Moscow massacre: Could it happen here?

OPINION:

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A mass shooting at a concert hall in Moscow killed more than 130 people. With many others seriously or gravely wounded, the number of dead is likely to rise.

The Islamic State released a statement claiming credit for the attack. Eleven suspects have been arrested. Early reports suggested the U.S. Embassy in Moscow had advance warning of the attack. The Daily Mail reported that John Kirby, White House strategic communications coordinator, said: “Right now we don’t know to what extent this warning [from the US Embassy in early March] and this attack are related. But we had some concerns about the possibility of a terrorist attack in and around Moscow earlier this month.”

The question that must be asked, as it has been suggested for some time due to our open southern border, is this: Could it happen here? The answer must be an unequivocal yes. In fact, it has already happened here on Sept. 11, 2001.

Does anyone seriously think our enemies would not be encouraged by that previous attack and the Moscow atrocity to conduct a repeat operation in the United States? With such easy access to the country and so many fanatical beliefs floating around the world, what would deter them?

The Cato Institute has noted that since 2017, “US Border Patrol has apprehended 342 border crossers who were on the Terrorist Screening Dataset, also known as the terror watchlist. Those numbers have shot up in recent years to 169 in FY2023 and 49 to date this fiscal year. Last month, The Daily Caller reported that Border Patrol apprehended an al-Shabaab terrorist and released him into the United States in March 2023 after a mismatch on the watch list. Later, the government discovered that he was on the watchlist, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested him within 48 hours. The Daily Caller’s headline was “ICE Confirms It Finally Nabbed Terrorist Allowed To Roam Free For Almost A Year.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray has testified several times before congressional committees about his belief that a national security threat exists because of the 1.8 million “known gotaways.” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is unable to confirm that the Border Patrol has detained every suspected terrorist who crosses the border without proper documentation. It doesn’t take many as we saw on 9/11 and have seen in the Moscow concert hall incident to produce mayhem.

While 9/11 was predictable — Osama bin Laden and other members of a Qaeda issued fatwas calling for attacks on the U.S. and American citizens and declared war on the United States and the terrorists trained in how to take off in airplanes, but not how to land — so the warning signs will have been seen should infiltrators pull off another 9/11, or worse. If that happens, count on the Biden administration to blame Republicans, as they are currently doing for refusing to vote for a bill that would legalize 5,000 migrants per day entering the country illegally.

In 2003, Tom Clancy published a timely novel titled “The Teeth of the Tiger.” The plot, in part, is about Islamic terrorists who make a deal with Colombian drug smugglers. Crossing the U.S. border, they head for four shopping malls and murder innocent civilians. Again, it doesn’t take much to wreak havoc, tank the economy and strike fear in the hearts of everyone.

It could happen again here and likely will unless this or a new administration moves quickly to find the suspected terrorists who have already sneaked in before they can activate a plot worthy of a Tom Clancy novel.

• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).