Erik Prince: Islamic State Has “Tens-Of-Thousands” Of Soft Targets To Choose From In America

Erik Prince, the former head of the defense contracting company Blackwater, appeared on Breitbart News Daily to discuss security measures the American people must take to protect themselves amid threats against the nation.

Discussing the ongoing terror threat in Brussels, Prince commented:

“Brussels was not paying attention for many years, even decades,” he said. “At least, prior to the De Blasio administration, New York (City) was paying attention. It was monitoring the potential pockets of problems.”

“If I were the ISIS mission planner, I don’t know if I’d go after New York, because it is a more prepared target. But if you want to get to the American psyche, there are tens-of-thousands of other soft targets to go after,” Prince warned.

Prince discussed the current threat environment worldwide.

“You have competing factions in the Islamic world, competing for whose most radical,” he said, discussing the attacks in Mali and Paris over the past two weeks, the former which was claimed by Al Qaeda and the latter ISIS.

New York is always a target because “it’s the financial capital of much of the world, but at least it has a legacy of switched on police officers, preparedness, and police that are observing,” Prince added.

Host Stephen K. Bannon, who serves as Breitbart News Network’s executive chairman, reminded the audience that the New York City Police Department has thwarted at least sixteen major plots against the city, according to testimony by former police commissioner Ray Kelly.

Bannon asked Prince how important it was for the NYPD to have a sophisticated human intelligence network, which has since been shut down by current mayor Bill De Blasio.

“New York did do an excellent job monitoring the spots where people can get radicalized,” Prince responded. However, he reminded the audience that the planning for the 9/11 attacks did not occur inside the city. “New York’s problem is not what may be happening in one of the five boroughs. It’s what’s happening in New Jersey, or Connecticut, or anywhere else where people may not be paying attention.”

“The [Obama] administration is just trying to run out the clock,” he said of its willingness to prepare the nation for security threats.