Homeland Security Chair: Terrorism Spreading ‘Like a Spiderweb’

Cites 'Fall of Egypt' as Proof

House Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Mike McCaul (R – TX) accused President Obama of spreading a “false narrative” by saying al-Qaeda is on the run, saying that to the contrary, it is getting worse.

“I personally see it spreading like a spiderweb, like a wildfire,” McCaul insisted, saying  that “we see this threat all throughout northern Africa, as we saw Egypt fall, Libya, now Syria is a great culmination of the Sunni-Shia conflict.”

It isn’t clear from context what he means by Egypt’s “fall,” but whether he is referring to the pro-democracy protests that ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak, or the summer military coup that ousted the elected government that followed, neither has anything to do with terrorism.

Likewise, while the government installed by a NATO bombing campaign is struggling in Libya, the nation’s problems are mostly rival militias fighting one another, and not terrorism either.

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Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com.