NEW YORK, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - The Islamic State (IS) militants do not yet threaten the US mainland, but pose a growing danger to national security, US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told the New York-based think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday.
“At present we have no credible information that ISIL [IS] is planning to attack the homeland of the US, but that is not by any means the end of the story,” Johnson said.
“ISIL is an extremely dangerous organization. It has the elements of both a terrorist organization and an insurgent army. It … has seized large amounts of territory in Iraq and Syria, which it can utilize for safe havens, training, command and control, and from which it can launch attacks,” the Secretary of Homeland Security added.
“Though we know of no credible information that ISIL is planning to attack the homeland at present, we know that ISIL is prepared to kill innocent Americans they encounter, because they are American. In a public and depraved manner, we know ISIL views the US as an enemy, and we know that ISIL’s leaders have themselves said that they will soon be in direct confrontation with the United States,” Johnson underscored.
The IS, is a terrorist organization which proclaimed Islamic caliphate over vast territories it seized across Iraq and Syria in June. Since August, the United States has been carrying out airstrikes and drone attacks against the IS militants, following their advance on northern Iraq. On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama is set to outline his strategy to defeat IS, in a primetime address to the nation.
