When assessing causes and consequences of Thursday’s Kabul attack that early reports said cost the lives of at least 13 of our servicemen and injured another 18 or so — among many others, the “powers that be” must consider what could be follow-on terrorist threats, including to the U.S. homeland.

When contemplating such weighty matters associated with what has been called the Afghanistan debacle, one should not exclude the possibilities of a family of terrorists that have been allied with operations in Afghanistan including with the Taliban — an alliance that will undoubtedly grow. And reportedly our leaders allegedly have been working with the Taliban, including sharing with the Taliban what might logically be considered to be important intelligence information.

Very unsettling, to say the least. After all, Afghanistan was home to the fermenting of al Qaeda that planned and executed the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States that cost the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans, almost 20 years ago.

And Osama bin Laden, who led the planning for that attack over a period of decades, was killed on May 2, 2011 by Navy Seals in an attack on a heavily protected Abbottabad fortress-like compound, only one hundred yards from Pakistan’s Kakul Military Academy — an army-run academy for training top army officers.

Nellie Lahoud’s recent Foreign Affairs analysis of bin Laden’s extensive files retrieved from that attack revealed his long-range plan that was intended to undermine the current world-order of nation states and create a worldwide Islamic community of Muslims, held together by a common political authority.

And bin Laden’s objective raises a continuing concern — e.g., Pakistan has dozens of nuclear weapons.

So what is the tie between Pakistan and the Taliban — and Afghanistan?

And what about Iran that has long aspired to become a nuclear power, as is a growing concern of Israel, as reportedly being only two months away from producing the materials for nuclear weapons?

Israel reportedly was to urge President Biden on Thursday not to reinstate the terrible Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), abandoned by President Trump in 2018 —  not sure what happened given the Kabul Attack that has dominated the news.

In any case, the Israeli chief of staff has indicated that Israel is accelerating military plans against Iran. While these concerns and initiatives are valid, they may be a bit late — and not only for Israel.\

Remember that Iran cooperated with North Korea in its nuclear development programs — and North Korea has over a hundred nuclear weapons. Has Iran bought one or more of North Korea’s nuclear weapons?

Moreover, on March 19, 2021, I joined several colleagues in updating our February 12, 2016 article that then observed our planners were underestimating the threat from North Korea and Iran. In particular, we urged that they assume Iran already had a few nuclear weapons.

I still believe that to be prudent policy, since Iran could detonate nuclear weapons on Iranian satellites like those that today overfly the United States a few times every day — the resulting electromagnetic pulse (EMP) could shut down our unprotected electric power grid for an indefinite period

Most Americans would perish within a year due to starvation, disease and societal collapse, as noted by the EMP Commission.

By the way, Russia and China both work with Iran and North Korea — and all four include such an EMP attack in their military doctrine as the most horrific cyberattack strategy.

As I have argued in several recent Newsmax articles, we would be wise to protect the electric grid with a minor investment as compared to the trillions congress is now negotiating to fund so-called Infrastructure.

So, when, oh when, will we wake up, America?