Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin Reports More US Troops Now Inside DC Than Deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan Combined: ‘Looks Like the Green Zone in Baghdad’

Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin put the unprecedented state of American politics into a startling data point during a Wednesday report from the nation’s capital, noting that there are now more U.S. troops inside Washington, D.C. than there are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Speaking with Your World host Neil Cavuto, Griffin showed footage of the now thousands of National Guard troops, from the District of Columbia as well as nearby states Maryland and Virginia, that are now setting up perimeters around the Capitol, in response to last week’s unprecedented pro-Trump mob attack.

“What a difference a week makes,” Griffin said to Cavuto, before adding some chilling details. “We’ve seen dozens of platoons of National Guard walking the perimeter here. Some armed with M-4 rifles. They’ve been briefed that there could be vehicle-born IEDs, truck bombs, brought in to the Capitol in the coming days to disrupt the inauguration events. They’re being given the same briefs as if they went to a war zone. There’s more National Guard troops on Capitol Hill than there are in either Iraq or Afghanistan.”

According to the Pentagon, U.S. military troop levels will hit 2,500 each in those two countries as of this Friday. The latest estimate has at least 6,000 National Guard soldiers stationed in and around the Capitol, with as many as 14,000 on alert to be called up in case more violent unrest occurs in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next Wednesday.

“Things are very tense in the city,” Griffin said, before explaining the extensive security measures being put in place to prevent a repeat of the far right lawlessness and violence. “The threat level is very high according to the D.C. police chief and the attorney general and FBI alerts. That’s why you’re seeing the Capitol Police asking for reinforcements and you see all of these National Guard troops inside the Capitol. We saw some sleeping with their rifles. They won’t be sleeping in the Capitol. They’ll be staying in lodging nearby. They are on alert. There’s barbed wire going up, 12,000 feet of fence have been put up around the Capitol Hill complex in anticipation of the inauguration. There are road blocks across the city with more to come. Tunnels and bridges will be shut down in the coming days.”

Cavuto then noted that at least one member of Congress, GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, has said she will not be attending the inauguration out of fear for her and her family’s physical safety.

“The Capitol will be secure,” Griffin reassured him. “There will be a massive federal law enforcement and National Guard presence in the Capitol. But the threat, according to the FBI, is also on the 50 state capitols. There are armed protesters threatening those state capitols. So they will need National Guard, they will need law enforcement to protect them. Again, this is a very hardened target at this point. It looks like the Green Zone in Baghdad, it does not look like the U.S. Capitol.”

Watch the video above, via Fox News.