Trump's Gaza comments hand jihadist terrorists a 'rallying cry,' experts say
President Trump’s talk of a “take over” of Gaza threatens to fuel an already rising terrorist threat against the United States, ex-intelligence officials say.
President Donald Trump’s calls for the United States to “take over” and “develop” the Gaza Strip have handed jihadist terrorist groups a rallying cry to recruit and inspire attacks against Americans at home and abroad, security experts and former intelligence officials say.
Trump’s comments this week, proposing that the United States would control the Palestinian enclave while its residents would be forced to relocate abroad, have caused shock and outrage around the world — and terrorists will pounce on that anger to attract more support and organize attacks, experts said.
“I think every CIA station chief in the Middle East woke up this morning with a migraine headache, because there’s a potential for a generational counterterrorism nightmare here,” Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer who worked in the region, said Wednesday in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Polymeropoulos highlighted the language Trump has used in recent days — that the United States would "take over" and "own" Gaza.
“These are triggering mechanisms for Islamic extremist groups,” he said, adding, “This kind of language only is going to galvanize groups that want to kill Americans."
Rating: 5