Hillary Clinton calling for ‘intelligence surge’ in war on terror

Presumptive US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally in Washington, DC. on July 14, 2016. (AFP photo)

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has called for an “intelligence surge” in the war against terrorist groups, following the terror attack in Nice, France, that left at least 84 people dead and dozens more injured.
"One of my priorities is to launch an intelligence surge, we still do not have enough intelligence cooperation between our agencies in other countries, including in Europe, and we need to have a focal point," Clinton said in an interview with the Fox News television channel on Thursday.
The former secretary of state stressed the need for strengthening NATO and further collaboration with the European Union countries as well as other US allies to share information on potential terrorist attacks.
Clinton made the remarks after at least 84 people lost their lives and over 100 others sustained injuries when a truck armed with guns and grenades rammed into a crowd of people celebrating the French National Day, commonly known as Bastille Day, in the southern French city of Nice on Thursday night.
"What is happening is terrorist groups are seeing that they have opportunities inside France for homegrown terrorism and supporting terrorists," she said.
Shortly after the attack, the presumptive Democratic nominee issued a statement on Twitter, saying, “Every American stands in strong solidarity with the people of France, and we say with one voice: we will not be intimidated. We will never allow terrorists to undermine the egalitarian and democratic values that underpin our very way of life.”
No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, where reports by US officials confirmed the death of two American citizens without specifying their identities.

Former US Republican presidential candidate, Texas Senator Ted Cruz (AFP)

Meanwhile, former Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz said in a statement that Europe is in constant danger from radical terrorist groups like Daesh (ISIL).
France is reeling from yet another major attack apparently carried out by radical terrorists, Cruz said. We must "redouble our attacks" on the ISIL strongholds in Iraq and Syria, he noted.
The Daesh terrorists were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 and were tasked with destabilizing the Syrian government. Today, they control swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

Daesh militants in Syria (file photo)

The Takfiri terrorist group has been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq and Syria, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others.
In 2014, the US and some of its allies started conducting airstrikes in Iraq and neighboring Syria against Daesh terrorists, but observers say the attacks have done little damage to the terrorists; rather, they have targeted the two countries' infrastructure.