The self-proclaimed Islamic State is the danger “we’re worrying about in the homeland most of all,” FBI Director James Comey told the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday. These are “not your parents’ al Qaeda,” Comey explained. To join the older terror group, you needed to send an email and hope a recruiter gets back to you, he said. “ISIL is buzzing on your hip,” said Comey, using the government’s preferred acronym for ISIS. “If you want to talk to a terrorist, he’s right there... on Twitter.” Still, Comey’s comments are controversial in counterterrorism circles because ISIS—unlike al Qaeda—hasn’t made a priority of attacks on the West. Instead, ISIS has encouraged Westerners to carry out such attacks on their own.
—Noah Shachtman
