Can we prevent the next 9/11? Not unless we change course very quickly

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives just released a report on the Biden-Harris administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is scathing. It should be. The Executive Summary reads in part:

“The Biden-Harris administration was determined to withdraw from Afghanistan, with or without the Doha Agreement and no matter the cost. Accordingly, they ignored the conditions in the Doha Agreement, pleas of the Afghan government, and the objections by our NATO allies, deciding to unilaterally withdraw from the country.”

“The Biden-Harris administration prioritized the optics of the withdrawal over the security of U.S. personnel on the ground. For that reason, they failed to plan for all contingencies, including a noncombatant emergency evacuation (NEO) and refused to order a NEO until after the Taliban had already entered Kabul. The Biden-Harris administration’s failure to prepare for a NEO and order a timely NEO created an unsafe environment at HKIA, exposing U.S. Defense Department and State Department personnel to lethal threats and emotional harm. As a result, 13 U.S. servicemembers were murdered by a terrorist attack on August 26, 2021. It was the deadliest day for the U.S. military in Afghanistan since 2012.”

That’s pretty damning stuff and the criticism is well deserved. Joe and Kamala and their cronies got a lot of people killed, and they should be held to account.

All that is in the past, though, and what perhaps should command our immediate attention is what the report has to say, not about what happened in 2021 but what will happen in the future if we do not act quickly and decisively.

“In the aftermath of the withdrawal, U.S. national security was degraded as Afghanistan once again became a haven for terrorists, including al-Qaeda and ISIS-K.”

We went into Afghanistan after 9/11 to prevent it from being used as a launching pad for attacks against the United States. It had become a safe haven in which al-Qaeda could grow and gain strength. As long as such a safe haven existed, we would not be safe. 9/11 was not the end of anything. It was the beginning of a long war, one which we must win.

Our involvement in Afghanistan, poorly executed as it was, bought us time. It put the enemy on his heels. It prevented the follow-on attacks which were always intended by al-Qaeda to include chemical, nuclear and biological weapons.

Cutting and running from Afghanistan restarted the clock on the countdown to Armageddon. It gave al-Qaeda, and other similar groups, the opportunity to regroup and begin again their efforts to destroy us. Report after report by a wide variety of think tanks, intelligence officers, and military officers points out that al-Qaeda is back in force and preparing for attacks here on our soil.

In September 2021, DIA Director Berrier said “the current assessment — probably conservatively — is one to two years for al-Qaida to build some capability to at least threaten the homeland.” This assessment was echoed by Deputy CIA Director David Cohen, who said that “the one- to two-year timeline sounds about right.”

Testifying before Congress in 2024, General Kurilla commander of Central Command stated, “al-Qaeda, while weakened, still enjoys safe havens in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent operates training camps, safe houses, and religious schools in Afghanistan.”

Later that month, General Kurilla reiterated, “We do see the Taliban as harboring al-Qaeda.” The truth of that statement is irrefutable. The Taliban provide al-Qaeda with sanctuary and support and encourage the growth of that organization on Afghan soil.

The DIA confirmed in March 2023 “the Taliban maintained its decades-long ties to al-Qaeda and had not expelled legacy al-Qaeda members from Afghanistan.”  The UN assessed in June 2023 that between 30 to 60 al-Qaeda leaders and hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters were active in Taliban-run Afghanistan. Many of these al-Qaeda members have received official appointments and serve openly in the Taliban regime.

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