Adfero Group HSPI

Investing in guns, guards, and gates is always nice because it helps mitigate the vulnerabilities that terrorists, vandals, or drunken idiots might intentionally or unintentionally exploit. You know, little things like poisoning the water supply or blowing up hazardous chemicals is basically the stuff that can kill or sicken the masses or shutdown communities.

As some of you know, former DHS colleague Michael Petrucelli and his family suffered a devastating tragedy this week when the Petrucelli home caught fire. Michael has been released from the hospital but his triplets are still in ICU. A website has been set up to coordinate donations to help the family during their time in need.

Congressional Research Service: “Ocean Piracy and Its Impact on Insurance” December 3, 2008 Summary Many Members of Congress are concerned about the sharp rise in pirate attacks in the strategic waterways in the Gulf of Aden off the East coast of Africa. The hijacking of a Saudi Arabiaowned oil tanker, Sirius Star, off the coast [...]

The violence in Mexico, as difficult as it may be to comprehend at this point, is a product of President Calderon’s successful national security policies, and the success of his security forces. The Mexican drug cartels were on the verge of becoming more powerful than the government itself. Mexico, if it aggressively and relentlessly presses the attack against the cartels, will ultimately experience a level of peace that Colombia is experiencing today.

There has been quite a bit of news and public commentary and reaction to the just released report by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Read the report for yourself.

Since its inception DHS has provided over $3billion of grant funding to secure the nation’s infrastructure and transportation systems. The vast majority of this funding has been provided to state and local governments for first responders, technologies to improve law enforcement capabilities, secure transportation systems, implement buffer zone protection plans, and to enable state and local governments to secure our nation. However, after all the billions of dollars invested so far, how are we doing?

Security Debrief has learned that former DHS colleague Michael Petrucelli and his family have suffered a tragedy last night. The Petrucelli family home caught on fire, with their two-year-old triplets inside. The children are in critical condition at the hospital.

From an operational perspective, the Mumbai terrorists’ tactics were not new or novel. The planning and preparation was thorough. The frontal assault and attacks – hit-and-runs and seize-and-holds – were directed at soft targets to maximize casualties. While some attention has been paid to the amphibious mode of infiltration, we know now that U.S. signals intelligence was passed to Indian intelligence warning of a potential soft target attack via a maritime route.

Security Debrief contributor and Catalyst Partners Principal Rich Cooper will participate as a panelist at the Heritage Foundation’s forum titled, “In or Out: Why FEMA Should Remain under DHS Leadership.” The discussion will focus on some of the reasons FEMA should continue to be a part of the Department of Homeland Security, despite recent calls for its removal. Specifically, the panelists will examine FEMA’s recent work in response to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, as well as the Midwest floods.

Today’s New York Times features a letter to editor from the US Senate’s Homeland Security Dynamic Duo, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) responding to the New York Times November 24th editorial calling for the removal of FEMA from DHS. As the Chair and Ranking Member of the US Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs the two have formed one of the most productive and cooperative relationships in Congress.

The governor’s resume and achievements are nothing short of impressive. She should use her credibility and standing to (1) resist reorganizing DHS simply to make a statement and (2) demand that Congress address the jumble of 80-plus oversight committees.

With the nomination of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as the next DHS Secretary now official, I decided to put together another posting about prospective candidates for the ‘other tough jobs’ at DHS and who might be good choices to fill them. While the Secretary may lead the Department of 200,000+ on a daily basis and be the voice and face for leading and communicating major events and threats whenever and wherever they occur, they can not do the job alone. Besides the immediate support staff and advisors that circle the Secretary, there are other senior leaders that the Secretary and the Nation will look to for leadership and action in a number of critical areas.

Under normal circumstances, the recently published screed from a group calling itself “Friends of the Border Patrol” would not merit a comment. The so-called report entitled, “Unjustifiable and Impeachable” in print form would, at best, be good as a fire starter to ward off the chill of an early winter. It is seemingly written with an incendiary purpose, and if it had any credibility whatsoever, the flames might just attract a few journalistic “moths” or even congressional investigators. Rightly, it has largely been ignored.

Asymmetric warfare is here to stay. Coping with the strength of an adversary by thinking laterally is nothing new, nor is being willing to embrace conduct that one’s adversary believes immoral to achieve one’s goals; indeed this approach has been glorified by Hollywood in retellings of the American Revolution – asymmetric warfare is nothing new. The trick is to understand it as a risk to be managed, not an emotive subject. There is only a limited budget for addressing the risk of terrorism in the US; we must think of it as a criminal risk in the context of the threat and desired effect, not as an emotive subject, a demon somehow separated from normal crime because it suits internal bureaucratic politics to do so.