If you’ve turned on any cable–news channel or opened any newspaper or magazine since most of Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last month, you can see a clear narrative emerging: The terrorists are returning, and they will attack us. This chorus is coming not just from media commentators or the partisan critics of President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the country; Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley are now sounding the alarm, as are two top intelligence officials in the Biden administration. Depending on whom you listen to, the U.S. military’s departure will offer morale boosts or new havens to al-Qaeda and ISIS. By some accounts, al-Qaeda may end up even more powerful than it was on 9/11. Strikes from “over the horizon”—if we can gather sufficient intelligence—and a renewed strong CIA presence in the region are the only things that supposedly may save the United States from an attack. Not even the horror of the military’s disastrous final strike in Kabul, which raised grave questions about the drone program’s tactics and effectiveness, could dampen the drumbeat for constant military pressure to keep the threat at bay.
Playing Defense Against Terrorism Is Totally Fine – Defense One
