Terrorism Peril for Transportation Networks | Review of Afghanistan Evacuation | Deadly Climate Change Lesson, and more

The planned Sept. 18 rally at the Capitol comes as a jittery Washington has seen a series of troubling one-off incidents — including, most recently, a man who parked a pickup truck near the Library of Congress and said he had a bomb and detonator. Among the most concerning events: A series of unexploded pipe bombs placed around the U.S. Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection remain unexplained and no suspect has been charged. monday.com helps teams work more efficiently to execute projects that deliver results on time.

New Terrorism Peril for Transportation Networks  (Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Forbes)
Much of the coverage of America’s exit from Afghanistan has focused on the chaos at the Kabul airport, the vital challenge of getting Americans and Afghans out of the country, and the lives saved. Of longer-term importance is how the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will affect Americans here in the United States. U.S. transportation networks, with their dependence on technology, are particularly vulnerable. Afghanistan now gives terrorists a base to launch coordinated, sophisticated attacks against the United States, as was the case on September 11, 2001. Those attacks and many others targeted transportation systems. America was the victim of coordinated plane attacks on 9/11. When the planes hit the World Trade Center I was in the office of the Director of the National Economic Council in the West Wing of the White House. We were told to leave in case the fourth plane, which passengers took down in Pennsylvania, hit the White House. Throughout the day, the federal government defined the threat as attacks on airliners. Civil aviation in America and around the world was halted for a week. Terrorists have targeted transportation systems in other countries. Spain suffered explosions on four commuter trains on March 11, 2004, killing almost 200 people and injuring another 2,000.

U.S. Spending on the War on Terror: $5.8 Trillion (Costs of War Project, Brown University)
The U.S. will have spent $5.8tn waging war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria by the end of next year, according to updated figures from the Costs of War Project at Brown University. “The figure – which includes interest on debt used to finance the wars – will continue to increase in the decades ahead, with healthcare for veterans projected to hit $2.2tn by 2050,” reports BBC News.

Prosecutors: Jan. 6 Rioters Committed More Than 1,000 Assaults on Police  (Kyle Cheney, Politico)
The new statistic underscores the violence of the attack and the fact that prosecutors are still hunting for dozens, if not hundreds, of suspects.

Industry Lobbies Congress to Extend Notification Timeline after Cybersecurity Incidents  (Maggie Miller, The Hill)
Key industry groups on Wednesday pushed to give organizations at least three days to report cybersecurity incidents to the federal government, effectively opposing Senate legislation that would give them 24 hours to report breaches.
The industry concerns come amid bipartisan efforts in both the House and Senate to put forward legislation attempting to stem the tide of major cybersecurity incidents, such as the SolarWinds hack discovered in December.
The breach of SolarWinds, carried out by Russian government-linked hackers, led to the compromise of nine federal agencies and 100 private sector groups, including cybersecurity group FireEye. The company’s decision to come forward and publicize the incident was not required by law but cited by many officials as a key reason the larger espionage effort was uncovered.

How Congress and NIST Can Help Organizations Better Manage Cyber Risk  (Dan Lips, Lawfare)
The nation’s growing cyber threats require a proactive approach. The Biden administration deserves credit for working to provide clearer guidance to the government’s partners on the front lines of the ongoing global cyber conflict. But the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill should be cautious about pursuing a new regulatory framework, which will likely face significant resistance and, if successful, would probably take years to implement.
Requiring NIST to clarify how organizations should use existing and future cybersecurity guidance would be a timely and overdue action to improve the nation’s cyber defenses that should attract broad support.

Marine Corps Commandant Wants Review of Afghanistan Evacuation  (Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One)
“While it’s relatively fresh in our minds, we need the honest, open critique,” Gen. Berger says.

New York Region’s Historic Floods Send Deadly Climate Change Lesson  (Andrew Freedman, Axios)
The remnants of Hurricane Ida brought a tropical deluge of unprecedented proportions to the New York City metro area on Wednesday night into Thursday.
The flooding that resulted from the heavy rainfall shut down Newark Airport, and turned city and country roads in all five boroughs and surrounding areas of New Jersey and Pennsylvania into rivers.
The historic deluge clearly demonstrates that climate change is winning the battle between a rapidly shifting climate and outdated infrastructure.