In any terrorist attack, it takes time to gather details about who was involved and who the victims were. However, in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, it was clear that the FBI failed to prevent a Muslim named Shamsud-Din Jabbar from committing an act of vehicular jihad, resulting in at least 14 innocent deaths and many injuries. The FBI acted quickly to downplay the incident, with local officials confirming it as a terrorist attack while the FBI dismissed it.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar was seen waving an Islamic State flag, which the FBI acknowledged but said there was no evidence linking him directly to the group. ISIS has previously called for attacks against "disbelievers" in various forms, which made the FBI's stance questionable. The FBI has a history of failing to prevent significant terrorist attacks, including the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The FBI was also aware of U. S. Army major Nidal Hasan’s communications with al-Qaeda but did not act, resulting in Hasan killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. Similarly, the FBI ignored warnings about the Tsarnaev brothers before the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 and failed to stop the San Bernardino attack in 2015, where 14 people were killed.
In 2016, Omar Mateen, after being interviewed by the FBI, killed 49 people in the Pulse nightclub shooting. In contrast, local police managed to stop Jabbar in New Orleans, but the FBI labeled him a “lone wolf” with no outside help. The FBI informed President Biden that Jabbar was a U. S. Army veteran inspired by ISIS, yet Biden did not address the identity of the victims or condemn the attack publicly.
The confirmed victims ranged in age from 18 to 63, and there has been no acknowledgment from Biden about their identities. The FBI is perceived to fail in protecting Americans from terrorism while focusing on unrelated issues, leading to criticism that the agency has transformed under Biden's leadership. Kash Patel, appointed by President Trump, will have challenges ahead as public scrutiny grows.
No comments:
Post a Comment