The FBI worked well in arresting a 15-year-old in Philadelphia in an allegedly terrorist-inspired plot to attack Pope Francis on his visit to the United States next week, but "this is like a magnificent goalie trying to stop penalty kicks," retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden told
Newsmax TV on Tuesday.
"If we have to do this at this end and try to detect everyone before they step up into violent action, we are bound to fail sooner or later," Hayden, who directed both the CIA and the National Security Agency, told "Newsmax Prime" host J.D. Hayworth.
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"What we've got to do is to go to the root of the problem — and one of those roots is this narrative that [the Islamic State] is an unbeatable force.
"This is one time where the physical application of power is necessary to win the ideological fight," Hayden added. "In other words, to point out on the ground these guys neither represent the will of God nor are they the hand of God because they're being defeated."
As the pontiff plans his trip, the nation's intelligence operations have some gaps — making the task of protecting him even more difficult, he said.
"The Holy Father loves to mix it up with his flock. He is going to go into crowds of people, because that's what he does. That's what he thinks his mission from God is.
"We're just going to have to do our best to detect and to disrupt any organized attempts, and then on the scene to give the Holy Father the best protection possible that we can deliver," Hayden said. "Nothing in life is guaranteed. We can't hermetically seal this prelate off from his flock."
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