CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress on Tuesday that al-Qaeda is likely planting “clean-cut” operatives in the United States to carry-out new attacks. A panel of high-level intelligence officials also articulated their belief that an al-Qaeda attack within the continental United States within the next six months was almost certain. Panetta also stated that China’s recent hacking of private email accounts were a warning of impending cyberterrorist attacks. He also warned that current U.S. screening methods, even when implemented correctly, could still miss the “lone wolf” agents with tenuous or unrecognizable terrorist ties. This warning comes amidst recent reports from the Marine Times echoing the sentiment that al-Qaeda may be down, but not out.
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