The next attack on US most likely from Pakistan’s “under-governed regions” – Mullen
This is what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, plans to tell the US Congress Wednesday, Feb. 6.
US intelligence chief Mike McConnell told a Senate hearing Tuesday, Feb. 5, that the al Qaeda network in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan has suffered setbacks, but still poses a persistent and growing danger from its safe haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas. He stressed that al Qaeda remains the pre-eminent threat against the United States” more than six years after 9/11.
According to McConnell, the terrorists use this sanctuary to “maintain a cadre of skilled lieutenants capable of directing the organization’s operations around the world.”
Also testifying, FBI Director Robert Mueller said al Qaeda continues to present a “critical threat to the homeland” and warned that “homegrown terrorists” not directly linked to al Qaeda posed a threat as well.
In other world trouble spots, McConnell said North Korea was proceeding with a nuclear program despite its commitments and Iran was “keeping open the option” of building nuclear weapons.