The pre-9/11 warning lights are flashing once again, thanks largely to President Biden’s refusal to control the southern border.
That’s one of the key takeaways from of a new Foreign Affairs essay based on testimony and comments by top national-security experts.
Will America be caught asleep at the switch?
One ominous sign: As The Post reports exclusively, a sting last week nabbed six Russian nationals with suspected ISIS ties in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York — at least one of whom had been released by the feds at the southern border with a court date next year.
“Remember the Boston marathon” bombing, a source told The Post. “I’m afraid something like that might happen again — or worse.”
In the essay, Harvard prof Graham Allison and ex-CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell cite FBI Director Chris Wray’s increasingly alarming assessments of the nation’s “threat environment.”
In December, two months after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, Wray testified that the already heightened terror threat had soared to “a whole ‘nother level,” as thousands crossed the border each day with little or no vetting.
By April, his fears grew even more dire after an ISIS-K attack at a Moscow concert hall killed 145 people and wounded hundreds.
Outgoing National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid also raised alarms, citing the “elevated global threat environment.”
And just last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland backed that view, warning that threats have surged “enormously.”
Meanwhile, the head of US Central Command, Gen. Erik Kurilla, has pointed to the terrorist capabilities of groups like al Qaeda, ISIS and its Afghanistan affiliate, ISIS-K.
Wray also notes that Tehran continues to plot against top US officials in revenge for the America’s assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Despite the threats, the southern border remains virtually defenseless.
The Center for Immigration Studies’ Todd Bensman has flagged thousands of migrants who’ve gained entry from “countries of national security concern,” like Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and even Iran.
As Allison and Morell note, last year “hundreds of individuals on the United States’ terrorist watch list attempted to enter the country via the southern border.” It’s not hard to imagine some slipping across and “carrying out a large massacre.”
Obviously, the terrorist threat alone is grounds to secure the border, but President Biden refuses.
Sure, US counterterror agents do their best, as with the ring they just rolled up.
But, as 9/11 proved, terrorists only need to get lucky once.
It’s vital to minimize the risk — by attacking them overseas and diminishing their numbers, resources and capabilities.
Yet one of the easiest and most critical steps is to secure the border, but this president won’t.
If you want to avoid another 9/11, send him into retirement.