Evidence indicates the Islamic State was behind the crash of a Russian plane over Egypt last week, said two members of the House Intelligence Committee appearing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos.
Though the evidence is not conclusive, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he is “almost ready to conclude that it was ISIS, that it was either ISIS or an ISIS affiliate. And to me, I think that is the general consensus among people I’ve spoken to in the intelligence community.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif, who is the ranking member of the intelligence committee, said he too suspects it was the Islamic State behind the crash and that he thinks the terrorist organization may be shifting its strategy to attack planes.
“I also think that ISIS may have concluded that the best way to defeat airport defenses is not to go through them but to go around them with the help of somebody on the inside,” said Schiff. He added that at least a dozen airports in the region are vulnerable.
King said there are “serious implications” if the Islamic State was in fact behind the crash because the group has not “gone international before, certainly not to this extent.”
Stephanopoulos asked what more needs to be done to bolster security overseas, and mentioned that after the plane went down Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson ordered new security measures at some Middle Eastern airports.
Schiff recommended that precautions be installed to examine employees who have access to airports and those who are responsible for security. He added, “if this is a bomb by the affiliate or ISIS in the Sinai, ISIS has now fully eclipsed Al Qaeda as the gravest terrorist threat in the world.”
When asked if the president needs to do more to combat the Islamic State, King said that U.S. airstrikes are not getting the job done and that there has to be “an all-out effort.”
Schiff agreed more needs to be done to combat the Islamic State.
“I think, frankly we’re going to have to see whether the Turks or the Jordanians are willing to support with ground forces the imposition of some kind of a safer buffer zone,” said Schiff. “Otherwise, the trajectory against ISIS is going to take 5-10 or 15 or 20 years.”
