How Do We Prevent Another 9/11?

            The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the importance of remembering the terrorist attacks of 9/11. On September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes to attack the United States. The following information was taken from an Associated Press summary of the hijacked airliners. 

• American Airlines Flight 11 began its takeoff roll at 8:00 a.m. at Logan Airport in Boston. American 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46:40 a.m.
• United Airlines Flight 175 took off from Logan Airport at 8:14 a.m. The flight crashed into the South Tower at the World Trade Center at 9:03:02 a.m.
• American Airlines Flight 77 began its takeoff roll from Dulles International Airport at 8:20 a.m. The flight crashed into the Pentagon at 9:38 a.m.
• United Airlines Flight 93 took off from Newark at 8:42 a.m. about 40 minutes late. The flight crashed into a field in Pennsylvania at 10:03:11 a.m., 125 miles from Washington, D.C.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the four airplane crashes. Everyone on the four planes as 

well as people in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and many first responders. As we approach the 21^st anniversary of the terrorist attacks, it is good for us to reflect on the lives lost. It is also good to remember the courage of the first responders, the people who helped the survivors of the attacks, and the impact of the attacks on all Americans.

            We should never forget the lives lost, the sacrifices, and the many heroes of the occasion. However, we should also remember the warnings of the attack and to ensure that America is never attacked again.

            Over the past 20 months, America has become more susceptible to another terrorist attack. The Biden administration opened the southern border of the United States to allow nearly 5 million people to invade the nation. People are coming from more than 100 nations to walk across the border. There have been 66 people on the terrorist list apprehended by the Border Patrol. How many other terrorists entered America undetected?

            In addition, the fall of Kabul last September resulted in chaos and violence. Thousands of people boarded airplanes and entered the United States without proper vetting. We may have provided transportation for more terrorists to enter our nation.

            A third danger is collapse of Afghanistan into a safe haven for terrorists once again. James DiPane explained why America is in a more perilous situation than we were before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

That chaos did not need to happen, and it has led to a much more dangerous situation in Afghanistan than existed even before 9/11, with the United States at more risk from terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda. Terrorists now have a safe haven to operate in Afghanistan again, just like they did before the attacks on 9/11, and according to the former commander in the region, Gen. Frank McKenzie, the U.S. is in a poor position to conduct counterterrorism operations against them.

The Biden administration claims it has the capability to continue the counterterrorism mission using “over the horizon” capabilities, relying on space and air reconnaissance to conduct targeted strikes of terrorist targets with drone strikes.

But despite the hopes of the administration, over-the-horizon strikes at terrorist targets are insufficient to keep the threat at bay.

There are many challenges with relying on over-the-horizon capabilities to conduct counterterrorism operations. Without the large footprint of people in country to act as the eyes and ears for strikes, the intelligence collection that relies on air and space assets is challenging, as the target can move before the strike is executed, and those operations are often constrained by airspace access.

A little over a month ago, Ayman al-Zawahri, one of the chief architects of the 9/11 attacks, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Kabul. That would seem to suggest this capability is effective, since such a prominent terrorist was successfully targeted using the over-the-horizon strategy.

Unfortunately, one terrorist killed does not an effective counterterrorism strategy make. The main issue is the support those groups receive from the Taliban, which will give them a strong base to plan terrorist acts against the West, and will make targeting the networks much more complicated.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, it has gained control of a large amount of territory, equipment, and funds. It is now more powerful and controls more of Afghanistan than it did in 2001. While its rule will be somewhat different from what the world saw in 2001, it’s clear the Taliban still has ties to various terrorist groups that are bent on attacking the United States and its allies.

The terrorist threat to the United States will only grow with the Taliban rule of Afghanistan.

            America is in danger of attacks from several sources. Russia, China, and Iran are emboldened because of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan by the weak Biden administration. America has numerous enemies who are preparing to take advantage of any weakness.

If Americans want to prevent another attack on the United States, the best thing they can do is to vote all Democrats out of office. Democrats tend to weaken the military by decreasing the funding or by becoming woke. Republicans tend to build up and strengthen the military and the ability to defend America. We should vote RED all the way!