• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

CIA Director: Brexit is bigger crisis for the EU than the Islamic State

Jun 30, 2016 4:30 pm By Christine Douglass-Williams

CIA Director John Brennan is claiming that the biggest crisis facing the EU is not the Islamic State threat, but Brexit. He is “prioritizing consequences of the referendum vote over the threat of terror posed by the Islamic State as refugees from the Middle East continue to stream into the continent.”

Brennan, the onetime chief counter-terrorism advisor to Obama, warned about the Islamic State less than two weeks ago at a Senate hearing. He stated that the Islamic State “terror army” is poised to “infiltrate the U.S. and other nations”, as the group continues to train and deploy operatives for more attacks. But now he says Brexit is worse.

Yet he also testified that the IS has a “large cadre” of Western fighters that could serve as operatives in attacking the West and warned that jihadis could be smuggled in through the flow of refugees “in plain sight.”

Even as Obama insists that the Islamic State is losing the battle and is under more pressure than ever before, Brennan indicated that the group has more than compensated for its losses of between 1,000 to 3,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria by recruiting and placing between 5,000 to 8,000 jihadis in Libya.

Brennan concluded about Europe that it was “very concerning” that the growth of Libya as another area that could serve as the “basis for ISIL to carry out attacks inside of Europe.” But still, “of all the crises the EU has faced in recent years, the UK vote to leave may well be its greatest challenge.” Brennan’s criticizing the Brexit vote and trying to characterize it as a security risk is yet another attempt by the political elites to preserve their hegemony.

John Brennan

“CIA Director: Brexit Is A Bigger Crisis For EU Than ISIS”, by Rachel Stoltzfoos, The Daily Caller, June 29, 2016:

CIA Director John Brennan said Britain’s vote to leave is the biggest challenge facing the European Union in recent years, prioritizing consequences of the referendum vote over the threat of terror posed by the Islamic State as refugees from the Middle East continue to stream into the continent.

“Of all the crises the EU has faced in recent years, the UK vote to leave may well be its greatest challenge,” Brennan said during opening remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations Wednesday, citing the unprecedented uncertainty facing the union and increasing difficulty of decision making and consensus building.

“Brexit is pushing the EU into a period of introspection that will pervade virtually everything the EU does in the coming weeks months and even years ahead,” he said.

Moving on to address the Istanbul terror attack Tuesday, in which three suicide bombers killed more than 30 people and injured hundreds of others, Brennan said “our collective hearts … go out to the families of the latest victims of the horrific terrorist attacks perpetrated as well as incited by ISIL [the Islamic State].”

“The despicable attack at Istanbul’s international airport yesterday that killed dozens and injured many more certainly bears the hallmarks of ISIL’s depravity,” he continued.

The attack follows deadly ISIS assaults in Paris and Brussels, carried out in part with the help of lax border policies instituted by the European Union in response to the refugee crisis. The terror threat perceived by British citizens, in conjunction with an inability to properly control their own borders or stem the flow of refugees because of their membership in the EU appears to have played a major role in the vote to leave….

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: CIA, European Union, Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), United Kingdom, Useful idiots Tagged With: Brexit, brussels, Council on Foreign Relations, John Brennan, Paris


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. marc says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 4:34 pm

    yeh, i bet it’s caused some headaches for them, how will they spin this new reality:

    Despite the lowering of UK Credit rating by the Agencies. Those that lend UK Money think differently.
    John Redwood reports that Since the Brexit vote UK government bonds have shot up to record high. The government which had to pay 1.37% on the eve of the Brexit vote to borrow for ten years now only has to pay 0.98% for ten years. That’s a record low.
    FTSE now on 6360. Up over 219 points today (3.58%) and higher than it was pre Brexit.

    Won’t be so easy for them to ignore (like isis) when an independant UK becomes a roaring success.

    • Westman says

      Jun 30, 2016 at 5:42 pm

      Good for the UK!

      It reminds me of the year 2000 “crisis”. The MSM rode it to death with every warning and scare tactic it could muster. The year 2000 came and – nothing.

      The American markets are strongly rebounding, unable to comply with the demands that they suffer for Brexit. And the UK retains the rights to control its borders and immigration while the EU nations choke on indigestible immigration ramned right down their throats. The EU leadership gives fortune-tellers a bad name.

      Sadly, Brexit won’t solve the problem of Anjem Choudary’s anti-West followers.

