Pavlich: Terrorism is always a threat

“There was no credible threat.” 

Those are the words uttered by countless politicians after a number of terror attacks in the United States and Europe. 

{mosads}That’s what we were told Saturday evening by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio after 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami dropped a pressure cooker bomb into a dumpster, wounding 29 innocent people. 

“There was no credible specific threat to New York,” de Blasio said moments before a backpack full of pipe bombs was found in New Jersey. 

This is a false argument and statement. Was there a “credible threat” before the Boston bombing? Before the Orlando nightclub massacre? San Bernardino? Before the Charlie Hebdo, Paris or Nice attacks in France? We were told in the shocked aftermath the answer was no, and yet the attacks were carried out anyway, with countless innocent victims lying in their wake.

Rahami, the Islamic terrorist responsible for the most recent attacks over the weekend, is a native to Afghanistan who regularly visited the country for long periods of time. Authorities believe his radicalization may have occurred on one of those trips. According to his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, Rahami opposed American culture, often complained about homosexuals and refused to pay child support. 

“He would speak often of Western culture and how it was different back home,” she told Fox News.  

We saw a similar situation with Orlando nightclub terrorist Omar Mateen, who had previously been investigated by the FBI and at one point was on the terror watch list. We also know Mateen traveled to Saudi Arabia twice and according to the FBI, “had strong indications of radicalization.” 

San Bernardino terrorists Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were also radicalized overseas. Malik, from Pakistan, arguably came to the U.S. after marrying Farook specifically to carry out an attack. 

Here’s the reality: There is always a credible threat, and terror can strike at any time, anywhere, especially as lone wolf attacks backed up by Islamic ideology become more prevalent. 

According to the FBI, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other terror networks are operating at some level in every state in America. 

“I have homegrown violent extremist investigations in every single state,” FBI Director James Comey said. “We have investigations of people in various stages of radicalizing in all 50 states.” 

 An analysis in The Washington Post shows the FBI has charged 100 individuals with attempting to join or aid ISIS, and 49 of them have been convicted. Hot spots for convictions include New York, the Washington, D.C., area, Minneapolis and Los Angeles. The majority of suspects are Muslim men with an average age of 27. 

The message from ISIS recruiters to potential soldiers living in the U.S. isn’t that they must come to the caliphate in Iraq and Syria, but that they can and should carry out their duties to jihad by attacking where they live. Soft targets like schools, restaurants, nightclubs and malls are suggested for maximum damage, as they likely don’t have heavy security measures in place. 

The question now is, how should Americans prepare for it? Implying Americans should only be concerned over “credible threats” does them a disservice and puts their lives and safety at risk. 

Homeland Security’s “see something, say something” campaign, which was implemented after 9/11, has been a helpful tool in preventing terror attacks for more than a decade, but it needs additional components. 

The federal government has an obligation to come up with a substantial training program for Americans detailing how to handle a variety of terrorist threats, including how to get out of a mall when a terror attack is happening, how to identify a suicide bomber, how to identify nervous behaviors on public transportation or at the airport, how to come up with an exit plan for every room or building someone may enter, how to find cover during an attack and, yes, how to use self-defense in a terror attack situation, including the use of a personal firearm. 

Preparing for attacks at home is part of U.S. history. It was done during WWII and the Cold War to address potential threats from enemies and it should be done now as the enemy we face could be living right down the street.  

We don’t have to learn to live with terror, but we must be prepared and accept the reality it is here. 

Pavlich is editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.