House Homeland Security chairman Michael McCaul claimed there is a “high degree of probability that something will detonate” during the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, noting that at he’s “never seen a greater threat” from terrorists than at these particular games.
The Texas Republican made the remarks during an interview on “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace, discussing the security situation in the Black Sea resort town not far from Russia’s restive Chechen region, where Islamic terrorists frequently attack government and civilian targets. Wallace questioned whether McCaul’s characterization of the Olympic Village as “very well-fortified” underlined the danger facing athletes and spectators.
“Well, I think any Olympics is going to have a certain risk to it,” McCaul began. “I think this particular Olympics, I’ve never seen a greater threat — certainly in my lifetime… Remember, we’ve already had two suicide bombers that have gone off outside the Olympics village in recent months.
“I think the greatest threat, in my judgment,” McCaul continued, “is the proximity and the location of where these games are being held. They’re being held right dead-center in the middle of what has been a historic battleground between Russia and the Chechen rebels that have now spun off into an Islamic militant group. You’ve got the leader of the Chechen rebels calling for attacks on the Olympics, calling for the attacks on civilians — including women and children.
“That’s a whole new ballgame that makes these Olympics very, very different,” the Homeland Security chair warned. “I think there’s a high degree of probability that something is gonna detonate, something will go off, but I think it’s most likely to happen outside the ‘Ring of Steel’ and the Olympic village… I hope I’m wrong in this assessment, but you’re talking about an area of the world where suicide bombers go off all the time… The eyes of the world are upon these Olympics, and the Chechen extremists know this. They want to make a global statement, they want to make a jihad statement, and what better time to do it than right now? And that is, I think, the biggest threat to these Olympics.”
And remember, they don’t have to hit in the ‘Ring of Steel,’ at the Olympic village,” he added. “As long as they hit somewhere in Russia, to them, that’s a victory.”
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