McMaster, the former national security advisor to President Donald Trump, has recently raised concern that there will likely be another terrorist attack in the near future. He maintains that the event will rival 9/11 in its scope. H.R McMaster contends that the ongoing peace talking with Afghanistan will end in “failure” thus threatening the United States and leading to “very high” probability of a terrorist attack.

          McMaster points out that at the moment the United States is far more susceptible to a terrorist attack than it was on September 10th 2001. McMaster, a former army General, spoke to the different reasons why the US is at risk. Among the factors is the increased politization of the military and the polarization of the government and two party system.

          In a statement McMaster pointed out that “we’re creating this destructive cycle and these centripetal forces that are pulling us apart from each other… we’re forgetting who we are as Americans.”

          McMaster then circled back to the issue of Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism. He believes that the United States is treating the Taliban like an organization that can be compromised with, when in actuality this is far from the truth. McMaster contends that “we’ve created this idea that the Taliban can be partners for peace when in fact, they’re determined to establish an Islamic caliphate in Afghanistan and to use that Islamic caliphate as a base for expansion.”

          He continued to question the peace talks, raising the question of what a peace agreement would look like: “what does power sharing with the Taliban look like… every other girls’ school bulldozed? Or does it look like mass executions in the soccer stadium every other Sunday.”

          McMaster raises a valid point; how can the United States attempt to make peace with a terrorist group?

          In an essence, the concerns and claims McMaster presents are valid. They’re also indicative of a loss of cooperation within the two-party system, and an overall disillusionment of what the United States does abroad. While the threat of a terror attack is incredibly frightening, it is ultimately something that can be mitigated or avoided all together if a more concerted effort is taken. McMaster ended his talks by maintaining the importance of taking action: “if you don’t address a problem overseas and contain it, once it reaches our shores, the cost can be very difficult to bear.”