FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that law officials do have concerns that because the U.S. no longer has a presence there, Afghanistan could become a breeding ground for terrorists.
Wray voiced his concerns when he testified at a House Homeland Security Committee briefing. Lawmakers were looking for transparency from the FBI director and other top national security officials.
“We are, of course, concerned that there will be an opportunity for a safe haven to be re-created there, which is certainly something we’ve seen in the past, and allow a foreign terrorist organization to operate more freely in the region,” Wray said during the hearing.
Confidence in the Biden administration has waned as bipartisan criticism has grown over its handling of the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Afghanistan as well as the Taliban’s swift takeover of that country. Criticism of the administration has grown in the wake of the ISIS-K suicide bombing during the evacuation efforts claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members.
“We’re concerned that ISIS-K can take advantage of a significantly weakened security environment to operate more freely,” Wray added. We’re also concerned that the events there can serve as a catalyst or an inspiration for terrorists, whether they be members of (foreign terrorist organizations) or homegrown violent extremists, to conduct attacks.”
“Most importantly, we’re concerned that foreign terrorist organizations will have an opportunity to re-constitute, to plot, conspire in a space that’s much harder for us to collect intelligence and operate against than was the case previously,” he said.
Top GOP officials argue that the complete withdrawal from Afghanistan will leave U.S. officials without the means to effectively track threats and thus allow terrorist groups, such as ISIS-K, to grow.
President Joe Biden and other members of his administration argue that a permanent presence in Afghanistan is not needed in order to track terrorist threats. They have warned the Taliban of the consequences if they allow terrorist groups safe harbor and feel as though that is enough.
