WASHINGTON — A senior US senator on Monday issued a chilling prediction about new Islamic extremist group attacks like the ones in Paris last week that left 16 civilians dead.
"More is coming," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told reporters. "And I think we all know that."
His comments came minutes after he and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., met privately with Gerard Araud, France's ambassador to the United States, to offer their condolences for the Islamic radicals murderous attacks by Islamic radicals at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a Jewish delicatessen.
"We together, those of us who share dDemocratic values, have got to work strongly together to keep innocent lives here and in other countries safe," Corker said.
He called on the US and its allies to must step up their work to combat extremists like the three dead Paris shooters, who claimed allegiance to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. AQAP claimed responsibility for the attacks in a video released last week.
"Look, the Western world together has to combat this," he said outside the committee's Capitol meeting room, just steps from the Senate chamber. "Everything from robust intelligence gathering — France has one of the best intelligence services in the world, and yet this happened."
Corker declined to comment on the Obama administration's decision to send Attorney General Eric Holder to Paris for a solidarity march attended by a long list of other world leaders. Someone within the administration opted for the attorney general AG rather than Vice President Joe Biden or Secretary of State John Kerry, the two officials many experts have since suggested should have attended under the US banner.
The White House on Monday apologized, with its spokesman saying a higher-profile official should have been dispatched.
"I won't comment on the diplomatic issue," Corker said. "But I was glad the ambassador was here today, and certainly join in expressing deep sympathy for the loss of innocent life."
