FBI Director again warns that the threat of terror attacks is extremely high.

 

FBI Director Christopher Wray. Fox News/Getty.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has again warned that the threat of terror attacks is extremely high. Fox News. Senator Lindsey Graham asked Wray about the threat matrix and Wray said the threat level was unprecedented. There have been times where the threat was higher from individual threats, but never a time where so many threats were elevated at exactly the same time. Graham asked if the situation was similar to the build up to 9/11 and Wray said it was. The statement comes after the FBI disrupted a "lone wolf" plot by a 16 year old in Las Vegas who has sworn allegiance to ISIS. 

My Comment:

More fallout from the Israel-Hamas war and I think that the threat is even higher than the last time that Wray made these statements. And I think he is absolutely right, the threat of terrorism is unreal right now. I am honestly surprised we haven't seen any large attacks yet. 

Part of that is the timing. It's only been a couple of months since the war began. Terror attacks usually take awhile to plan and execute and there might not have been enough time. But I think there is absolutely big terror attacks in the pipeline, the only question is how long it will take and how effective the intel agencies will be in disrupting them. Given that the FBI has moved away from terrorism to go after peaceful January 6th protesters, I am not very optimistic. 

The other major question I have is who would even launch these attacks? Many of the biggest terror groups have been destroyed. ISIS and al-Qaeda are still around but they don't have the funding and recruits they once had. And Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas are obviously focused on the war with Israel. I am struggling to think of another major terror group that could pull off a major attack. I guess it's possible that there is a group out there that we haven't heard of yet but that's not too likely. 

What the real threat is would probably lone wolf attackers, like the young man from Las Vegas that was arrested last week. It doesn't take much to plan that kind of attack. You don't even need a gun or a knife, if you have a car you can ram people and kill a large number of them. And these kinds of attacks are very hard to detect unless the terrorist is stupid enough to confess his plan. 

It's also possible that a smaller conspiracy could erupt as well. Normally someone talks in this kind of conspiracy and police can arrest them, but given how many threats there are right now it's possible, probable even, that a major case could fall through the cracks and a major attack could occur. This wouldn't be something directed and helped by a larger terror group, but an attack carried out and planned by a small group of people and could do a lot of damage. 

I'd also point out that it might not just be terror attacks launched by people angry about the war in Israel. Assassination and simple homicide could happen as well. Indeed, we have already seen a few murders on both sides and I wouldn't be terrible surprised if someone vocal about the war gets killed. 

There's a lot of risk across the board for US targets. Obviously, Jews are at a high risk due to Israel being involved in the war, but that really isn't the only target. Pretty much everyone could be at risk depending on where they are. 

I also don't think that radical Muslims are the only threat here. Obviously the FBI and media are hyping the threat from the right wing, which I think is mostly overblown. The far-right is pretty divided about Israel and are just as likely to support Hamas as they are Israel, but I don't see either group caring enough to kill a bunch of people. 

But I think there is a major threat from the left. The people on the far left are unhinged about the Israeli war and refuse to see any nuance in the conflict whatsoever. For them the Israelis are unhinged monsters that are eating babies and are basically Nazis. When you believe something as bizarre as that it's not a big leap to justify committing violence. The only thing is that leftist people usually don't have the spine to make an attack like that. 

Regardless, I think we are on borrowed time. I do think we will see a major terror attack soon. It might not be this month but I would be surprised if we didn't see a major terror attack over the winter. There are too many people too angry about the war in Israel for it to not happen..