      • linnte says

        Jun 30, 2016 at 6:19 pm

        Ah, but let’s hope Anjem Choudary sees some time in prison, where he belongs! I get MUCH satisfaction thinking about that!

        • Jon Sobieski says

          Jun 30, 2016 at 8:21 pm

          Anjem may finally get some punishment if England pulls its civilization back from the jaws of Islam.

        • ECAW says

          Jul 1, 2016 at 2:10 am

          Disagree Linnte. Choudary has done us all an immense favour by speaking honestly about Islam. Even in the run-up to the Brexit vote he said he was for remaining in Europe because the European courts were softer on people like him (that may be inexact, it’s only from memory). He has been worth half a dozen jihadi atrocities to our side. Pat Condell recommended him for a knighthood I believe.

        • marc says

          Jul 1, 2016 at 3:00 am

          I’d say 50/50 ECAW, Choudary is fully responsible for a lot of dead leading that crew of beardy weirdies of his, but his honesty has brought to light the evils of islam only second to Spencer.

      • Ed Lee says

        Jul 1, 2016 at 12:09 am

        The year 2000 potential crisis was real. The only reason that Jan 1, 2000 passed with very little adverse effect was that between July 1998 and December 1999 American businesses spent $80 billion getting ready for it. Businesses in the rest of the world spent a similar amount. Without those efforts, Jan 1, 2000 would have begun a very long, unpleasant experience for the developed world.

        • marc says

          Jul 1, 2016 at 2:56 am

          Agree Ed Lee, i spent hundreds of hours doing QA on databases that were replacing non 2k compliant in the leadup, it was messy work, mostly underpaid work, and didn’t reward us with re-usable skills. well that is until the end of Unix Time, January 19, 2038 03:14:07 GMT.

    • Rob Porter says

      Jul 1, 2016 at 12:11 pm

      Marc, the reality is that when John Brennan talks in this manner about Brexit being ‘a bigger crisis for the EU than ISIS’, he comes across as either a raving imbecile unfit to head the CIA (and he is unfit) or just a fool talking ignorant nonsense who actually thinks we are all so gullible that we’d believe such a Barack Obama-like absurdity.

      So there is John Brennan heading the CIA, an obvious fool, Comey – or wilfully ignorant (it keeps him his job) heading the FBI, and a drivel-spouting Johnson, wilfully so, heading up Homeland Security. With such men in charge of U.S. security Americans should feel oh so secure! And the Republican leadership is so inept and derelict it has been unable to find grounds for removing virtual enemies of the American people from office. It is truly pitiful so see the depths to which the U.S. has sunk under Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama.

      • marc says

        Jul 3, 2016 at 12:25 am

        I Agree @Rob, don’t know about a fool though, that implies incompetence, i think this is very planned and intentional. This is really not his field though, only economists should be commenting on the effects of Brexit, so he was told what to say and how best to spin it. And yes, this has been going on a long time, the elected leadership have been selling out your birthright for a few administrations, I suspect it started big time with clinton.

  2. Jaladhi says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    Everyday our government officials open their mouth and prove how stupid they are (as if we really need any proof of their stupidity). Amazing, Islam/Muslims and their inherent terrorism is not recognized as a threat to them. These are the same people who will be singing “Islam is peaceful” while being decapitated by Muslims. What can be more stupid than that!

    • jspielman says

      Jun 30, 2016 at 5:22 pm

      absolutely! how many people have died in Bexit violence?-0!
      HOW MANY HAVE DIED FROM MUSLIM VIOLENCE over the years?- 50 million!!!!

      • Marty says

        Jul 1, 2016 at 7:28 am

        Absolutely correct.
        In the UK, the media have been largely in support of our
        remaining a province in the Fourth Reich.
        Try this from today’s London Evening Standard.
        “A young Muslim today told how he was assaulted by a crowbar-wielding man shouting racist abuse in an attack he fears was linked to Brexit.”
        Which he “fears was linked to Brexit” . No evidence.
        By this logic every act of muslim aggression, criminality etc over recent months is
        related to the Remain Campaign.
        I believe that the very pro EU paper is owned by a foreign billionaire.
        Like most top of the range properties in London

  3. Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 4:55 pm

    What’s with the photograph of Brennan that illustrates this essay? On his right wrist he is wearing a bracelet. Isn’t that haram? The bracelet says UNITED BY, but the completion of the phrase is unseen. Are both CIA Director John Brennan and Attorney-General Loretta Lynch wearing bracelets saying UNITED BY LOVE (with our patriotic non-ISIS Muslim brothers and sisters)? This is sure to encourage feelings of amatory solidarity between American Muslims and kafirs.

