The United States is safer from terrorism attacks now than it was at the time of the 9/11 attacks 17 years ago in many respects, but there are some areas in which there is danger and cyber attacks are the country's main threat, former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday.
"I think that our government, particularly our intelligence community, does a better job now than it did 17 years ago of detecting large-scale plots from overseas against the homeland," Johnson told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
However, he said, country is "less safe" when it comes to self-radicalized actors because those are more difficult to detect.
He told the program he watched the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers from his own office window in New York City.
"I was in my private law office on Sept. 11, 2001," said Johnson. "My 44th birthday. I had been in the Pentagon eight months before as general counsel of the Air Force then. Someone said, 'hey, a plane just hit the World Trade Center.' I looked out the window and literally saw the whole thing before my eyes."
As time goes by, Johnson said it is important to keep the memory of 9/11 alive, especially those who died and the heroism that took place.
"It's important to remember not to let our guard down," he said. "What happened on 9/11 was beyond the comprehension of a lot of people . . . we have to prepare for the next terror attack, not necessarily the last one."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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