Testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Pompeo said this is the most complicated threat environment the US has faced in recent time. The Congressman described Syria “as a failed state” that has become one of the “worst humanitarian catastrophes of the 21st century”. “This conflict has led to the rise of extremism, sectarianism, instability in the region and Europe, and the worst refugee crisis the world has faced in recent memory,” he said.