WASHINGTON — A top U.S. counterterrorism official told a Senate panel Wednesday that he’s concerned that terrorists may try to strike soft targets on the outskirts of the Sochi Winter Olympics.
National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he was confident that Russian officials preparing for the 2014 Olympics are “very focused” and are “devoting substantial resources” to keeping the Games safe.
“The biggest issue from my perspective is not the Games themselves, the venues themselves,” Olsen said. “There is extensive security at those locations — the sites of the events. The greater threat is to softer targets in the greater Sochi area, in the outskirts beyond Sochi, where there is a substantial potential for a terrorist attack.
“We are very focused on the Sochi Olympics and we have seen an uptick in threat reporting regarding Sochi, and this is what we expected given where the Olympics are located,” Olsen added. “There are a number of extremists in that area.”
The specter of terror has long shrouded the Sochi Winter Games because of the host city’s proximity to a hot bed of Islamic extremist activity in the North Caucasus region. And the terror fears have intensified in the past month after suicide bombing attacks in the city of Volgograd left more than 30 people dead, nearly 500 miles from Sochi.
FBI Director James Comey, who testified at the same hearing, said cooperation between the FBI and Russian officials on security issues surrounding the Olympics, which will run from Feb. 7 to Feb. 23, has been “steadily improving” as the Games approach.
“We have a good level of cooperation there,” Comey said. “It can always improve. We are looking for ways to improve it as are they.”
Meanwhile, in Russia, the Games organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is “fully ready” and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations, the Associated Press reports.
Chernyshenko said the city is the “most secure venue at the moment on the planet” and promised that tight security measures will not detract from the atmosphere of the games.
OLYMPICS: Sochi chief: City is ready
The comments from Olsen and Comey came as they–along with Director of National Intelligence James Clappper, CIA Director John Brennan and Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn–provided the U.S. intelligence community’s worldwide threat assessment.
“I have not experienced a time when we have been more beset by crises around the globe,” said Clapper, who listed concerns about the growing cadre of extremists that have gained experience fighting in Syria, the ability of keeping weapons of mass destruction out of terrorists hands, and the complicated task of keeping Americans safe from cyber-attacks.
Notably, the intelligence community listed concerns about cyber security and the danger of spies and internal leaks ahead of terrorism in an annual assessment. The renewed emphasis on counterintelligence comes in the wake of a treasure trove of leaks on U.S. surveillance methods by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
“Trusted insiders with the intent to do harm can exploit their access to compromise vast amounts of sensitive and classified information as part of a personal ideology or at the direction of a foreign government,” the report said. “The unauthorized disclosure of this information to state adversaries, nonstate activists, or other entities will continue to pose a critical threat.”
Clapper called on Snowden to return documents that have not been exposed yet, charging that “terrorists are going to school” on the leaks.
Clapper said the Snowden leaks are “the most massive and most damaging theft of intelligence in our nation’s history,” and charged that the nation is “less safe” as a result.
He also raised concerns that al-Qaeda groups fighting in Syria have started training camps “to train people to go back to their countries,” and conduct terrorist attacks.
Clapper said that roughly 7,000 foreigner fighters from some 50 countries, including Europe and the Middle East, are currently involved in the civil war in Syria.