    • Jack Diamond says

      Jun 30, 2016 at 5:55 pm

      Don’t know how recent the pic is.
      He was wearing a yellow POW bracelet that honored Bowe Bergdahl.
      The other is “United by Hope”, a 9/11 memorial bracelet.
      https://supportbowe.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/cia-director-brennan-bowe-bracelet.png?w=433&h=645
      Hope in what? Maybe it’s in that gesture of the tawhid he is making. Twice.

      “Pushing the EU into a period of introspection”…that’ll be the day.

    • خَليفة says

      Jul 1, 2016 at 2:49 am

      United by treason? Stupidity? Islam?

  4. Wellington says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 5:05 pm

    I’ve really had it with this fool. Time, I think, for Pat Condell to do a video on John Brennan.

    • Angemon says

      Jun 30, 2016 at 8:41 pm

      I suspect Mr. Condell wouldn’t have much to work on, due to Brennan’s unremarkableness. There’s only so much that can be said about generic idiots before one starts repeating themselves.

  5. Angemon says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Dear John “Convert to islam” Brennan:

    Go eat a d***. Flavour it with the salt you obviously have in spades. And when you’re done, go back to pushing the Obama foreign diplomacy guidelines – making America as meek and inconsequential as it can get. You don’t get to have your cake and eat it – you can’t reduce American influence overseas only to try to use it as if it it was bigger than ever when you feel like. You lot already expended whatever good-will points you might have had left when you tried to place the UK in the back of the bus… I mean, line. No one cares about what you say. But keep talking about how much of a tragedy Brexit is – I’m sure that’ll spur other countries into action. And by “action” I mean “go the way of Brexit”.

    Yours truly,
    Angemon

    P.S.: The clock is ticking on your master in the White House. I sincerely hope you have some sort of marketable skills to rely on. Best regards to your Saudi masters.

    • Jon Sobieski says

      Jun 30, 2016 at 8:39 pm

      I do not trust Brennan one bit. He is just another one of those apologists for Islam protecting islam as it weaves its way into the bloodstream of the West.

  6. Carmel says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 5:13 pm

    And nest to Brexit in crisis is CIA director. Ha ! HA ! HA !

  7. linnte says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 5:28 pm

    We are surrounded by One World Government eejits!

  8. vlparker says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    Dumb as dirt.

  9. Richard Paulsen says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    Strange that Europe has become so islamized with thousands of mosques. It goes on and on. Still not a word from the outside World.

  10. Sam says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 7:08 pm

    “CIA Director: Brexit is bigger crisis for the EU than the Islamic Stat

    What the f****** is wrong with these idiots?

    Do we need a civil war in America to get rid of these clueless bureaucrats? Democracy does not seem to be working with all these idiots piling up in government competing to be more stupid from the next guy. Both parties, Democrats and Republicans are working against us the free people of USA. And they are getting away with it. Insane!

    • Jon Sobieski says

      Jun 30, 2016 at 8:47 pm

      Frustrating isn’t it. Shows you can graduate from the most prestigious university and still be an idiot.

  11. Peter says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 9:07 pm

    These people are not stupid .HItler once said in order for the people to believe in a lie all you need to do is to repeat it again and again ! The bigger the lie ,more chances the public will believe it !

    • Wellington says

      Jun 30, 2016 at 9:14 pm

      I agree they’re not stupid, people like Brennan, Obama, Merkel and Cameron. But they are foolish and the worst kind of foolishness is perpetrated by non-stupid people with power and education, thus proving that moral intelligence and common sense must accompany education and power lest terrible things happen. After all, Joseph Goebbels has a PhD, now didn’t he?

      • Wellington says

        Jun 30, 2016 at 9:25 pm

        “…..Joseph Goebbels had a PhD…….’ and not “…..Joseph Goebbels has a PhD……”

        Yeah, I for one am very glad it’s “had” and not “has,” though there are Joseph Goebbels wannabes out there. In bunches. Now they tend to be called a caliph like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or a PLO leader like Abu Abbas. More generically and expansively, some Western elites fit this diabolical mold——-in academia surely and also in the media, big business and the political realm. All educated like Joseph.

        Freedom must never rest for, if it does, plenty of Goebbels types are waiting in the wings to “play” Joseph Goebbels.

