NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A top NYPD official expressed concerns Wednesday that the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan could provide a breeding ground for terrorists to plot attacks on America, including New York City.
"Anybody in the intelligence business right now here in the United States who doesn't understand we're in a heightened threat position isn't reading the analysis. So that is going to be a concern," John Miller, NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, told "CBS This Morning." "The good news and the bad news is there is a heightened threat, clearly because of this, the risk is that al-Qaeda or ISIS will use either Taliban-controlled spaces or ungoverned spaces to develop sanctuary again, which was what brought us 9/11, but again we're much better at our game than we were on Sept. 10, 2001."
Miller said he is worried about the 20th anniversary of 9/11 next month because it is "a symbolic target."
"New York City is unique in that we live in a 20-year, constant state of high alert," Miller said. "When we come down to our lower alert, that's everybody else's higher alert. We've invested like no other city in terms of 1,500 people who do counterterrorism every single day... there is no city that has the ability to respond to a terrorist attack, an active shooter or some other event whether it's explosives or a ramming attack with that amount of rapidity, talent and experience."
Miller notes that since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the NYPD has prevented 50 plots that either targeted New York City or emanated from the city to target other locations.
"We've got a deep experience here," Miller said.
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