The Rising Terrorist Threat and the Unfulfilled 9/11 Recommendation

Ten years after the 9/11 Commission provided recommendations to prevent other terrorist attacks on the United States soil, the terror threat from abroad remains real, and we will continue to be challenged identifying home-grown terrorists. The current instability in the Middle East, the web of al-Qaeda affiliates, and the rapid advance of extremist ISIS militants are fueling the rise of new safe havens where terrorists live, train, and plot future attacks. In a recently-released anniversary report, the former members of the commission reflect on the progress made and provide recommendations on how to further enhance the security of the United States. Specifically, the new report concludes that some recommendations from the commission remain unfulfilled, and one in particular has been largely ignored: Reforming Congressional jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security. In 2004, the 9/11 Commission recognized the importance of eliminating terrorist safe havens. The report stated, "Terrorists should no longer find safe havens where their organizations can grow and flourish. Our efforts should be accompanied by a preventative strategy that is as much, or more, political as is military." Those words were written a decade ago, yet safe havens for terrorists not only still exist, they have expanded and beyond the regions where the 9/11 attacks originated.