IS threat eclipses Al Qaeda: United States

“Originally an outgrowth of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, in the past two years IS has eclipsed core Al-Qaeda as the principal terrorist threat we face. The world has been shocked by the butchery and depravity of these twisted fanatics,” said Lisa O Monaco, assistant to the US President for Homeland Security and Counter terrorism. From their stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, IS has displayed an apocalyptic ambition and an unprecedented brutality, she said in an address to the Council on Foreign Relations, a top American think-tank.

Al-Qaeda focused on launching catastrophic attacks against the West. It used PDF format for propaganda material and the Internet to post grainy images. The IS is very different. “A recent report on IS was subtitled, From Retweets to Raqqa, and that, I think, underscores the scale of our challenge. These fanatics are online and on the ground,” she said. “They are terrorists, insurgents and bureaucrats, attempting to control a territory that was at one point larger than the UK. 

IS supporters have shown an ability to engineer high-profile attacks, like blowing up a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula. They also direct foreign fighters to attack soft targets, as they did in Paris. They have deployed crude but deadly chemical weapons. 

And through their use of social media, IS has distributed the threat globally. They can inspire sympathisers and adherents anywhere, turning lost souls into soulless killers,whether in Bangladesh or San Bernardino,” Monaco said. “But, even as we focus on IS, we cannot take our eye off Al-Qaeda, its affiliates, and its adherents. 

From North Africa to South Asia, their desire to strike at American interests and citizens warrants our continued vigilance,” Monaco said. 

The most active of these affiliates remains Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has attempted to attack the United States multiple times-though American air strikes and international pressure have thwarted AQAP’s external plots and targeted its leadership, she said.