Mike Morell: Boko Haram’s New Allegiance to ISIS a ‘Major Advance for Their Brand’
ROSE: “Turning to Boko Haram and what’s the impact of Boko Haram and its allegiance to ISIS?”
MORELL: “So what ISIS gets out of this, Charlie, is a major advance for their brand. They are in this struggle with al Qaeda for leadership of the global jihadist movement, and now they’ve just got one of the most important terrorist groups in the world; one of the largest; ten thousand fighters to sign up with them. What Boko Haram gets out of this is also advantage for their brand. They are now playing with the big boys and so they’re going to get more money, they’re going to get more recruits.”
KING: “Is either group more dangerous now, Mike, do you think, and what does this alliance mean for the West?
MORELL: “Good question Gayle. I don't think this makes ISIS more dangerous. I think this makes Boko Haram more dangerous. Boko Haram, for a long time, has focused primarily on local Nigerian targets. This alliance could now get them to focus more on the West and that’s the danger here.”
O’DONNELL: “So the inevitable next question is should we be going after Boko Haram in Nigeria?”
MORELL: “So they are not a threat yet to us, Norah. I think if they become one, then it becomes a different story, but I think we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we stay focused on the head of the snake, and that's ISIS in Iraq.”
O’DONNELL: “We also saw the Homeland Security released a handbook that ISIS--that they found online. It was sort of 'how to.' How to get into Syria, how to move forward. Should we be concerned about that? Do you think that's something that--for instance, the four girls, three girls out of London used?”
MORELL: “I think there are many, many ways to get to Syria and it's very easy to get to Syria. I don't think you really need a handbook. What I found interesting about the handbook is the colloquial English, that's used in it clearly written by a Westerner. A Brit, an American. It is almost like a travel guide that you get in the mail before you head off on a trip, you know, 'Take this, don't take this.' Very interesting.”
