Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands all made arrests this week related to Hamas activities in their countries. There are no links between the groups taking action in a coordinated manner, but that's the most troubling part of all. A single coordinated plan across multiple countries points back to a single source and planner.

Multiple Hamas groups operating towards discrete goals are a wholly different threat. It suggests a much larger group that is far more entrenched in cells worldwide. The world is staring down the thread of a decentralized Hamas aiming at soft targets at will.

Left-wing outlets have suggested that the idea of Hamas sleep cells moving abroad is a conspiracy theory, especially when you point out the southern border is a potential vector of entry. Yet, it's the Biden administration's FBI that is warning Congress and Americans that the threat of radical terrorist groups either directed by or inspired by Hamas is at an all-time high. In testimony before Congress, the FBI described it as "blinking lights everywhere," referring to warning lights for terrorist activity.

The FBI also warns that the United States is vulnerable to a catastrophic attack. It's not fear-mongering to point out the obvious for everyone to see: the threat of Hamas, or Hamas-inspired attacks, is real. Seeing the events of October 7 in Israel is a reminder that national security is a legitimate concern.

Looking at potential threat vectors in the United States is not a conspiracy theory. If anything, it's the only sane option on the list of possibilities. Sitting around screaming conspiracy theories at real issues is the definition of stupidity.

To wit, The New York Times reports, "An increasing number of migrants arrested at the southern border over the past year are on the United States' terrorist watch list, according to government data. From October last year to this September, officials at the southern border arrested 169 people whose names matched those on the watch list, compared with 98 during the previous fiscal year and 15 in 2021, according to government data."

The counter-argument to this data is that those are "minuscule" numbers compared to the overall migrant flows at the border. That's true. A figure like 169 people is a drop in the bucket to the millions caught or never seen at the border. But these are just the people we know, and that's still a lot of people from the terrorist watch list.

And on that, the number of people on that list is growing, too. CBS News reports, "When it first launched on December 1, 2003, the consolidated watchlist — now known as the Terrorist Screening Dataset — included approximately 120,000 people. By 2017, the last publicly confirmed numbers, it included nearly 10 times as many: 1,160,000 individuals. Now, at the end of 2023, the Terrorist Screening Dataset contains the names of approximately 2 million people the government considers known or suspected terrorists."

It's no wonder why Senators and Representatives in Congress are issuing similar warnings about security issues. Even beyond Hamas, the threats from other terrorist groups and cartels are enormous. Focusing only on the pure numbers of the threat forces us to examine our national security at the southern border and elsewhere.

The threat is real, not an imagined conspiracy theory. And all we have to do is look at the arrests in Europe as an example. Or look at the arrests made earlier this month in Las Vegas. Police there arrested a teenager who "promised 'lone wolf operations in Las Vegas' in support of ISIS before his alleged terror plot was foiled."

The October 7, 2023, events seem remote and distant to most Americans. But the reality of them is much closer to home. We've seen the marches in our cities from people who favor killing Jews. And we're seeing actual threats at the border or being arrested by police in foiled terrorist attempts.

The threat is real, and so should be our response. Congress is in the middle of debating immigration and border security. Streamlining the immigration process is a vital issue. But security cannot be forgotten. The numbers and arrests tell us a severe problem is developing, and we need to work on ways of keeping the country secure.

Sleeper cells, lone wolves, and planned attacks are all things to consider. The screeching of "conspiracy theories" from the left is getting old. We witnessed the events of October 7 unfold in real-time. We're seeing arrests and border stopping happen in real-time, too.

National security is one of those things where it doesn't care whether or not you make it a top issue or not. Sooner or later, it will force you to take notice of a tragic event, and by that point, it's too late.