The threat environment in the United States is climbing steadily, as evidenced by last week's attack in New Orleans, Rep. Michael McCaul warned Sunday.
"When I chaired the Homeland Security Committee, we had a lot of external operations like explosives on airplanes," the Texas Republican said on ABC News' "This Week." "Then it morphed into radicalization on the internet."
There is a particular concern about New Orleans attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old Army veteran who drove a pickup truck through a crowd on New Orleans' Bourbon Street early New Year's Day, and revelations about his travels in 2023 to Egypt and Canada, said McCaul.
"I know that they're saying this is a lone-wolf type of situation, but there seem to be some real ISIS connections here that need to be followed up," said McCaul. "What was he doing in Egypt for a month … it reminds me so much of the Boston bomber, who traveled to Dagestan, came back, and then built this pressure cooker bomb that led to the deaths of so many people in that marathon."
McCaul said he would warn the Trump administration that there is an "uptick" in terrorist threats, including the use of a "new killer machine, a vehicle" that can be easily used to kill people.
The congressman said he's also concerned about the resurgence of ISIS and ISIS-K in the Khorasan region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We know that eight ISIS individuals have entered the United States through that," said McCaul. "You have two types of threats. One is operational. The other one is inspired attacks, radicalized over the internet. They're both equally lethal."
McCaul also discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine, pointing out that he's talked to special envoy Keith Kellogg several times.
"He believes that we cannot afford to lose Ukraine to Russia," he said. "That would be a horrible foreign policy decision that would put us in the position of losing to Russia, and Ukraine, and threatening Eastern Europe."
In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin is aligned with Chairman Xi Jinping in China, as well as Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has threatened Israel, McCaul said.
"We've got to take it seriously," he said. "If we can negotiate a peaceful settlement, great, but I think the Ukrainians need more leverage that the current administration has not given them and when they have that leverage going to the table they'll have more I think power."
Trump wants to end the war, he added, but there must be a peaceful negotiation on terms that "do not throw Ukraine under the bus."
"If there is a deal cut, we have to have teeth in that enforcement agreement such that if Russia ever invades again, there will be consequences … I think NATO is stronger now, and I hope the president recognizes that. They're an important ally."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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