We all remember that fateful day when passenger planes slammed into buildings and open fields claiming the lives of many. For some of us, we’ve lived with the consequences of that day for the better part of 14 years now. We lost loved ones on airplanes and in the buildings, we have seen loved ones go off to war. While some of us were fortunate enough to have our family members and friends return home, a percentage of us have lost even more since that very day. September 11th took us by surprise. But the terrorists as we knew them were over there. The fight was supposed to happen over there in order to prevent infiltration over here in the safe arms of Our America. As I walked into a school today, I couldn’t help to notice the large “Gun Free Zone” poster on the outside fence next to the building entrance. It alarmed me because in truth, those with firearms planning to do some damage to innocents could care less about a sign loudly proclaiming “Gun Free Zone”.

The attack on the Inland Regional Center of San Bernardino happened at a Christmas party for unassuming, developmentally disabled individuals. Like 9/11, it happened at a time and a place and in fashion that no one would have ever expected. Then again, no one ever walks into work, a party, a school, a movie theater (the list goes on) and expects to be a victim of an act of terror. Concert attendees in Paris weeks ago did not know what they were walking into, just as the individuals attending this Christmas party didn’t. While 9/11 wiped out 2,976 lives, there have been 44 attacks by Muslims against Americans (that we know of) since 2001. The attacks have not been 9-11-scale but occurred in more common and intimate settings such as golf courses, restaurants, gas stations, store parking lots, movie theaters, marathons, military recruitment centers and community centers (to name a few). Terrorists in the name of jihad are no longer targeting Naval ships, large government buildings and urban areas; they have moved to the outskirts of town, the suburbs. They have changed their tactics and their landscape.

Dr. Sebastian Gorka and his wife Katharine of the Threat Knowledge Group have formulated the following assessment in regards to the threat if ISIS in The United States. You can read the whole document here. Here are some key findings:

82 individuals in the United States affiliating with ISIS have been interdicted by law enforcement since March 2014 (including 7 unnamed minors and 4 killed in the course of attacks).

More than 250 individuals from the United States have joined or attempted to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq according to the Final Report of the Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel published by the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee in September 2015.

The FBI currently has nearly 1,000 ongoing ISIS probes in the United States, according to a recent report by Judicial Watch.

ISIS is recruiting within the U.S. at about three-times the rate of Al Qaeda.

Ali Shukri Amin, a 17 year-old Islamic State (IS) supporter from Manassas, Virginia, recently sentenced to 11 years in prison for conspiring to provide support to ISIS, had nearly 4,000 Twitter followers, under the alias, ‘Amreeki Witness.’

Ahmad Musa Jibril, an Arab-American Islamist preacher living in Dearborn, Michigan, had 38,000 Twitter followers before his site went silent. A report by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) found that 60% of surveyed foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria followed Jibril on Twitter.

The analysis states that one third of the domestic ISIS cases in the past 18 months involved individuals who planned to carry out attacks against Americans on U.S. soil. Interestingly, in conclusion, the Gorkas projected this outlook for the United States with regard to ISIS attacks after the events in Paris:

The United States can expect difficult times ahead, with more domestic attacks or attempted attacks likely. Based on the evidence available, the number of ISIS supporters
in the United States measures in the thousands, rather than hundreds. Whether ISIS will launch an attack on the scale of the Paris attack is unknown, but it is clear that the United States is a primary target for ISIS and that ISIS has the necessary supporters in place and the financial means to carry out such an attack. The challenges of screening incoming refugees may further exacerbate the problem.

In summation, we’re looking at smaller, more frequent attacks in public areas. These types of attacks have been happening in Israel for years. Unlike al-Queda in 2001, ISIS has other tools that make them 300% more effective in recruiting than al-Queda. They have money-and lots of it. They have influence and are appealing to the younger generations through Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms as well as using strong peer-to-peer recruiting tactics. The larger recruiting pool through global social networking lends itself to more able-bodied radicals abroad and in The United States. These younger generations become more radicalized, more dangerous and smarter. Syed Rizwan Farook was an American citizen, who if lived, would have impressed his beliefs upon his daughter-passing an ideology on. Does the fact that he was an American citizen change the perspective that this attack was an act of terrorism? In some media circles, apparently it does but not ours. It’s not “workplace violence”, it’s not “mental illness”. This is not about guns, religious bigotry or racial profiling of Muslim-Americans. This is not about refugees. For once, let’s just call it what it is. THIS is what a terrorist attacks look like in 2015. THIS is what we can expect more of in 2016 if we keep saying things like “motives are unclear”. While the mission (terror, killing, jihad) remains the same, the players and the venues have changed. The landscape has changed. Yes, the CLIMATE has changed. Let’s cut through the smog already.

Update: the picture originally posted has been deleted, as it depicted the suspect’s brother, Syed Raheel Farook. We regret the error.