James Clapper in 2012: We Have Evidence of Al Qaeda-Like Extremist Infiltrating Syria

On February 16th, 2012, then-Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) asked Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper if there was any evidence al Qaeda extremist were fighting in Syria to try and take advantage of a power vacuum caused in the civil war.

Clapper said, “We have seen evidence of extremists Sunni extremist, I can’t label them specifically as al Qaeda but certainly of the same ilk, who are infiltrating the opposition groups in many cases probably unbeknownst to those groups.” 

Sunday on CBS’s “60 minutes,” President Barack Obama blamed James Clapper and U.S. intelligence gathering for failing to see the growing ISIS threat. 

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN