fridge will one day spy on you, these are the most interesting moments from a grim and at-times tense hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
The Islamic State is going big in Libya
Outside of Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State’s “most developed” branch resides in Libya, Clapper said Tuesday. With fighters finding it increasingly difficult to travel to Syria, many are opting for Libya instead.
Since the 2011 intervention in Libya that ousted strongman Muammar Gaddaffi, the country has become a cauldron of warring militias with varying ideologies. Brennan warned the Islamic State affiliate, which already controls swaths of territory, is well-positioned to make further gains.
Clapper said conditions in Libya in some ways resemble Iraq and Syria before the Islamic State’s takeover there. Libya, Clapper said, is a mostly ungoverned space rich in oil, and the Islamic State’s immediate goal is to expand along the Mediterranean coast and gain additional territory. U.S. officials believe that the ISIS leadership in Syria has dispatched experienced battlefield commanders, as well as ordinary fighters, to Libya to take part in the war.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/09/u-s-spy-chiefs-think-the-world-is-pretty-much-going-to-hell/
America’s top intelligence official, James Clapper, opened his testimony before Tuesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee’s worldwide threats hearing with what he called a “litany of doom”: nation-states crumbling, resource scarcity driving armed conflict, and the migrant crisis in Europe continuing. Oh, and Afghanistan is at serious risk of a political breakdown.
Indeed, Clapper and his fellow witnesses – the heads of the CIA, FBI, NSA, and Defense Intelligence Agency – had scant good news to offer. From the latest on the San Bernardino terror attack to how your fridge will one day spy on you, these are the most interesting moments from a grim and at-times tense hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
The Islamic State is going big in Libya
Outside of Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State’s “most developed” branch resides in Libya, Clapper said Tuesday. With fighters finding it increasingly difficult to travel to Syria, many are opting for Libya instead.
Since the 2011 intervention in Libya that ousted strongman Muammar Gaddaffi, the country has become a cauldron of warring militias with varying ideologies. Brennan warned the Islamic State affiliate, which already controls swaths of territory, is well-positioned to make further gains.
Clapper said conditions in Libya in some ways resemble Iraq and Syria before the Islamic State’s takeover there. Libya, Clapper said, is a mostly ungoverned space rich in oil, and the Islamic State’s immediate goal is to expand along the Mediterranean coast and gain additional territory. U.S. officials believe that the ISIS leadership in Syria has dispatched experienced battlefield commanders, as well as ordinary fighters, to Libya to take part in the war.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/09/u-s-spy-chiefs-think-the-world-is-pretty-much-going-to-hell/