CIA #2 Says Situation in Syria is Greatest Threat to American National Security

Concerns being raised Al Qaeda-linked fighters could get their hands on chemical weapons and use Syria as a haven

WASHINGTON—The Central Intelligence Agency's second-in-command warned that Syria's volatile mix of al Qaeda extremism and civil war now poses the greatest threat to U.S. national security.

Michael Morell says the risk is that the Syrian government, which possesses chemical and other advanced weapons, collapses and the country becomes al Qaeda's new haven, supplanting Pakistan.