US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries will not help the country fight terrorism, says former CIA Director John Brennan.
“I don't think the travel ban is going to help in any significant way,” said the 61 year old, in an appearance on CBS on Sunday.
Through an executive order, Trump has been trying to impose a 90-day entry ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia, block refugees from Syria indefinitely, and suspend all refugee admissions for 120 days.
The former spymaster suggested that the new president should focus on online recruitment by Takfiri groups such as Daesh.
“What they need to do is to, again, take into account all the various means that terrorist groups use to try to carry out attacks here in the homeland,” he said. “And the cyber domain is the area where most of the terrorist groups now are operating in a very freewheeling fashion.”
The former chief at the Central Intelligence Agency also suggested that the idea of a ban on some of those entering the country would fail to address terrorism.
“It may sound good to have a ban against individuals coming from certain countries, but you really need to take a look at what is truly going to mitigate the nature and the scope of the terrorist threat that we face,” he added.
The new president, meanwhile, awaits preparation of a new executive order after his first one faced national uproar and was halted in the courts.