Should President Obama be taking credit for the removal of Usama bin Laden from this mortal realm? The short answer is “yes,” based on the logic that if the mission that got UBL had failed, Obama would have had to take the blame. That said, it is a distorted view to think that nothing was done until before the present Administration arrived, and no one should be credited except President Obama.
An elective course called “Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism” was summarily cancelled at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA by General Marty Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The course apparently had asserted, “Islam is at war with the West.” OK, the Chairman gets high marks for ensuring we don’t offend anyone, but Al Qaeda, its affiliates and ideological progeny have declared war on the West. They did it well before 9/11, and they have never declared even a ceasefire.
On Monday, one of the Obama Administration’s heavies took to the Op-Ed page of the Washington Post to fight for cyber security. John Brennan, the President’s senior advisor on counterterrorism and homeland security, published a pretty impassioned piece reminding the Nation that cyber treats are real. Personally, I thought we were beyond the debate about the existence of the cyber threat and our need for better cyber defenses, cyber hygiene, training, and public-private info sharing. I guess there are still nay-sayers out there.
Once again, I was honored to do a presentation for the DHS-sponsored Center for Homeland Security and Defense. This long-term, comprehensive course introduces operational leaders from law enforcement, fire fighting, emergency services, public health, and federal agencies to a wide array of issues, and propels them to intellectually “punch above their weights” in a way they makes them even bigger assets to the Nation than they were when they began. These folks are like sponges – they push one another and their instructors, demand proof, and are skeptical in a healthy way.
When I was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, every time we tried to do something – like develop cyber security capabilities – we were accused of cravenly seeking new budget allocations. Yet, the only reason I have been, am now, and will continue to push cyber as a key issue is that I believe it is one. In a recent Foreign Policy article, Thomas Rid argues the cyber threat is not real. I sincerely wish he were correct. He is sincerely wrong. Denying threats does not make them go away.
The issue that many of use have discussed at length has now gone mainstream. 60 Minutes yesterday offered a report on Stuxnet that was actually fairly well done. Once again, cyber security has reached the apex of popular attention. Boy, if it would only stay there. The general public needs to understand that cyber security is more than just a matter of losing credit card passwords or getting one’s computer hooked into a spam-spitting botnet.
In a recent New York Times article, Admiral William McRaven, Cdr, U.S. Special Operations Command, asked for more freedom in pursuing America’s self professed enemies. McRaven is the architect of both the Usama bin Laden (UBL) takedown in Pakistan and more recent rescue of the Somali pirate hostages. This is not the first time the idea of allowing SOCOM to be the head of the spear has come up. I, for one, think it is an idea whose time has come.
Let’s start with a quiz. Who is the biggest spy in modern US history? If you said Aldridge Ames, or Robert Hanson, you’d be wrong. It was PFC Bradley Manning, of WikiLeaks fame, who despite being a very junior analyst in a tactical military HQ, gave away to his accomplice/handler Julian Asange more volume of stolen intel than anyone ever. Bottom line, cyber has changed the world of intel, and this is just one example.
I spoke to students at the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security. The school helps military officers get their master’s degrees, but mine was not a military audience at all – many were homeland leaders from throughout the public and private sectors. To be sure, America has gained a lot since the 9/11 attacks, part of which is a brotherhood shared by all homeland professionals..
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