When Afghanistan went south the effect was not confined to Afghanistan. It encouraged China, who was close to the Taliban previously and now holds the geopolitical whiphand in the country. The Iranians are thrilled at our loss in the region and it will motivate them to step up attacks and put pressure on Iraq. ISIS-K and Al Qaeda are also on the move. All this due to the ridiculous incompetence of the Biden administration.
Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl: ISIS-K and Al Qaeda will likely have the capability to attack the United States in six months to two years.
“We are fairly certain they have the intention” to attack. pic.twitter.com/M4HAJIZBN5 [1]
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 26, 2021 [2]
FNC: “U.S. intelligence shows that ISIS-K, the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, could potentially have the ability to strike American targets in as little as six months, while al Qaeda can also increase its capabilities, a top Pentagon official said.
Colin Kahl, undersecretary of Defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that neither terror group poses an imminent threat, but that they still must be taken seriously as that could change in a fairly short amount of time.”
“I think the intelligence community currently assesses that both ISIS-K and al Qaeda have the intent to conduct external operations, including against the United States. But neither currently has the capability to do so,” Kahl said. “We could see ISIS-K generate that capability in somewhere between six or 12 months. I think the current assessments by the intelligence community is that al Qaeda would take a year or two to reconstitute that capability.”
Senator Mazie Hirono, D-HI, asked Kahl how the U.S. would know the intentions of ISIS-K or al Qaeda and if they intended to strike. “Well, I think we are actually fairly certain that they have the intention to do so,” he said, noting “considerable evidence.”
In related news, US troops in Syria were targeted for attack by Iranian forces earlier in the week. The attack was expected and thwarted. A Pentagon spox commented, “The protection and security of our troops overseas remains a paramount concern for the secretary,” John Kirby said, referring to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “If there is to be a response, it will be at a time and a place and a manner of our choosing, and we certainly won’t get ahead of those kinds of decisions.”