US military bases in Europe put on alert for major terrorism threat.

 

File photo of Rammstein airbase in Germany. New York Post/Getty.

US military bases in Europe have been put on high alert for a major terrorism threat that could be targeting US troops. New York Post. The bases have been put on Force Protection Condition Charlie, the 2nd highest alert and one that hasn't been put into place in a decade. FPCON Charlie comes into effect when there is intelligence that an attack on a US bases or troops is likely. Bases in Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Romania have all received the alert. Europe has received many threats from Islamic terrorists and there are concerns that both the European football championships and the Paris Olympics could come under attack. 

Air Force graphic explaining Force Protection Conditions. 

My Comment:

Well this is concerning. It's very clear that Islamic Terrorism is back and in a big way. Russia alone had three separate terror incidents, the Moscow mall attack, the prisoner uprising and the more recent terror attack in Dagestan. And that's just Russia. All of those attacks were fairly sophisticated and involved more than one person. Such a thing happening in the rest of Europe would not be a surprise. 

Indeed, it seems clear that the war in Ukraine has caused the intelligence communities in both the West and the East to focus almost entirely on the war. This has given both ISIS and al-Qaeda, which has also made some threats recently, to be able to regroup. So far ISIS has gotten more done compared to al-Qaeda but both groups are having a resurgence. 

Military bases are a more logical place for an attack than you would think. Most firearms are stored so there isn't really much of a chance of being stopped outside of the base guards. If you can get past them then you have a decent chance of inflicting heavy casualties. 

But is this threat real? I would say that the threat of a general terror attack in Europe is extremely high. Like I said, both al-Qaeda and ISIS are back and threatening attacks. But that doesn't mean that US bases are a huge target for them. Indeed, the article listed other events that would be even better targets, like the Olympics. There is value in military bases as well, but targeting the Olympics would be a coup for terrorists. 

There is also the fact that the United States isn't immune to terror attacks either. This particular threat is based in Europe but there is a major threat here at home as well. Our border is open so it would be trivial for ISIS or al-Qaeda to get terrorists into the country. And there is always the threat of lone wolf attackers as well. I think it's only a matter of time before we see another major terror attack here in the States as well.