(UnitedHeadlines.com) – Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie warned that the Islamic State terror group has a “strong desire” to carry out an attack on the United States during a March 31 interview on ABC News’ “This Week” with co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
McKenzie, the former head of U.S. Central Command, said that after ISIS-K carried out attacks in Moscow on March 22 and a mass bombing in Iran in January he believes that “the threat is growing.” He added that he thinks similar attempts to attack the U.S. and other foreign nations “is inevitable.”
McKenzie said the threat first began to grow when the U.S. completely withdrew troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. However, he believes the U.S. should have maintained a small troop presence in Afghanistan to counter the threat. He added that in Syria and Iraq, the U.S. maintains a large enough military presence to counter extremists in those countries.
Author of the book, “The Melting Point,” which focuses on McKenzie’s time commanding U.S. troops in the Middle East, including during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, McKenzie said without a small number of troops, “we have almost no ability to see” what is happening in Afghanistan.
McKenzie said he thinks “we might actually be safer than we are” if the U.S. and its allies left a small number of troops in Afghanistan. He added that because the U.S. cannot “keep pressure” on the Islamic State and other militant groups, the groups can gain strength, and plan, and coordinate attacks. McKenzie said the Moscow attack shows how the terrorist groups were able to regroup and plan large-scale operations.
McKenzie noted that despite the danger of potential similar attacks, their plots are more easily detectable by intelligence agencies, adding that the U.S. notified the Kremlin of the potential for an attack on concerts two weeks before the attack happened.
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