By Delphotostock @adobe Stock
A Time for Prayer
In what Daniel Henninger calls “a classic failure of national security intelligence, he points to the attack on Crocus City Hall among catastrophic intelligence failures.
Why Are Catastrophic Failures Happening:
- 22 March: 130 dead from attack on Crocus City Hall.
- 7 October: Rampage by Hamas pitches Israel into a war of survival.
- 11 September: infamous intelligence failure.
With its nearly 3,000 American deaths, “9/11” became shorthand for an attack that happened more than 22 years ago, in 2001. For most of the people we call “younger voters,” the event called 9/11 is a wholly historical event, not one they experienced.
The Depressing Answer
Mr. Henninger reasonably asks in the WSJ, “Will the U.S. wait for another 9/11 attack before doing what is necessary to avoid or deter it?” Henninger’s unhappy answer: “because U.S. politics has turned inward and memories are short, America likely will be unprepared for another internal catastrophe.”
Insular Agencies Poor at Sharing Info
From the 9/11 Commission:
“As presently configured, the national security institutions of the U.S. government are still the institutions constructed to win the Cold War. The United States confronts a very different world today. Instead of facing a few very dangerous adversaries, the United States confronts a number of less visible challenges that surpass the boundaries of traditional nation-states and call for quick, imaginative, and agile responses.”
Not Prepared for Today’s Challenges
We are in a cold war with four traditional nation-states—China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Simultaneously the world—which alas includes the U.S. mainland—is beset almost weekly by “challenges that surpass the boundaries of traditional nation-states.”
A Regrouped Islamic State in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan
Hamas—which like ISIS adopted the tactic of posting its bloodthirsty attacks for viewing on the internet—may yet succeed, as the sitting U.S. president bends beneath pressure from anti-Israel voters in the Democratic Party. Israel this week canceled a visit to Washington after the U.S. failed to block a cease-fire resolution in the United Nations Security Council.
- Since November, Yemen’s Houthi tribe has fired drones and missiles, supplied by Iran, at U.S. naval vessels and commercial ships in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
- Niger’s government has formally ended an important but deteriorating military agreement with the U.S.
- Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua are coming into the country across the southern border. One might argue that the “border” is polling high in national concerns not merely because of the migrant flow but because of U.S. overdose deaths from fentanyl made by Mexican cartels, which are amassing millions to buy weapons and political protection.
- FBI Director Christopher Wray warns repeatedly of the extramilitary threat from China. On Monday, the U.S. government publicly accused China of using its hacker army to install malware in our civilian infrastructure and defense systems.
Wanted: Quickness, Intelligence, Agility
To the above heading, Daniel Henninger adds “willing” to what is demanded of the U.S.:
Unless the U.S. is willing to make the political and military commitments necessary to counterbalance these multiple threats, we could get hit. An underappreciated but emerging reality: American citizens are in the strike zone everywhere—Israel, Haiti, Russia, China, Mexico.
Amid this global chaos, the U.S. political system has thrown up a 2024 presidential election pitting the hesitant, hobbled Joe Biden against an indeterminate, variable Donald Trump.
The Security Council’s cease-fire resolution, with its Biden-ordered abstention, didn’t demand that Hamas release its hostages, including U.S. citizens. At the same time, Trump allies in Congress are holding up passage of military aid for Ukraine. In both instances, the message of irresolution to our enemies puts us at risk.
Hamas: Just Getting Started.
Our military recruitment is dangerously down. Theirs is dangerously up.
All roads lead back to the U.S. presidential race. Mr. Biden is running around the country raising money, and Mr. Trump is sitting in courtrooms spending it.
Joe Biden is president, Donald Trump was. Both know the details of the current
threat. America’s voters deserve to know what each is going to do about it.
