House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) released a monthly assessment in late December of the growing terror threat the West continues to face.
In his inaugural State of Homeland Security Address, McCaul detailed the rise of radicalized militants, terror threats and how the United States could win the war against Islamist terror.
“President Obama’s failure to lead in confronting this threat has left us vulnerable and our enemies emboldened. What we need in this moment is a global strategy to win the war against Islamist terror – not more lectures and half measures,” McCaul said.
One of the major takeaways discussed was the rise of ISIS-inspired attacks against Western allies, specifically the attack in San Bernardino, which was the deadliest attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001. In total, ISIS has now directed or inspired 66 attacks against the West, including 19 on American targets. Authorities have arrested more than one ISIS-inspired individual every single week in 2015.
A major point of discussion in the address was ISIS and al-Qaeda’s multinational expansion, stretching from Yemen to Libya. These affiliates have capitalized on the ongoing wars by consolidating their stranglehold over the afflicted areas.
Other points of discussion included the threat Guantanamo detainees pose should they be transferred to the contiguous United States, radicalized militants attempting to infiltrate the U.S. through the refugee program, and the concerns over a sanction-free Iran and the threat it poses as a potential nuclear state.
McCaul said that the committee would monitor terror updates as they become available heading into 2016.