Are ISIS terror cells operating in Texas? That's the kind of question that worries national security experts and the one we posed to Texas Rep. Michael McCaul (R-10th District) during an appearance on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics Sunday morning.
"It's the one that keeps you up at night, the one you don't know about; the Chattanooga or the San Bernardino. I think we have to imagine that they're here and we have to stop it, but it's a very hard thing to stop,” said McCaul, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
It was one year ago next month that two radicalized Muslims drove from Arizona to Garland and tried to attack the site of a contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad at the Curtis Culwell Center. Both men were shot dead during a gun fight with police.
The Garland incident was the first time that ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack inside the United States.
McCaul acknowledged the threat level is higher in Europe because of open borders and the flow of migrants, but he said that coordinated attacks should not be dismissed as a possibility in this country.
“We have arrested over 80 ISIS followers in the United States. We’ve found 75 plots against the West, many of which we have stopped,” McCaul explained. “In Europe, the cells are definitely there.”
The lawmaker said he thinks dams “are definitely a target” in this country, as well; vulnerable to either a physical attack or a cyber-attack.
McCaul also recently wrote a book titled Failures of Imagination, which outlines potential threats and real-life solutions.
“The reason I wrote the book is to tell the American people the truth about the threats we face as a nation and what we need to do to stop it,” he said.
None of the candidates running for president have any military experience, noted Bud Kennedy, columnist from the Star-Telegram, who is a regular on Inside Texas Politics. Kennedy asked whether the candidates are educated enough on the threats against the United States.
“The candidates need advice and advisers on this issue," McCaul said. "I’ve been tasked by the Speaker of the House to help lead the national security blueprint for our nominee."
The congressman’s comments come the same week that a convention of powerful public and private leaders gathered in Dallas and pleaded for governments not to overreact to recent terrorism.
A Saudi prince, CEOs of the world's largest airlines, hotel chains and cruise lines quietly met at the Dallas Renaissance Hotel this week for the World Travel and Tourism Council’s annual global summit. It’s only the third time the conference has come to the United States.
“Don’t close borders in response to terrorism”, said David Scowsill, president and CEO of the council. "The combination of global terrorism and an international refugee crisis is creating an unprecedented threat, but closing our borders and jeopardizing our freedom to travel is not the solution. We have to prevent an overreaction from governments.”
When the U.S. tightened entry requirements after the 9/11 attacks, that so-called "lost decade of tourism income" cost the United States some $600 billion, Scowsill said.
The WTTC says governments can improve international intelligence and share it among countries.
McCaul is also pushing for more intelligence sharing and cooperation among the nations of the world..
