Surprise Attacks Shouldn’t Repeat
The element of surprise often plays a role in attacks like the New Year’s Day incident in New Orleans and the explosion near a Trump-owned hotel in Las Vegas, but once such an event occurs, it should not happen again, Rep. Jack Bergman said on Newsmax Saturday.
“You should only be surprised once, no matter what the situation is security-wise, especially whether it’s a place like New Orleans or a place like Las Vegas, any office building, whatever it happens to be, go back to Oklahoma City a long time ago,” said Bergman, a retired three-star U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general, during an appearance on Newsmax’s “Saturday Report.”
“Bad things happen,” he continued, “because in a very small percentage of the cases, the perpetrators are doing something that hasn’t been done before.”
However, Bergman argued that bureaucracies such as the FBI are falling behind by continuing to rely on outdated methods.
“The internet has been around a long time, decades, and that’s what the bad guys have used to train, recruit operationally,” he said, referring to extremist organizations and small groups that exploit online platforms.
He also pointed to the long-term influence of social media, stating, “I think what we’re seeing now [is] the longer-term effect of social media and how that is affecting men and women who could be at risk for whatever reason, mentally.”
Bergman stressed the importance of ensuring that law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, as well as the military, remain fully aware of the evolving digital tools used by those who seek to create chaos.
Another issue, he noted, is that some young people lack proper guidance and a strong moral foundation, making them vulnerable to extremist recruitment.
“You’ve got a target group that these terrorist groups feel comfortable with sometimes,” he said. “They’re grooming these types of people to take action on their own and claim victory in a jihad kind of situation.”
Bergman also criticized the security measures in New Orleans, saying the city made a “huge mistake” by failing to install barriers on Bourbon Street, which allowed the attacker to drive into a crowd.
“When I was in command of the Marine Corps Reserve, I saw New Orleans at its best and at its worst, and its worst was right after Katrina in 2005 when the city fell apart,” he said. “But everybody came together to bring it back together, and it’s been a success story, but they have not continued to utilize the security procedures necessary in the coordination.”
Both suspects involved in Wednesday’s incidents had military backgrounds, but Bergman pointed out that the military has no oversight of individuals once they leave active or reserve service.
“That’s where the coordination amongst the FBI and all the other law enforcement agencies is going to be so important going forward that we have the ability to look into a person’s emails, look into social media to see,” Bergman said. “That’s where I believe at the federal government level, the federal government has to be a coordinated bureaucracy … remember, only about 10% of our population has ever worn a uniform of any kind, whether they’re currently wearing it or wore it in the past.”