US General: Israel is key to fighting world’s terrorism problem
“Israel is a key piece in the puzzle” to solving the world’s growing terrorism problem, US Brig. Gen. (ret.) Russell Howard said Wednesday at the IDC Herzliya Conference on Counter-Terrorism on the university’s campus.
Howard made the comment as part of a panel on learning lessons from recent major terror attacks around the world.
He expressed confidence about the US ability’s to cope with the ongoing terror threat, but serious concern that Europe was not up to the job.
The retired general also said that Europe has a bigger problem as in 2015 it had around 5,000 European citizens fighting in Iraq and Syria, meaning it could have 5,000 battle-hardened terrorists returning back to its shores. In contrast, he put the number of US citizens fighting in the same area at a much more manageable 200.