Top Spy Says Terror Threat Dispersed

Terror Threat Potent, But Dispersed, Intelligence Chief Says

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2013 – The terror threat is still potent, but it is much more dispersed than it once was, the director of national intelligence told the Senate yesterday.

James R. Clapper told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that terror threats are in a transition period as jihadist movements become decentralized.

Al-Qaida as a name brand remains potent, but the core organization — the original terror group — is fading in capabilities and influence, he said. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, still maintains clout even though it is under assault in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, he said, and it still wants to launch attacks on American soil and against American interests in the region.

“The group continues to adjust its tactics, techniques and procedures for targeting the West,” Clapper said. “AQAP leaders will have to weigh the priority they give to U.S. plotting against other internal and regional objectives, as well as the extent to which they have individuals who can manage, train, and deploy operatives for U.S. operations.” MOREHERE