Adfero Group HSPI

AP and other media outlets reported today that Anwar al Awlaki, the recruiter, trainer and public face of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was killed in an airstrike in Yemen. Awlaki was an American, and while his treason was unforgivable, we must not ignore the tragedy of his life. Sometimes it seems even when we win, we lose.

By Rob Strayer
The headline this morning is that Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by a drone strike in Yemen. He was not the symbolic leader for the al Qaeda movement that Osama bin Laden was, nor was he responsible for orchestrating the deaths of thousands, but in recent years, he played a more significant operational role than bin Laden. At this time, there are several open questions, some of which may be answered in the coming days and weeks.

Historically, Hamas has limited its operational focus to Israel, with almost all of its attacks occurring within the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel proper. Although many non-Israelis have been killed in such attacks, most of them were unintended victims of inherently indiscriminate terrorist tactics. Recently, however, Hamas has expanded its area of operations. Information released by Israeli and American authorities suggests that the group has now extended its logistical efforts and even certain planning and operational activities as far afield as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and China.

When the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began using full-body scanners in airports, the now-iconic “naked” images spurred a public debate over privacy and security. As a result, TSA has started implementing new software in its Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines, removing anatomical detail and automatically targeting concealed objects on a generic outline. This technology will have at least two notable ramifications: airport security infrastructure footprint should shrink and the debate over full body scanners will shift away from privacy concerns.

Though the near-insolvency of FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is top news today, the situation should hardly come as a surprise. For the past several months, NPR has been following the looming crisis, and I’ve been commenting along the way. The challenge that now confronts FEMA isn’t something that Administrator Fugate can fix: either he provides funding to disaster victims (and in doing so, violates federal law) or he watches those in need go without the assistance they require.

Homeland security is a group effort, and immigration enforcement is a critical component. In working to keep terrorists and other criminals out of the United States, however, we must ensure that our immigration laws facilitate the arrival of hard-working people seeking a better, freer life. As a part of this ongoing dialogue about America’s immigration laws, on Wednesday, September 28, the National Chamber Foundation will host a half-day Business Horizon Series symposium, “Immigration & American Competitiveness: The Challenge Ahead,” featuring a keynote address from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

A lot of factors can lay claim to being a “key” to cybersecurity. I would offer another: agility. Presently, agility is the best friend of the Bad Guys. On the defensive side, we labor under a great disadvantage. Development of defensive means is slow and reactive; we have to follow strict rules for commercial deployment of products, and beyond the technical procedures, we have huge hurdles on the legal, policy and regulatory sides. In short, the good guys are anything BUT agile.

On Friday, September 23, 2011, for an HSPI Ambassadors Roundtable event, Lieutenant General Walter Semianiw, Commander, Canada Command, will share his unique perspective.

When the Aspen Institute does something, they do it exceptionally well. Last week, they announced the formal establishment of the Aspen Homeland Security Group, a reason for optimism about thinking and scholarship on homeland issues. Their membership is literally a “who’s who” on homeland issues. It was mentioned that this group would be available to DHS Secretary Napolitano and her successors to obtain strategic counsel on a range of matters. She certainly could not have asked for a better “kitchen cabinet” of people to talk to or meet with and that unfortunately is where there is a problem.

With cameras rolling, lights blaring and an intent audience before me, I took to the stage at FEMA’s National Recovery and Resiliency Exercise Conference last Wednesday, ready to rock that crowd. That is until an ordinary-looking 23-year-old guy named Dakota Meyer grabbed the microphone and shook me (and everyone else in the room) to my core. This Mr. “Ordinary” is a decent-looking blond dude, but like each of us, it’s what he’s got on the inside that makes his story exceptional. He drove into battle to save his fellow soldiers, saving lives and winning the Medal of Honor in the process.

