Dr. Colin H. Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the terror group could "generate that capability in somewhere between six or 12 months, according to current assessments by the intelligence committee."
Al Qaeda's timeline for when they could be able to propel an outer attack is about twice as long, Kahl explained.
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"And for al Qaeda, it would take a year or two to reconstitute that capability," he said. "We have to remain vigilant against that possibility." He noted that intelligence officials are "fairly certain that they have the intention" to move forward in this path.
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"I think the intelligence community currently assesses that both ISIS-K and al Qaeda have the intent to conduct external operations, including against the United States. But neither currently has the capability to do so," Kahl said. "We could see ISIS-K generate that capability in somewhere between six or 12 months. I think the current assessment by the intelligence community is that al Qaeda would take a year or two to reconstitute that capability."
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Kahl is the newest intelligence and military official to give insight into the possible emergence of Afghan terror threats following the Taliban's rise to power, and the U.S. military's departure from the country. Many of these evaluations show a timeline of about a year.
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Lt. Gen. James Mingus, who also testified at the hearing, agreed with Kahl. The two men faced questions related to security in Afghanistan.
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This confirmed what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the committee about a potential surge in international terror despite al Qaeda and other groups being weakened in the 20 years since the U.S. first went into Afghanistan.
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Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, later asked Kahl how the U.S. would know if ISIS-K or al Qaeda plans to attack, should they develop the capability to do so. Kahl did not mince words with his response.
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"It's a real possibility that in the not too distant future, 6, 23, 28, 24, 36 months, that kind of time frame, for reconstitution of al Qaeda or ISIS," Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a hearing on Capitol Hill last month. This is related to the timelines suggested by Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Deputy CIA Director David Cohen, which were discussed weeks earlier.
Despite the alleged intentions of the terror organizations, Kahl explained that the prospect of an attack on U.S. soil "is at its lowest point since Sept. 11, 2001.″
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