Afghanistan Is Once Again A Launching Pad For Attacks On America – We Are Watching It Happen

One of the critical elements of Joe Biden’s administration is the effort put into hiding the multiple national security disasters unfolding before our eyes. The Iranians are on the verge of fielding an arsenal of nuclear weapons. The Chinese could blockade Taiwan at any moment. Drug cartels operate with impunity a hundred miles north of our southern border. The pretense remains – ‘none of this is happening’.

Perhaps nowhere is this phenomenon on greater display than in Afghanistan. For all intents and purposes, Afghanistan simply fell off all maps when Joe cut and ran in 2021. We spent twenty years there fighting to prevent the nation from ever again becoming a launching pad for attacks on the United States. Yet, magically, when we left that danger vanished.

Nothing to fear. Nothing to see. Move along.

A recent United Nations report highlights with startling clarity just how wrong that is. Afghanistan is once again a terrorist safe haven. Al Qaida is back in strength. The clock has already started in the run-up to the next attack.

“The link between the Taliban and both Al-Qaida and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains strong and symbiotic. A range of terrorist groups have greater freedom of manoeuvre under the Taliban de facto authorities. They are making good use of this, and the threat of terrorism is rising in both Afghanistan and the region. While they have sought to reduce the profile of these groups and have conducted operations against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIL-K), in general, the Taliban have not delivered on the counter-terrorism provisions under the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the United States of America and the Taliban.“

“There are indications that Al-Qaida is rebuilding operational capability, that TTP is launching attacks into Pakistan with support from the Taliban, that groups of foreign terrorist fighters are projecting threat across Afghanistan’s borders and that the operations of ISIL-K are becoming more sophisticated and lethal (if not more numerous).”

“The relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaida remained close and symbiotic, with Al-Qaida viewing Taliban-administered Afghanistan a safe haven. Al-Qaida still aims to strengthen its position in Afghanistan and has been interacting with the Taliban, supporting the regime and protecting senior Taliban figures.”

“The number of all Al-Qaida fighters in the country is estimated to be 400, reaching 2,000 with family members and supporters included, 9 operating in the south (Helmand, Zabul and Kandahar Provinces), centre (Ghazni, Kabul and Parwan) and east (Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan). All Al-Qaida locations were attempting to reduce their visibility and minimize communications. The group has established new training camps in Badghis, Helmand, Nangarhar, Nuristan and Zabul, with safe houses in Farah, Helmand, Herat and Kabul. One Member State reported the arrival of 20 to 25 Arab foreign fighters to Kunar and Nuristan, where the location of a camp was stated to be specifically for the training of suicide bombers, accompanied by a new Al-Qaida media apparatus being established in Herat.”

“With the patronage of the Taliban, Al-Qaida members have received appointments and advisory roles in the Taliban security and administrative structures.”

“Over the past year, the de facto Ministry of Interior continued its distribution of Afghan passports and tazkiras (national identity cards) to Al-Qaida members with advisory roles in main Afghan cities.”

UN Sanctions Monitoring Report via longwarjournal.com

The reality is that there is increasingly no clear dividing line between the Taliban and Al Qaida in Afghanistan. They are both terrorist organizations. They both have the same goal, the waging of Holy War and the establishment of a worldwide Islamic caliphate built on the mad principles of their 7^th-century world view.

The 9/11 attacks were never intended to be the end of anything for Al Qaida. They were in many ways the beginning. At the time of those attacks, Al Qaida was working in a variety of ways on the acquisition of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. It continued those efforts for years thereafter and was prevented from carrying out follow on attacks only because of aggressive worldwide operations spearheaded by the CIA.

No one in Al Qaida has changed their goals. They remain committed to attacking what they call the “far enemy.” That’s us. They remain fixated on bringing the war here to our soil as they did on 9/11. Now, once again, they enjoy a safe, secure platform from which to operate. Now, once again, we have given them breathing room and space.

It is not just that we have returned to where we were before September 11, 2001 however. This administration has not simply handed Afghanistan to terrorists. It has opened our borders and dismantled any systems we had in place to prevent terrorists from entering the country.

Millions of people are streaming into our country without documentation. We have no idea who they are. Ultralight aircraft routinely cross our southern border and operate deep inside the country. Sophisticated networks using counterfeit FedEx vans and operatives in camouflage are on our soil all day every day.

We are wide open to attack. Afghanistan is once again a launching pad for attacks on the United States. We are watching, waiting for it to happen, and doing nothing.