Despite sustaining hard blows over the past decade, core al Qaeda-related groups are getting stronger in the Middle East and the United States can’t ignore the continuing threat of terrorism, members of the former 9/11 Commission say in a new report issued on Tuesday.

“The struggle against terrorism is far from over—rather, it has entered a new and dangerous phase,” says the report, Reflections on the Tenth Anniversary of the 9/11 Commission Report.

The new phase is exemplified by two developments in the Middle East, one being the recent success of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) taking over parts of Syria and Iraq and the other advances by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in its bomb making skills, which has led to several attempts on U.S. aviation targets, the report says.

Former 9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean, left, and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton. Photo: Bipartisan Policy Center
Former 9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean, left, and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton. Photo: Bipartisan Policy Center

Citing the 10-year old 9/11 Commission Report, which warned that if Iraq fails as a state, it will lead the list of places where terrorist threats against the United States emanate.

“That nightmare scenario may now be coming to pass,” says the new study, highlighting the progress by ISIS.  It adds that while “previous al Qaeda spinoffs are primarily focused on regional conflicts, they hate the United States and will not forego opportunities to strike at the U.S. homeland.”

The new report was sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center and was once again led by the former heads of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean (R) and Lee Hamilton (D). Research for the report included interviews with current and former senior counter-terrorism and national security officials.

The overall lessons discussed in the report aren’t new and essentially sum up much of what has been discussed in the past several years. It says that foreign fighters from Europe and the United States that have entered Syria to fight with extremist groups pose a terrorist threat to the United States and Europe when they return.

The report also says that security against cyber threats is lagging “far behind,” adding that just as America didn’t understand the nature of the terrorist threat prior to 9/11, “History may be repeating itself in the cyber realm.” It cites senior national security leaders concerned about the “intensifying” cyber attacks in the private and public sectors and warns that “The Internet’s vulnerabilities are outpacing the nation’s ability to secure it.”

Along these lines, the report says that Americans are fatigued with having to deal with terrorism and believe “we can begin turning back to other concerns.” But the report says this thinking is “wrong,” and that “The threat remains grave, and the trend lines in many parts of the world are pointing in the wrong direction.”

Just as they did 10 years ago, the former 9/11 commissioners knock Congress for its fragmented oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), noting that “incredibly,” 92 committees and subcommittees now have responsibility for the department versus 88 in 2004. It also hits Congress for maintaining fragmented “control over the intelligence budget.”

“Congress has passed numerous laws requiring executive branch agencies to implement far-reaching reforms, yet it has stubbornly refused to change its duplicative and wasteful oversight system.”

The report makes a number of recommendations in various areas. Among these are the need for national security leaders to outline the threat to the American public, what needs to be done to counter the threat and how civil liberties are being protected. It also says that if the Obama administration needs new legal authorities to confront ISIS, this has to be explained.

Regarding congressional oversight of DHS, the House and Senate each should have just one authorizing committee.

The report also recommends that Congress have a single appropriations bill for the nation’s intelligence program, adding that spending should be routed through the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). It also recommends that the DNI coordinate, not replicate, the work of the intelligence community, and pursue interagency information sharing and not be another “layer of bureaucracy on top of existing activities.”

In the cyber realm, the report again calls on Congress to pass legislation that enables the private sector to share information with the government while giving companies liability protections. It also calls for the government to explain to the public the “severity” of the cyber threat and what businesses and citizens should be doing to protect themselves.

Other cyber security recommendations call for boosting deterrence against cyber attacks, adding that the consequences of an attack should be communicated to state adversaries. The report also says that the cyber roles of federal agencies need to be clarified and that “DHS and other domestic agencies need to complement, rather than attempt to replicate, the technical capabilities of the NSA.”