Krauthammer on administration claim Al Qaeda has been dismantled: ‘That just doesn’t wash anymore’

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Krauthammer on terrorist threat

Charles Krauthammer said Wednesday that while the administration has touted success in defeating and dismantling core al Qaeda, he believes that argument makes light of a very real and growing threat.

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said Wednesday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that while the administration has touted success in defeating and dismantling core Al Qaeda, he believes that argument makes light of a very real and growing threat.

“The way the administration is always focused on what you call core Al Qaeda, as if you can ignore all the other elements, the other scattered Islamist groups around the world and you denigrate them as JV, that just doesn't wash anymore,” Krauthammer said.

Instead, Krauthammer said it’s important to recognize various competing interests, such as ISIS, Al Qaeda affiliates and Boko Haram.

“The fact we focus on one or the other is beside the point,” he said.

Krauthammer went on to explain that each group is now developing sovereign territory, adding, “As we know, the caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Al Qaeda is generally in Yemen… and Boko Haram, it just spilled into Cameroon and Nigeria. It’s also sovereign in the area.”

“That is the new territory of Islamism,” he concluded. “It is not on the run. It's not hiding. It's open in these places.”