A short RUSI podcast (30 mins) of a lecture by Sir Richard Dearlove, former Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) till 2004:https://www.rusi.org/events/past/ref.../#.U7rENdzGvlJ

Two different commentaries. The title in The Guardian:
Islamist terror threat to west blown out of proportion - former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove says extremists are now focused on Middle East and giving them publicity in west is counter-productive
Link:http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...chard-dearlove

Or this headline in The Daily Telegraph:
Islamist terror is little threat to the West, and Saudis are backing Iraqi jihad': is this former spy chief right?
Link:http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/sh...y-chief-right/

Those who have been 'C' rarely speak openly, so worth a listen IMHO.