It Is Time To Admit We Have Lost Control Of Our Domestic Security – The Inauguration Moves Inside

For the first time in forty years, a Presidential inauguration in the United States will take place indoors. The official reason is the expected onset of exceptionally cold weather. The suspicion is that the threat level is so high no one can reasonably guarantee they can prevent an outdoor attack on President Trump and the attendees.

Honestly, that seems like a pretty reasonable conclusion.

We just experienced two attacks, one in New Orleans and one in Las Vegas, but let’s be clear. Horrifying as both events were, they were mild compared to the dangers we face. The Biden administration has allowed the security situation inside the United States to deteriorate to the point where we face the very real prospect of catastrophic terrorist attacks every day all across the nation.

Our borders remain wide open. We have seen innumerable reports of terrorists from various Islamic groups moving into the United States. We have no idea where the vast majority of these people are. We know the Iranians have actively worked to kill Trump and members of this national security team from his first administration. We have failed to find the bulk of the Iranian operatives on our soil.

Our intelligence agencies are flat on their backs. The CIA, which should be an early warning system giving us advance notice of terrorist plots, is run by bureaucrats obsessed with process, paperwork, and DEI initiatives. Instead of hard-charging operators with decades of experience down range, we have “spies” who want you to learn how to knit “pride flag” potholders and choose your preferred pronouns.

The absence of intelligence is not intelligence. Federal agencies continue to produce meaningless assessments, saying they have “no credible intelligence regarding immediate terrorist threats.” They produced the same kind of assessments the day before 9/11. We were reading similar reports on December 6, 1941.

The fact that you do not know anything about the attack that is about to take place does not mean the threat is any less real. It just means you have left yourself wide open and may well be about to suffer catastrophic consequences.

“From the Biden-Harris administration’s chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal and the spillover effects of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks against our ally Israel to the vulnerabilities caused by our wide-open borders, the United States is facing a dynamic and worsening terror threat landscape. Foreign jihadist networks like ISIS and Hizballah, as well as homegrown violent extremists ideologically motivated by these terrorist groups, present security threats to the homeland. The Department of Homeland Security’s mission is to protect the American people from every threat at our doorstep. The system is blinking red yet again, as even the head of the FBI has noted. Despite heightened threats from terrorists, the Biden-Harris administration continues to demonstrate weak leadership on the world stage and fails to admit its policy failures that brought us here. We must change course and take the necessary actions to protect the homeland.”

House of Representatives, House Committee on Homeland Security, October 2024

FBI Director Wray has done a terrible job and has sanctioned actions against American civil liberties that are unconscionable. Yet, even, he, albeit on his way out the door, has acknowledged that we have lost control of our security and are facing unprecedented threat levels.

In testimony before the Senate last December, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that in his decades-long career he could not remember a time when so many threats were all “elevated at the exact same time.” He added, “I see blinking lights everywhere I turn.” Director Wray also warned that since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed over a thousand people, threats have reached “a whole ‘nother level.”

Wray is far from alone in his assessment.

“FTOs, like ISIS and al-Qa‘ida, maintain the enduring intent to conduct or inspire attacks in the Homeland and have leveraged the conflict in the Middle East to reaffirm this intent. These organizations maintain worldwide networks of supporters that could target the Homeland. FTO media outlets promote violent rhetoric intended to inspire US persons to mobilize to violence, while foreign terrorists continue engaging online supporters to solicit funds; create and share media; and encourage followers to attack the Homeland, US interests, and what they perceive as the West. Additionally, individuals with terrorism connections are interested in using established travel routes and perceived permissive environments to facilitate their access to the United States. Among state actors, we expect Iran to remain the primary sponsor of terrorism and continue its efforts to advance plots against individuals—including current and former US officials—in the United States.

Department of Homeland Security, October 2024

We have lost control. We have no idea how many “bad guys” there are on our soil. We have no idea what plots may already be underway. Perhaps never before in our history have we left ourselves so wide open to attacks, potentially on a scale greatly exceeding 9/11.

It is time to admit that, and then it is well past time to roll up our sleeves, get to work, and change all this before it is too late.