John Brennan: U.S. must ‘take away that capability to strike U.S. forces’ from Iran-backed groups

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Saudi Arabia during his fifth visit to the region following the October 7 attacks as the U.S. continues to lead retaliatory strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Former CIA Director John Brennan joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the actions the Pentagon has taken and what needs to be done to combat these groups. “It's clear the Biden administration now has directed U.S. military forces in the region to shift from a defensive posture to a preventive and preemptive one. In the past, the U.S. forces would wait for a missile or rocket or drone to be launched before they would destroy it. But what we have seen over the past several days is now the U.S. is going after those capabilities on the ground,” Brennan tells Andrea. “I think the U.S. military is going to have to continue to focus on trying to find them, degrade them, carry out strikes, and be able to take away that capability to strike U.S. forces.”Feb. 5, 2024