DHS Secretary Napolitano visits UW–Madison; launches new web site for international students and exchange visitors Today, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano deliver remarks at UW–Madison highlighting innovative ways to encourage the best and brightest international students and scholars to study and remain in the U.S. and launched a new government website (studyinthestates.dhs.gov) [...]

DHS is by no means perfect. However, its organizational promise – that concentrating large operational agencies under one roof would improve security – has been met at the border. The DHS border screening model – identifying bad guys around the world, finding out in advance who is traveling, and making sure that the bad guys cannot pretend to be someone else – also applies to aviation security, though it has not been used much at airports. We’ve run out of ways to check all passengers for weapons, and everyone—including TSA—agrees that new approaches are needed.

An al Qaeda-affiliated organization based in North Waziristan is now in the spotlight and crosshairs: the Haqqani Network. Yesterday evening, Defense Secretary Panetta and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker tagged the Haqqani Network with responsibility for this week’s attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, as well as a September 10 truck-bomb attack on a U.S. base there that injured 77 Americans. With the benefit of a safe haven in Pakistan in areas bordering Afghanistan, and a continuing relationship with Pakistan’s intelligence agency (ISI), the Haqqani network thrives and threatens the region as well as U.S. national security. The situation is, as Secretary Panetta stated categorically, “unacceptable.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) released their joint investigative report on the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico waters off Louisiana. There are a multitude of regulatory recommendations but two key lessons: 1) NEVER skip established safety routines and protocols, and 2) ALWAYS address risk into your decision-making.

Again the other day, another of our government cyber leaders delivered the usual canned speech about how we must increase our defenses – read expand budgets/personnel – to defend ourselves against an “electronic Pearl Harbor.” And so, once again, the muscles in the back of my neck begin to stiffen wondering when they are going to stop saying this and if, some day, they will arrive in the 21st century. Cyber attacks – they are not wars – are not about total destruction but death by a thousand cuts.

International air carriers break U.S. federal law every day. Any cargo flown on a passenger plane in U.S. airspace (whether of domestic or foreign origin) must be screened for explosives. Yet, despite the law, some cargo flown into the United States does not meet the “100 percent” standard. To satisfy the cargo screening mandate, TSA has reinterpreted the law in an attempt to achieve 100 percent screening without physically screening all international cargo on passenger planes.

By Chris Wiesinger
Recently, CSC joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in one of the first of what promised to be a full season of 10 years after 9/11 retrospectives. The over-arching theme of remarks centered on and around a recognition of the importance of effective public-private partnerships in countering an evolving threat that has no physical, political, bureaucratic, or corporate boundaries. Today, we recognize that the only way to respond effectively to this difficult threat environment is through active, consensual collaboration between government, the private sector and citizens.

Some fifteen years after Congress first mandated the creation of an “entry-exit” system for foreign visitors, the government has finally come up with an effective solution. DHS told Congress yesterday that the administration had developed an “enhanced biographic” system that will go a long way to tackling the problem of visitors who overstay visas. The issue now is whether Congress will embrace a sensible approach or continue to insist on the utopian solution of a perfect biometric system.

A continuing (and welcomed) theme of some DHS presentations has been the importance of maintaining a dialogue with all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stakeholders, including the private sector. While the messages have been well received in the audiences where I was privileged to sit, unfortunately, those messages do not seem fully to have permeated DHS – yet. My specific concern is triggered by an event labeled as a Biowatch Gen3 Industry Day held by the Office of Health Affairs on Monday, September 12, 2011. Unlike other DHS Industry Day sessions, which have been substantively informative, procedurally interactive and programatically insightful, this event was a complete waste of time for almost everyone there.

The world has faced tragic events of late: the Japanese earthquake and tsunami; the tragic bombing and shooting in Oslo, Norway; and post-Hurricane Irene floods along the U.S. East Coast. With these and other ever-present threats to our critical infrastructures and way of life, the National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) 2011 Homeland Security Symposium is “Disasters: Preparing, Surviving and Responding to Dynamic Threats.”