King: 'We Just Have to Never Forget' Islamic Terrorism of 9/11

The former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks should serve as a reminder of the danger of Islamic jihad — “otherwise, we’re gonna relive it again.”

“I think it’s really important — very important that we realize the enemy is still there. In many ways, the enemy is more dangerous than it was on 9/11 because even though Al Qaida’s no longer centralized, it’s now morphed into various different organizations. And it’s constantly focused on how to attack us again. So we can’t let our guard down,” Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said on Fox this morning.

“But also, we have to really thank the police, the firefighters who put their lives on the line that day. Because I think the tone was set in the first hours of 9/11 — really set the tone for the next 12 years of fighting back, of not giving in, of just, you know, refusing to back off in any way.”

Before he was termed out as committee chairman, King held hearings on the radicalization of Muslims in America.

“Now, you know, 99 percent of Muslims in America are outstanding people. But the fact is, almost 100 percent of the terrorists come from that community. And we can’t let our guard down. And we can’t allow political correctors to shape our thinking. We were not attacked by an amorphous group of terrorists. We were attacked by terrorists who were inspired by Islamic jihad. And we just have to never forget that. And, you know, all of us want to love one another, and we, you know, reach out, hands of friendship, which is fine,” he said.

“But we also have to realize there’s a very, very evil enemy there who wants to kill us. And many are overseas. Some are here in this country. And if we let our guard down at all, they are there to take advantage of it, especially being here in New York. We are still, by far, the number one terrorist target in the country, if not the world. There’s been at least 16 attempted attacks against New York. And I can tell you, being on the Intelligence Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, no matter what analysis is done, by far, New York is the number one terror target.”

April 15, though, was a chilling reminder that any significant landmark or event can be a target, he continued.

“And so, we can’t let our guard down. We have to, even with budget cuts and everything else, keep in mind that just because we have not been successfully attacked, even though — obviously were attacked on April 15th in Boston — I remember President Bush telling us two days after 9/11 that we had two things to do in government. One, was to get people living a normal life as quickly as possible. We can’t walk around with our heads down for the rest of our lives,” King said.

“On the other hand, we have to remind people and make sure they never forget that every day for the rest of their lives they could be attacked by Islamic terrorism. And that’s a curious and tough thing to do. Because human nature is once you get back to a normal life, you want to forget the horrors of certain tragedies. But we can’t forget this horror. Otherwise, we’re gonna relive it again.”