WarSclerotic

Did American security officials ignore intelligence information that could have been used to prevent last Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris?

U.S. media outlets reported on Wednesday that an unclassified May 2015 intelligence assessment published by the Department of Homeland Security’s Intelligence and Analysis directorate warned of Islamic State’s ability to conduct complex terrorist attacks against the West — the same scenario that transpired in Paris.

The report even mentioned Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks. Referring to an Islamic State terrorist plot that was foiled in Belgium in January, the report said Abaaoud “directed the operation from a safe house in Athens, Greece, using a cell phone, while other group members operated in several other European countries.”

The report detailed the foiled plot.

“The plot disrupted by Belgian authorities in January 2015 is the first instance in which a large group of terrorists possibly operating under [Islamic State] direction has been discovered and may indicate the group has developed the capability to launch more complex operations in the West,” the report said.

It also said that “the threat from [Islamic State] plots involving multiple operatives may grow, but are more likely to occur in Europe — where several recruitment networks have been disrupted, and several returning fighters have already demonstrated the ability to conduct attacks — than in the United States, given the different operating environments, number of European foreign fighters currently in theater, and Europe’s geographic proximity to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.”