WASHINGTON – It’s a matter of when, not if, a terrorist bomber blows something up in Sochi during the Olympics, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul warned Sunday.
“I’ve never seen a greater threat in my lifetime,” McCaul (R-Texas) said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“We’ve already had two suicide bombers go off outside the Olympic Village,” he said. “I think there’s a high degree of probability that something will detonate, something will go off.”
Russia has deployed more than 40,000 security forces and set up so-called “Ring of Steel” security measures around Sochi, which is located near violent Islamist strongholds in the North Caucasus.
Still, Islamist terrorists have vowed to strike the games and concerns persist that Russia isn’t fully cooperating on security with the US and other countries.
On the show with McCaul, House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff insisted the games are “relatively safe,” though he encouraged Americans at the Olympics to keep a low profile.
“It wouldn’t be wise to broadcast that you’re from the United States,” said Schiff (D-Calif.).
Rep. Pete King (R-LI), chairman of the House Homeland Security counterterrorism subcommittee, cautioned that the attack-free start of the Olympics in Sochi shouldn’t make “anyone let their guard down.”
“So far, so good,” King said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” as he stressed that the international games remains a “dangerous situation.”
“The worst thing we can do in any way is to anyone let their guard down between now and the end of the games,” he said.
King said that the Russians are “somewhat better” about sharing security information, but it’s still a problem.
“They are still reluctant to give intelligence that they feel would allow us to determine their sources and methods,” he said. “And also there’s still a certain amount of pride, I believe, that they feel they can handle a lot of this on their own.”
He said Russia’s “heavy-handed approach” could create vulnerabilities. “They’re not as able to pick up nuances, the way we are, the British are, the French, the Germans, that type thing.”