Adfero Group HSPI

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..

I had the privilege of recently attending a two-day seminar on Intelligence Led Policing (ILP). Law enforcement officials and academics educated participants on the tenets of ILP and how to better equip officers to begin to use ILP in their police departments. Regardless of what it’s called – be it ILP, smart policing or predictive analytics – the best practice comes down to this: Police gather information, they evaluate and analyze that information, and they create a threat assessment. That information and resulting analysis drive the agency’s strategy and its actions.

President Obama’s critics (of which I have been one) have tried to infer he is many things. He’s been called a socialist, a far-left liberal and other names. People will use all sorts of facts and inferences to back their words up but one word and invective that will never stick is “wimp.” Through the use of drones, Special Forces, Navy SEALS and all of the other military resources at his disposal, the President has scored a kill sheet that no one could have imagined. The inspirational orator that many thought was weak-kneed has become remarkably effective and efficient at getting rid of some of the world’s most pungent trash.

A recent report by the UK-based think tank Chatham House describes the challenges associated with preparing for high-impact, low-probability events as well as potential global impacts. On the latter point, the report highlights how impacts will be felt well beyond an immediate disaster area, with the effects reverberating around the world because of our interconnected, global economy. In short, the best we can do is allocate resources based on risk assessments, and have a robust all-hazards plan to address the Black Swans that we could not have anticipated.

Last week, Thai police arrested Atris Hussein, a suspected Hizballah operative, at the Bangkok airport, while another suspect escaped. Elsewhere in the capital, authorities seized a large cache of chemical explosives composed of ammonium nitrate and urea fertilizer. These discoveries of Hizballah bombmaking in Thailand are no surprise given the group’s long history of terrorist operations in Southeast Asia.

In the Second World War, the iconic phrase “loose lips sink ships” summed up the need for keeping information that could be useful to the enemy to only those who need it. It’s 70 years later and the social imperative for who needs information has diametrically changed. On any social networking site, there are opportunities for our enemies to identify us and use that information to plan attacks, both physical and cyber.

The Homeland Security Policy Institute released an issue brief highlighting the value of applying analytic tradecraft techniques more widely throughout the homeland security community. Author and HSPI Senior Fellow Jon Nowick maintains that as the homeland security community faces evolving threats, it must tap every opportunity to use resources smartly.

The Israeli media has been awash in reports of an alleged Saudi hacker that goes by the online name of OxOmar and has posted the credit card information, national ID numbers and addresses of thousands of Israelis. According to recent reports, that person may turn out to be nineteen-year-old Omar Habib, who resides in Mexico. Some others, though less convincingly, have alleged that the origin of the attack lies in Iran. Ultimately, the origin and motivations of the cyber attack are less interesting than the nature of the vulnerability that it exposes.

CQ Homeland Security conducted its annual survey of security challenges last year and the road ahead in 2012. The three-part series included comments from security experts throughout government and the private sector, many of whom are contributors to Security Debrief. Below is a rundown of some of their responses. Check out each of the story links to read more about important security efforts in 2012.

A federal judge has issued a final judgment in a plaintiff’s case on behalf of 9/11 victim families ruling that Iran and Hezbollah together materially supported al Qaeda in committing 9/11. The case, Havlish v. Iran, provides overwhelming evidence in hundreds of pages of information, showing step by step Iran’s direct involvement in 9/11, including holding operational meetings inside Iran with al Qaeda and Hezbollah leadership to develop the 9/11 plan.

You could not find a greater difference between two men than Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong Il. One was a rock and roll loving playwright who led the Velvet Revolution that tossed Communist control of Czechoslovakia; the other, the heir of one of the world’s most brutal regimes that thought nothing of starving his own people to feed his vast military machine while walling his country off from contact with the outside world to create their own paradise. Somehow the cruel North Korean despot earned the moniker of “Dear Leader,” while the playwright went about his life speaking to the human spirit’s craving to be free. Both died this past weekend.

Federal Judge George Daniels announced in open court in New York City yesterday, in a case filed by families of 9/11 victims, that he was going to be signing an order within 24 hours stating Iran, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda are responsible for the 9/11 attacks. What we do know publicly is that Iran and Hezbollah not only provided terrorist travel assistance for the 9/11 hijackers to travel through Iran to attend Afghan terror training camps, but also that Hezbollah’s most senior operational leader, and chief liaison with Iran, Imad Mughniyah – and other Hezbollah operatives – traveled with the 9/11 hijackers in and out of Lebanon and in and out of Iran after these same hijackers had been issued visas to visit the United States.

I was attending my church’s Kids’ Christmas program, and the depiction of the three wise men brought back some memories for me of a Christmas I spent far from home a few years ago. It was Christmas 2003, and I was in Baghdad, Iraq. I had been sent there by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, leading a team of 20 senior field grade officers. No service member likes to be away during the holidays, but serving one’s country gives you a treasure trove of memories that cannot be replaced.

In late October, I had the privilege of interviewing former NYPD and Boston Police Commissioner and LAPD Police Chief Bill Bratton. Unlike a number of people in the public eye, he actually does his homework and thinks before he speaks. Our interview touched on a range of issues – the lessons not learned after 9/11; the state of information sharing with local law enforcement agencies; and how the country’s fiscal climate will impact the overall homeland mission.

America’s intelligence community finds itself pressed to deal with the “Wild West” frontier of an ever-expanding cyber space. From Twitter to blogs to e-mail, the changes are coming hard and fast for governments, businesses and individuals worldwide. The challenges for the American policy maker and the intelligence community are simple and yet hugely complex. So far, by our own admission, we appear not to be passing the grade.

Something interesting is going on in Janet Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security. For the first two-plus years of the Obama administration, Secretary Napolitano’s priority was to plug security vulnerabilities, real or perceived. Arguments that her department was also responsible for encouraging trade and travel, and that security measures should therefore be carefully risk-targeted, were received with minimal enthusiasm. Recent DHS efforts, however, show a new paradigm in how the United States engages foreign partners, driven by the need to increase security while also promoting economic benefits.

Last week Secretary Napolitano gave a very good address to the Council on Foreign Relations. She highlighted the critical role of international partnerships in advancing homeland security and the commendable progress that DHS has made in that regard. But it could be much better. DHS’ efforts to expand programs like the Visa Waiver Program and C-TPAT have been ad hoc, leading to less expansion of these programs than warranted

It was recently reported that Congress is launching an investigation into the Drug Enforcement Administration, following claims that the agency helped drug cartels launder money – an operation some in Congress say bears striking resemblance to the failed “Fast and Furious” anti-gunrunning probe. While most of America is appalled at the “Fast and Furious” operation, myself included, money laundering investigations are a completely different, proven and accepted investigative technique when conducted properly.

On December 7, staff in the post room at the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt identified a suspicious package while x-raying mail. Police were called and disarmed the device. The package/letter was addressed to the Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann and had a return address on the back stating it had come from the European [...]

Yesterday, President Obama and Prime Minister Harper unveiled the details of an updated “Beyond the Border Initiative,” which creates a shared border security responsibility. The 9/11 terrorist attacks triggered a virtually complete closing of the U.S.-Canada border. Although it quickly reopened, much tighter and more time-consuming security procedures were put in place. Recognizing the need to work to improve both security and efficiency, Washington and Ottawa have taken various measures over the years to better secure their common border.