Last December, FBI Director WraytoldCongress he’d never in his career seen so many threats against the United States as he did then. There were “blinking lights everywhere,” he said, a reference to a chapter in the9/11 Commission Report’s titled “The System Was Blinking Red.”
Nine months later, as we mark the 23rd anniversaryofthe horrificterrorist strike that left2,977 American dead, the chancesofa repeatattackare just as high – if not higher.
This is a direct resultofthe Biden-Harris administration’s actions and inactions, which have left America less secureathome andatgraveriskabroad.
Names on the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
For example, as the president and vice president tookoffice in 2021, Iran-backed actors found they could launchattacks with near impunity. According to U.S. Central Command, from 2021 until March 2023, Iran-backed proxies launched “about 78″attacksonU.S. force in Iraq and Syria, and faced aresponseonly three times.
BIDEN-HARRIS CAN’T LEAD AND IT EMBOLDENS OUR ENEMIES
Since then,attacks by Iranian proxiesonU.S. forces haveonly escalated further, withmore than 230attacksonU.S. personnel in Iraq, Syria and Jordan in 2023 alone, more than any year during the Trump administration.
Similar policy results are evident in the Red Sea, where the oil tankerSounionis currentlyleaking oilas a resultofundeterred Houthiattacks, constituting a grave environmental disaster and raising global energy prices. And it could get worse – the HouthiattackontheSounionmay cause thelargest-ever ship-sourcedoil spill.
VideoThe policiesofthe Biden-Harris administration have provided unprecedented resources toterrorist organizations and to Iran, the world’s largest state sponsorofterrorism. Despite the collective counselofmilitary leaders and his Cabinet, President Biden and Vice President Harris directed the disastrouswithdrawal from Afghanistan.
KAMALA HARRIS PRESIDENCY WOULD UNDERMINE US IN THIS KEY REGION
The result:13 American service membersdied and controlofthe country reverted to the Taliban, along with tensofbillionsofdollarsofabandoned equipmentand infrastructure. It was the firstof11diplomatic facilities – a record – abandoned by the Biden-Harris administration.
Onthe 20thanniversaryofthe 9/11attacks, we handed the world’s largestterrorist sanctuary back to those we wrested it from. Worse, the Biden-Harris administrationcontinues to fundtheterrorist Taliban regime to whom al Qaeda haspledgedits fealty. Asoneofthe many who participated in the initial response to 9/11, it is especially grievous, knowing the price paid and appreciating that others may be called to respond against an adversary we equipped.
VideoToday, ISIS isresurgentin Afghanistan and Africa and has claimed externalattacks inRussiaand France. Taylor Swift’s European concert tour was abruptly curtailed as a resultofcredible threats. Al Qaeda’sleader, Saif al-Adl, who fled Kabul after our invasion in October 2001, now resides in Iran as a guestofthe world’s largest state sponsorofterrorism.
KAMALA HARRIS LACKS THE MINIMUM SKILLS SET TO BE PRESIDENT
Iran itself has been the greatest beneficiaryofBiden-Harris largesse. The administration has provided the regime unprecedented access to resources,nearly $100 billionsince 2021. This has fueled its nuclear program, regionalterrorism, and assassinationattempts against former President Trump and former administrationofficials responsible forbankruptingthem and confronting the threatsofthe Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. And it has accelerated Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs.
VideoIn April 2021, the Biden-Harris administrationreversedTrump’s decision to cease funding theUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency, ignoring theevidencethat UNWRA provided support to Hamas.
The Biden-Harris policiesofappeasement have led Iran and its AxisofResistance to engage innon-stopattacksagainst U.S., Israeli and partners interests, whichspikedbeginning in 2021 and accelerated after the horrificattacksofOct. 7, 2023, when 32 Americans were killed – the deadliestterroristattacks against the U.S. since 9/11.
BIDEN’S MORAL EQUIVALENCY BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS WILL RESULT IN FAILURE — AGAIN
Three U.S. soldiers werekilled in Jordanby Iranian-sponsored proxies in January 2024. After the deathofHamas leader Ismail Hanieyah in Tehran, U.S. forces wereattacked in Iraq and Syria, resulting inseven casualtieswithout a response. AmericanHersh Goldberg-Polin’sbody was recoveredonAug. 31 after his brutal execution by Hamas. Seven Americans remain Hamas hostages.
VideoThat’s not all, sadly. The Biden-Harris administration has also systemically dismantled our border security, resulting in the entryofsome12 millionillegal immigrants, 1,800 individuals listedontheterrorist watchlist(that we knowof), and70,000 to 80,000Special Interest Aliens each year from dangerous countries.
In May, two were arrested afterattempting tobreachthe Marine Corps Base in Quantico. InJune,eight Tajiks affiliated with ISIS were detained in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City. InAugust, the FBI indicted a Pakistani manattempting to assassinate the former president and other former Americanofficials.
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Decadesofneglect and the current administration’s dismantlingofglobal deterrence invites aggression and courts disaster. The recent CongressionalCommissiononthe National Defense Strategyreaffirmed the conclusionsofHeritage’s 10thAnnualIndexofU.S. Military Strength, concluding our military’s capability and capacity is insufficient to deter and respond to the growing threats arrayed against us.
VideoTwenty-three years ago, systemic structural issues, along with the fact that we ignored abundant warning signs, led to the worstterroristattackin our history. Today it’s clear that we’reatgreaterriskathome and abroad. Yet the threats we face have been appeased, ignored, resourced, and allowed unprecedented access to our homeland via an open border under the Biden-Harris administration.
Trump’s administration confronted the threatofISIS by defeating its caliphate and killing its leader. He stood up to Tehran, bankrupting its military and eliminating its most capable leader, Qassem Soleimani. He also closed our border and preventedterrorist infiltration.
The contrast betweenthe two administrations’ records could not be more clear.
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Robert Greenway is director of Heritage’s Center for National Defense.
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