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Mike Rogers: Terror Threats Against US 'Off the Charts'
Friday, January 2, 2015 11:30 AM
By: James Morrison
The Obama administration is crippling America’s spy service with regulations, as terrorist threats to U.S. interests soar “off the charts,” the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee charged in a wide-ranging interview about America’s shadow war with Islamic militants.
“We have this big, growing problem, and we have handcuffed our capabilities, one-arm behind our back,” Mike Rogers, a Republican congressman from Michigan for 14 years, told The Daily Beast.
He called for more intelligence officers and more paramilitary forces to fight the Islamic State and other militant groups that have pledged allegiance to the terrorist army that still controls vast areas of Iraq and Syria, despite U.S. airstrikes that have killed some of its leaders and disrupted some of its operations.
The U.S.-led coalition Thursday launched its heaviest round of strikes on the ISIS-held Syrian town of Raqqa since the terrorists captured a Jordanian fighter pilot on Dec. 24, Fox News reported.
Rogers advocates greater autonomy for CIA and special operations forces in Syria and a robust expansion of intelligence services.
“If we don’t want the 101st Airborne Division fighting all over the world, and I don’t, then we need a capability to leverage up these other countries’ counterterrorism capabilities,” he said.
“So I believe in that regard, our paramilitary division needed to have more resources,” something he has supported as intelligence chairman but wants to see continue.
He complained that President Barack Obama’s National Security Council is exerting too much control over what should be tactical decisions made by commanders on the ground.
“They are trying to micromanage this whole thing,” he said. “It’s more like stomping a fire out with your foot.”
Rogers warned that the terrorist threats against “U.S. interests and Western interests are off the charts” and that half of the 21 known al-Qaida affiliates are “now talking about supporting ISIS.”
NSC spokesman Ned Price disputed Rogers’ accusations, insisting that the White House leaves “tactical targeting decisions” to the “operational agencies to ensure their agility and effectiveness.”
Rogers retired from Congress after seven terms and is scheduled to debut as a radio talk-show host on Monday. The show, syndicated through Westwood One, is entitled, “Something To Talk About.”
