Except they aren’t, as noted yesterday by DNI Director James Clapper.
(CNS News) — In less than one week, top officials in the Obama administration have contradicted one another about the threat al Qaeda poses to the United States today.
On Friday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson spoke at the Woodrow Wilson Center is Washington, D.C., where he credited President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama for putting the terrorist group “on the path to defeat.”
“Through our government’s counterterrorism efforts in both the Bush and Obama administrations, we have put al Qaeda’s core leadership on the path to defeat,” Johnson said.
On Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said, “No,” when asked by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing if al Qaeda was “on the path to defeat.”
“No, it is morphing and franchising itself, not only here, but in other areas of the world,” Clapper said.
Johnson noted that al Qaeda has “evolved,” adding that the federal government must keep the threat at bay.