CHARLOTTE, NC — Surveillance flights over Syria are gathering new intelligence, and the numbers are alarming. That information is painting a new picture of ISIS, who President Obama has vowed to dismantle and destroy.
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker is breaking down the hard road ahead for the U.S.
“We should have jumped on this much sooner,” says Swecker. “Either the intelligence was not there, or the intelligence was not taken seriously. Now we’ve got to play catch up.”
Swecker was the on-scene commander of FBI operations in Iraq during crucial stages of the war. He says intelligence is the key to taking on ISIS.
Initial estimates vastly underestimated the terrorist group. The CIA said ISIS could muster 10,000 fighters. New estimates double or triple that amount.
“We’ve let them get fairly well entrenched. And what bothers me is they have been projecting themselves as a successful organization, and that helps with recruiting,” says Swecker. “So we’ve let them get almost a two-year head start.”
ISIS is pulling in new recruits, many from the West. They have money, and success on the battlefield is swelling the ranks. A modernized and more dangerous foe.
“Much more capable at this stage than Al Qaeda was in 2000,” says Swecker. “They’re well-funded. Who knows who’s buying their oil? We ought to be shutting that down very quickly.”
Swecker is concerned that the President gave away too much in a speech earlier this week, kicking the ant hill, potentially scattering ISIS and making it more difficult to target.
“Hammer ISIS wherever they poke their heads up,” says Swecker. “I don’t care if it’s Yemen, Syria. Even if it’s in Iran or Turkey. You hammer them wherever they are, and you don’t talk about it. You do it.”
He says intelligence will play a huge role, especially when it comes to protecting home soil.
“That’s where I get concerned. Because they’re recruiting people from the West, who can travel freely between borders,” says Swecker. “And those are the folks that we need to be most concerned about.”
The CIA is saying that more than 2,000 Westerners have gone to Syria to fight. The foreign fighters in ISIS come from more than 80 countries.
