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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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December 1, 2015
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Hoekstra
on NewsmaxTV: American Concerns About Terror Threats Well Grounded
by Pete Hoekstra
NewsmaxTV
November 30, 2015
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Rick Blackwell: Welcome back everyone. Islamic radicals killed 130
people 17 days ago in Paris. There were concerns that Islamic terrorists
would strike over the holidays. New York City increased security around the
downtown parade attended by 3 million people, millions took part in black
Friday shopping. Thankfully there was not a major attack. Still terrorism
continues to be front and center in our concerns ion the United States.
Tonight warnings for Americans in Afghanistan where credible reports of an
imminent attack on Kabul sometime within the next 48 hours. For more on the
threat we are joined via telephone by former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz. Fred
is currently vice president at the Center for Security Policy. And from
Newsmax Washington we are joined by Pete Hoekstra. Pete is currently the
Shillman Senior Fellow with the Investigative Project on Terrorism, and is
also the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He is also
author of the new book Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya.
Thanks to you both for being here on Newsmax Prime. Congressman Hoekstra,
44% of Americans felt a terrorist attack was likely in the US back in
April. That number now stands at 69%. Are Americans justified in their
fears?
Pete Hoekstra: Oh I think so, absolutely. ISIS has made it clear
that they want to attack in Europe, that they want to attack the United
States, the source of the country that's sponsoring the bombings in Syria
and Iraq. Al Qaeda has wanted to attack again in the United States. You've
got lone wolves who are radicalized. So yeah, you've got a whole group of
folks who are very, very interested in striking at the heart of the beast.
They want to hit America, they want to hit us in the homeland.
Blackwell: Well fear obviously can drive people to act, but are
we acting appropriately? And Fred you wrote a fascinating piece in the
National Review where you called Hillary Clinton's worldview incoherent.
Why do you believe the president and the Democratic frontrunner for president
in 2016 are doomed to fail to protect our country?
Fred Fleitz: Well you know I was encouraged by what Hillary
Clinton said when she said that we're at war with radical jihadists and
that they have a radical ideology. But as I looked at her comments very carefully
I was very disappointed. She said that there's no clash of civilizations
and she was afraid to use the term 'radical Islam' because she said she
didn't want to offend Muslim societies that she may need to deal with as
president. The problem here is in Islam and the president's claim that this
is not an Islamic problem is part of our problem. We have a severe problem
with large numbers of Muslims around the world subscribing to radical
theology, known as sharia. They want to ch -- They are at war with Western
civilization, and if we don't recognize we're at war with this ideology
which Clinton and Obama do not, we're never going to defeat it.
Hoekstra: If I could just add to that. The other thing is that
the Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, she's also the architect of
our strategy in Libya. And the New York Times had a fascinating piece out
in the last couple of days that said Libya now is maybe actually worse than
the situation that we're seeing in Syria and Iraq and that the West even
has less influence and less capability ultimately to turn things around in
Libya than what they do in Syria. And right now the radical jihadists are
controlling roughly 150 miles of the Mediterranean Sea, the seafront there
which is a launching pad for radical jihadists into Europe.
Blackwell: Congressman Hoekstra I know obviously you have an
expertise in that area from your latest book, but also you have an
expertise in the phone surveillance program that collected data and phone
records. Today is the first day actually of the new USA Freedom Act which
will replace the wide net of collection with more targeted monitoring. Is
this a good thing or do you worry we may not catch terrorists plotting
against the United States with this new policy?
Hoekstra: We're not gonna have near the kind of capabilities that
we had yesterday. And remember we were only collecting phone numbers. We
weren't collecting content, we weren't collecting whose phone it was on and
all those types of things. So the only thing we knew that is if a terrorist
called into the United States we could go to the court and if the court
agreed we could immediately find out what number that person was calling
from outside, who they were connecting to and those types of things. And
then with further court orders we might be able to surveil those calls, get
the content and find these folks. And the thing was we had speed. We could
do it quickly. We've lost speed and if you're gonna stop a terrorist attack
you need the content and you need speed. You need to be flexible and agile.
Those are the two things that we've lost today that we no longer have.
Blackwell: And Fred, quickly. What are your thought about the USA
Freedom Act?
Fleitz: Well I think it was unfortunate it had to pass. I guess
the only thing I can say is that it might have been worse. Edward Snowden
is a traitor. He created an atmosphere of hysteria against US intelligence
programs that led to this terrible legislation. And we know from
intelligence officials that terrorists have gone to school on our
intelligence capabilities based on Snowden's leaks, most of which have
nothing to do with possible compromise of the privacy of Americans. They
had to deal with how America spied on our enemies, and that was compromised
by Snowden.
Blackwell: We're gonna have to leave it right there. Two thumbs
down from Congressman Hoekstra and Fred Fleitz on the USA Freedom Act. Once
again the book Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya.
Thanks to our guests. We're coming right back here on Newsmax TV.
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Terrorism is critical in winning a battle we cannot afford to lose. All
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Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3
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