Nominee for Counterterrorism Directorship Warns of Latest Threats
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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Nicholas Rasmussen, the acting director at the National Counterterrorism Center, painted a stark picture of what may lie ahead for U.S. efforts to protect the homeland from terrorists while testifying Thursday before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.
In line to become the next full-time director of the counterterrorism agency, Rasmussen told lawmakers that the nation faces “broader array of threats from a greater variety of terrorist groups and individual actors than at any point since 9/11.”
Thirteen years ago, al Qaeda was regarded as the top threat to launch more attacks inside the U.S. However, Rasmussen said the danger to U.S. interests at home and abroad has been expanded to include so-called “lone wolves,” the Islamic State and Iran-sponsored terrorists.
In fact, he went as far as to say, “We’re far more at risk, presently, of attack from an individual homegrown violent extremist who may be inspired by, but not necessarily directed by,” the Islamic State, otherwise known as ISIS or ISIL.
Meanwhile, Rasmussen suggested that the renewal of sectarian warfare between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq and Syria is being exploited by Iran in its backing of Shiite extremist groups, which are also considered a threat against the U.S.
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