Christiane Amanpour: Brits Believe 'Only a Matter of Time' Before ISIS Hits West

Christiane Amanpour: Brits Believe 'Only a Matter of Time' Before ISIS Hits West

CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reported that there is great fear in the United Kingdom that ISIS will attack the West if it is not confronted on Tuesday’s “CNN Newsroom.” 

“There is a huge amount of fear here in England. The Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has said that now they control a massive swath of territory in Iraq, in Syria, which is a terrorist state and that it is only a matter of time, unless they are confronted, that they will attack the West. Europe, the United States, and elsewhere,” she said.

She added that there are fears that western jihadis currently with ISIS could return home and launch attacks, arguing, “You were just talking … about the American jihadis, there are some 500 British jihadis, some 3,000 Western jihadis in all, who are fighting there and many fear they will come back, a lot of them, radicalized and with attack on their minds.”

“According to military officials that I’ve been talking to, it’s [an offensive against ISIS] got to be intense, it’s got to be whole, and it’s got to work. Otherwise, this caliphate is going to exist in the middle of the Middle East raising armies that are going to attack, not just those regions but our regions as well,” Amanpour reported.

Amanpour also reacted to the Obama administration’s plans to deal with ISIS by saying “a big sign needs to go up, ‘wanted, one coherent strategy.’” And “this is a major terrorist threat … there needs to be a complete strategy to defeat ISIS.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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