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OPINION
Keith Alexander

Kean/Hamilton: Terror threat enters danger zone

Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton
Tom Kean, left, and Lee Hamilton deliver the final report of their 9/11 Commission in Washington on July 22, 2004.

Ten years ago Tuesday, we released The 9/11 Commission Report to the government and the American public. Many of our 41 recommendations have been adopted, leaving our government better equipped to fight terrorism. That is progress, but we must not become complacent. Terrorists are still plotting attacks on our homeland and aviation systems. The trend lines overseas are pointing in the wrong direction.

Al-Qaeda spinoffs are gaining strength. The fanatical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has conquered much of western Iraq. As we warned 10 years ago: If "Iraq becomes a failed state, it will go to the top of the list of places that are breeding grounds for attacks against Americans at home." That nightmare scenario may now be coming to pass.

Senior national security leaders are especially alarmed about the foreign fighters who have flooded into neighboring Syria. More than 1,000 hold European passports, which would enable many to enter the United States without a visa. Even worse, dozens of Americans have joined them. When these battle-hardened, radicalized fighters return to the U.S. and Europe, they will pose a serious threat.

Al-Qaeda, ISIS active

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, possesses advanced bomb-making capabilities and has attempted several attacks on U.S. targets. ISIS and AQAP will continue to seek opportunities to strike our homeland. Reports that Yemeni bomb makers made their way to Syria raise the disturbing prospect that potential infiltrators may be coming together with the world's most dangerous bomb makers.

Homegrown terrorism is another serious danger. Previously unknown individuals, often with no prior ties to terrorism, "self-radicalize" by viewing violent propaganda online. Like the Tsarnaev brothers, believed responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings, such "lone wolf" terrorists are difficult to detect.

Our recommendations centered on how to protect the country. In recent conversations, however, national security leaders have expressed concerns about relentless cyber attacks against our nation's most sensitive and economically important networks. Former National Security Agency director Keith Alexander has described the ongoing cyber theft of U.S. intellectual property as "the greatest transfer of wealth in history." One lesson of 9/11 is that Americans did not awaken to the gravity of the terrorist threat until it was too late. That may be happening again in cyberspace.

The booming scale of government data collection has also changed. Data collection and analysis are vital tools for preventing terrorist attacks. In counterterrorism, no single intelligence report is definitive, and each clue may appear anodyne in isolation. The accumulation, filtering and synthesis of vast amounts of information lead to counterterrorism breakthroughs.

Protect civil liberties

Even so, effective counterterrorism must be balanced against civil liberties. Because data collection occurs out of the public eye, it is the government's burden to explain to the public what is being done and why the chosen tools are necessary. The government has failed in that regard.

A final, enduring concern — and an unfulfilled recommendation — is reform of Congress' dysfunctional committee structure for overseeing homeland security. Before 9/11, splintered committee jurisdiction resulted in episodic and inadequate attention to terrorism. When everyone is responsible, no one is.

Reporting to a vast array of committees places a massive administrative burden on the Department of Homeland Security and distracts from other tasks. Since 2004, the number of committees or subcommittees with some responsibility for Homeland Security has increased from 88 to 92. This congressional inaction makes America less safe and has persisted too long.

Congress' failure to reform itself is especially jarring in light of the massive changes it has mandated in the executive branch. The director of national intelligence and a National Counterterrorism Center, two reforms recommended by the commission, are ensuring that intelligence agencies work together, instead of hoarding information and feuding over turf as they did before 9/11. That is real progress.

The urge to turn to other concerns threatens to undermine these accomplishments. The "generational challenge" against terrorism we anticipated 10 years ago has entered a new and dangerous phase. America cannot afford to let down its guard.

Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton served as chair and vice chair of the 9/11 Commission, respectively. They co-chair the Bipartisan Policy Center's Homeland Security Project.

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