  12. Ed Lee says

    Jun 30, 2016 at 11:53 pm

    The last paragraph of this article correctly summarizes the situation. The British people perceive a threat that they cannot influence, let alone control, because of their membership in the EU. One major problem is that the business world is silent about the threat. I have yet to hear a company CEO talk about it. The talking heads on financial web sites and TV networks are all calling the Brexit vote “the most boneheaded financial decision in modern history”. Business people refuse to acknowledge that it was not primarily a financial decision: The primary consideration was survival. I believe that privately, CEOs and boards of directors are scared to death that jihad will decimate their companies, but for some reason they are afraid to say it out loud.

  13. Iggy A says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 12:16 am

    WTF? Political and economic issues related to EU membership is the biggest concern for the man whose chief concern is intelligence and security…?

    When do they have Jacob Lew – the Sec of Treasury – scheduled to give them his overview of terror threats to Portugal…?

    Or Ashton Carter – Sec of Defense – to inform Congress how trade is going to be affected by Brexit…?

    You know – this is actually a little concerning… — that the CIA Director seems to believe – or perhaps functions – as if his purview is the same as that of the President of the United States — that his portfolio as the head of one intelligence agency includes all the other cabinet departments’ portfolios…

  14. citycat says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 1:19 am

    It was only Engeland that voted to leave. Scotland Ireland and wales voted to stay. It’s not a Uk thing, it is an English thing.
    Scots Irish and Welsh don’t like the English, generally.
    The Kingdom is not united, it is divided, i think mainly by religion.

    • Jack Diamond says

      Jul 1, 2016 at 1:32 am

      Wales voted to leave the EU.

      • citycat says

        Jul 1, 2016 at 2:10 am

        Ok

  15. ECAW says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 2:18 am

    “Brexit is a bigger crisis for the EU than the Islamic State”

    Makes you proud dunnit?

  16. wallace says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 5:43 am

    As a campaigner in Scotland for Brexit it has not been easy to keep a cool head. I found Obama instead of re-inforcing the Remain mandate had the opposite effect and lost them votes, the man never seems to get much right, Now we have the clueless John Kerry adding his twopence worth. I dont know when it became acceptable for us to allow foreign leaders to try and exert influence at election times, it has been internationally agreed that this is not the done thing, the arrogance of Obama knows no bounds. The UK looks set to have the sneaky Tessie May foisted on us , i will be writing to her to consider visiting the U.S.A in the next few months to warn the people about Hilary quid pro quo

  17. Baucent says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 9:01 am

    “the UK vote to leave may well be its greatest challenge.”

    Perhaps he is seeing the UK as a potential failed state with Jihadists taking over like in Syria or Libya. Or maybe he’s loosing his marbles.

  18. Georg says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 10:13 am

    This guy is a bigger dumbass than most dumbasses.

  19. Richard Courtemanche says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 10:34 am

    Any way one looks at it, it all plays into Islam’s agenda.

  20. c matt says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 11:53 am

    He’s right, Brexit is a bigger issue for Europe than ISIS. Now they won’t be able to ship all the terrorists to England, and they will be stuck on the continent.

  21. Stefano Tatai says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    Please, don’t speek of Islamic State threat. The threat goes beyond this ephemeral Arab organization. The real threat is very simply the Muslim ideology that pervades practically all Muslim countries, with hundreds of million people fanatically devoted to sharia law.

  22. SoCalMike says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 7:21 pm

    spit on John Brennan.
    Fire him and everyone associated with him.
    Rid the agency of their malignant stench.

  23. Denny Lee Penticoff says

    Jul 1, 2016 at 7:45 pm

    Brennan is a Muslim. Birds of a feather flock together. Obama-Brennan has allowed the entire U.S. intelligence network to be infiltrated with Muslim Brotherhood and Setad agents.

    • linnte says

      Jul 2, 2016 at 1:11 am

      As is Jeh Johnson. It seems we are surrounded on all fronts. Crazy isn’t it? Who would have thought, while the Twin Towers were brought down by Muslims, that now we would have so many in office? It should have been the other way around.

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Mount Zion on Iranian Kurdistan: Muslim brothers behead their sister in honor killing over her romantic relationship
  • James Lincoln on Islamic Republic of Iran: Turkey’s Erdogan champions Islam only as a tool to further his own interests
  • James Lincoln on Canadian Mental Health Association studies Muslim women’s mental health due to ‘discrimination’ and ‘hate crimes’
  • terry sullivan on Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France and UAE conduct joint military exercises amid rising Turkish threat
  • Keith O on India: Police make first arrest for ‘love jihad’ under new law

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.