The biggest problem in destroying terrorism in the United States is that no one knows how many Americans have been radicalized by the Islamic State or other groups, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told
Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
"There is a number, we don't know the exact number, of American citizens who have been radicalized — who are capable, inspired by ISIS and similar organizations, of committing acts of terror," Perle, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told "The Steve Malzberg Show" in an interview.
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"All of our security measures historically are based on the idea that the perpetrator doesn't want to die. He's trying to devise a way of inflicting damage without putting himself at risk — and we now know that's no longer true.
"Once you're dealing with people who are prepared and, indeed, even eager to die in the process, most of our methods no longer work," Perle said, "which is why the most critical method is gathering intelligence about this movement.
"That includes monitoring the clerics who inspire and radicalize these young people — and yet by refusing to recognize that we're dealing with radical Islam we only encourage the failure to do that."
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