The threat of ISIS is continuing to grow in certain areas despite the setbacks from U.S. led airstrikes a top intelligence official said Tuesday.
In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the group has been able to extend its reach beyond its bases in Iraq and Syria.
“With affiliates in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, the group is beginning to assemble a growing international footprint that includes ungoverned and under governed areas,” Stewart said in prepared testimony to discuss various threats emanating from around the world.
Stewart also said the numbers of foreign fighters flowing in and out of Iraq and Syria is “troubling,” as the United States expects ISIS to continue its outreach to members of the global extremist movement as a way to boost its numbers.
As the United States works to train and help build the capacity of the Iraqi security forces to eventually dislodge ISIS from Iraq, Stewart warned the Iraqis still have a long way to go.
The Iraqi Security Forces remain “unable to defend against external threats or sustain conventional military operations against internal challenges without foreign assistance,” because of poor logistics, corruption, and other problems within the force that have produced poor commanders and low morale.
Al Qaeda, and its affiliates will likely remain committed to launching attacks beyond its bases of operations, Stewart said. The Yemen based affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by many officials to be the biggest threat of the al Qaeda franchise, “remains committed to attacking the West, probably by targeting commercial aviation with innovative explosives.”
Iran continues to build up its military capacity based on its policy of becoming the dominant power of the region Stewart said, with the direction of its nuclear program essentially at a political crossroads amid negotiations with the United States and other members of the international group looking to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“The regime faces no insurmountable technical barriers to producing a nuclear weapon, making Iran’s political will the central issue,” he said.
The United States believes North Korea “continues to develop its nuclear and missile programs which pose a serious threat to the U.S. and regional allies,” Stewart said, with the regime still seeking to develop long range ballistic missiles capable of hitting the west coast of the United States.
With regard to Russia, Stewart said Moscow will likely continue its destabilizing posture toward Ukraine that will include “cyberspace operations, covert agents, regular military personnel operating as ‘volunteers’, mercenaries, para-institutional organizations, and the threat of military intervention,” he said.
Stewart also said the cyber threat directed at both United States government and private corporate cyber networks will likely continue “unabated’ in 2015.
Stewart testified alongside Mark Chandler, Acting Director for Intelligence for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon and Lt. Gen. William Mayville, Director for Operations at the Joint Staff.