INTERVIEW — AMB. JAMES WOOLSEY – former Director of the CIA
- Analyze the terror attack at Istanbul airport
- Istanbul Ataturk airport attack: 41 dead and more than 230 hurt – BBC News — A gun and bomb attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport has killed 41 people, at least 13 of them foreigners, and injured more than 230, officials say. Three attackers arrived in a taxi and began firing at the terminal entrance late on Tuesday. They blew themselves up after police fired back. PM Binali Yildirim said early signs pointed to so-called Islamic State but no-one has so far admitted the attack. Recent bombings have been linked to either IS or Kurdish separatists.
- Turkish PM: Attack likely from ISIS. “The terrorists came to the airport in a taxi and then carried out their attacks,” the Prime Minister said. “The fact that they were carrying guns added to the toll. Preliminary findings suggest all three attackers first opened fire then detonated themselves.” Yildirim didn’t clarify why, but said signs pointed to ISIS being behind the attacks. The attacks occurred with a little more than a week left in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Multiple U.S. officials told CNN’s Pamela Brown and Elise Labott that the early thinking among U.S. intelligence officials was that ISIS or an ISIS-inspired group was to blame. Like the Turkish Prime Minister, the officials said there is much more investigating to be done. One official said the attack bears the hallmarks of ISIS because of the target and the method. And a senior US official pointed to the way it was coordinated using weapons and explosions. Some analysts say that this type of attack is a response to ISIS recent defeats in Iraq and Syria, notably the loss of Falluja.
