The Flydubai hijacking was a joint Al-Qaeda and IRGC terrorist plot that failed due to heroes among us. We will be patient as investigators and the public connect the dots, but here is what they have told the public SO FAR. The attempt on September 30th should never have gotten this far. The co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, who spent time in Syria, as his mother is Syrian, had previously been removed from flying duties at Oman Air after concerns about extremist material. He was subsequently hired by Flydubai. He also filmed Israeli aircraft at Dubai International Airport days after October 7th and posted cockpit footage featuring images of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri and Humam al-Balawi, the suicide bomber who killed my CIA brothers and sisters in Khost in 2009. Do not make the mistake of treating this as a single aviation security failure, as the broader threat picture has yet to be revealed. The captain and passengers did more than was ever expected of them. Their actions helped save everyone aboard. Now the intelligence and security services need to do their damn jobs, explain how they failed to prevent this in the first place, and determine whether the same warning signs are sitting in other files right now. The question is not only what we missed. It is what we are still missing, and who is next if they fail to find it.

Not term limits. A required retirement age. If my candidate is young enough to do another term and is the best person for the job but can't because of term limits that's not right.