Retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden told
Newsmax TV Friday that the Paris violence was "certainly a terrorist attack" and said that "our fears have been realized" because the assaults greatly mirror the 2008 terrorism in Mumbai that left more than 160 people dead and hundreds injured.
"We went to school on that attack," Hayden, the former director of the CIA and the National Security Agency, said on "Newsmax Prime." He was being interviewed by hosts J.D. Hayworth, John Bachman and Miranda Khan.
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"We had great fear that we would see copycat versions of that attack — and now, I fear that our fears have been realized, and we're seeing that carried out tonight in Paris," Hayden said. "It shows the fragility of free societies. It shows the great danger that international terrorism presents to all of us."
Hayden sized up the Paris attacks quickly: "This is probably a jihadist attack. It's certainly a terrorist attack.
"If you ask me on a forced-choice test to pick a group, I'd say ISIS," he added, referring to the Islamic State. "But we don't know any of that for sure yet.
"We're going to have to wait and see the evidence as it comes in so that we can form a rational response to a very irrational act," Hayden said.
In the attacks in Mumbai, India, 10 Pakistani members of an Islamic militant group carried out 12 coordinated shootings and bombings in November 2008.
The assaults ended four days later, with 164 people dead and as many as 308 wounded.
One key target was the luxurious Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel in Mumbai. Six bombs exploded in the hotel on the morning of Nov. 26, 2008.
Hostages were taken — and at least 160 people were killed, including many Americans and other foreign tourists.
"It really upset us because here was an attack of great damage, great harm, great carnage, great strategic significance that was conducted by a small number of people — about a dozen — armed with nothing more than automatic weapons and cell phones," Hayden told Newsmax.
He said the Paris attacks appeared as if they "had been carefully planned.
"It looks as if these were synchronized attacks. It looks as if this had been in the making for some while.
"Obviously, they were soft targets," Hayden continued. "They were targets where masses of people were located — and there were targets where they could create mass casualties with a minimum amount of effort, and frankly a minimum amount of participants."
Regarding future terroristic attacks, Hayden could not speculate — but he issued a warning.
"You've got to be on your guard for all possible options going forward."