Ex-CIA station chief says America is ‘a lot safer’ from terrorism than it was four years ago
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On the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Americans should "be thankful" for the work of the military, the intelligence community and diplomats in combating terrorism around the world, former CIA station chief and Fox News contributor Daniel Hoffman told the “Fox News Rundown" Friday.
"It's a teeny, tiny, small percentage of our population out there on the front lines protecting us," Hoffman told host Gillian Turner. "This is not World War II or Vietnam. We've got teeny, tiny numbers of troops and intelligence officers and diplomats and intelligence community writ large, and it's a time to remember them and be thankful for what they're doing."
Discussing the mission that led to the death of 9/11 mastermind Usama bin Laden in 2011, Hoffman said he didn't fault then-Vice President Joe Biden for his reported opposition to the operation.
“He was, I think, justifiably concerned about putting our SEAL team members at risk and flying into Pakistan without telling the Pakistanis that we were doing that, with a kinetic operation on their territory," Hoffman said. "There were huge risks there.
"I think from a political standpoint President Obama looked at that [the intelligence] and thought, 'If it's a 50-50 chance that he's there, how am I going to explain this to my constituents that I didn't act?' And I think, frankly, being there, I can tell you, I think that had an impact on him. But the intelligence wasn't certain. And it's a classic case of making a a very important decision without perfect information."
Resource: FOX
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