His unorthodox answer: "…almost no terrorists exist in the United States and few have the means or the inclination to strike from abroad."
Many other answers to this question have been posed, as Mueller points out. Among them:
- Protective measures established after 9/11 have prevented an attack. Mueller reminds that there were no attacks in the five years before the 2001 attacks either, when there was no Homeland Security Department (nor, lexigraphically anyway, even a Homeland).
- Tougher immigration standards have kept terrorists out of the country. Mueller's response: that there are about 300 million legal entries into the U.S. every year, and from 1,000 to 4,000 illegal ones daily.
- Al Qaeda hasn't struck because the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan destroyed Al Qaeda's capabilities. What then, Mueller asks rhetorically, of the ability of Al Qaeda members to strike in Madrid in 2004?
- Al Qaeda and its sympathizers are busy attacking the U.S. in Iraq, so they don't have to fight us here. There have, however, been attacks in places other than the United States, not only Spain but Egypt, Jordan, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
- Moreover, of the thousands and thousands of Arabs and Muslims and others who have been interviewed, registered, surveilled or imprisoned (Mueller says there are 5,000 foreign nationals in U.S. prisons), barely a handful have been found worthy of prosecution or conviction on terrorism grounds, or even much interest.
The growth of jihadist sympathies can endanger global security. But panic about their imminent danger on U.S. soil both simplifies and obscures the nature of the threat, making it impossible to understand, evaluate or create constructive policies and strategies.