Adfero Group HSPI

A panel at the MilBloggers Conference provided a very interesting discussion earlier this month. The main point of the meeting is that the news media covers the military differently. Social media is driving fast reporting online and has created a constant drumbeat for information NOW. The panel was asked if this effect has created a tabloid-type, low quality product today. The reporters agreed blogs add a valuable corrective and much positive context to the media landscape.

After two decades of pouring resources and technology into patrolling the U.S. border with Mexico, there are encouraging signs that Congress is about to start asking the right question: what exactly have we bought for all that money? But the administration is continuing to drag its heels. A May 8 hearing of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on border and maritime security was intended to provide some answers to the critical question of how to assess progress along the border.

For several years, Security Debrief contributors have joined Francis Rose on Federal News Radio to discuss security issues and the role of the Federal government. For the homeland and national security crowd, In Depth with Francis Rose offers insightful and informative discussions, and there is a growing audience of listeners outside the Beltway. Recently, the news and talk radio magazine TALKERS added Francis Rose to its annual list of the top 250 talk show hosts in America.

Since the Obama campaign’s commercial heralding the President’s decision to launch the Bin Laden mission, people from all political corners have either cheered or jeered it. His detractors accuse the President of “spiking the football” and over-politicizing a decision that he said he himself said should not be politicized. For as honorable as the President’s spoken intentions may have been after Bin Laden’s termination a year ago, they have been abandoned for the very real, pragmatic electoral politics – when you have an advantage in anything, you take it and use it to its utmost.

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.

A significant part of America’s homeland security efforts is preparing to resist, mitigate and recover from disasters manmade and natural. With the private sector owning the vast majority of U.S. infrastructure, as well as the critical role businesses play in the community and the economy, private sector preparedness has long been a priority, since the 9/11 Commission issued its final report. It has taken a long time, however, for DHS’ Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Program to gain momentum.

Last week’s protests at the shareholder meetings of General Electric and Wells Fargo highlight the newest trend in protest against corporations and gives visibility to the power struggle going on within and over the Occupy movement itself. 99% Spring and 99% Power are nationwide protest efforts founded by the Services Employees International Union (SEIU) and MoveOn.org. Both groups have planned to protest at a series of shareholder meetings for their target corporations throughout the Spring and are promoting these protests on their website.

Last fall, police used pepper spray during protests at the University of California-Davis, and afterwards, the Reynoso Task Force was tasked with investigating the incident and compiling a report. The lack of balance and impartiality in the Reynoso Task Force membership casts doubt onto its conclusions, some of which are valid. As a result, their report is distinctly one-sided, providing serious criticism of the police while not mentioning the roles and responsibilities of protesters and protest organizers.

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.

The Bipartisan Policy Center launched its Homeland Security Project today, led by former 9/11 Commission Co-Chairs Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton. Through this project, a group of 14 homeland security practitioners and scholars will create bipartisan recommendations on emerging terrorist threats, not unlike the 9/11 Commission.

At the launch of the Zócalo Public Square/Cal Humanities “Searching for Democracy” series, Eric Liu, a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion, asked the audience to consider an issue that pervades all aspects of American life: citizenship. It’s one that cuts across political belief, class, and geography, but “most of us, most of the time, don’t think or talk about” it. This has impacts for America’s security efforts and is something the homeland security community should be willing to think about.

If Congress paid even one-tenth the amount of time trying to “fix” its own problems as it does in its petty meddling in the operations of TSA, the general public would have greater confidence in both organizations. Both entities could benefit from meaningful oversight and process improvement. But the joint hearing this week by the House Oversight and House Transportation committees was a one-sided effort, seemingly designed to point out problems without offering any serious solutions to those concerns – and it confirmed (yet again) for me why the Congressional labyrinth of DHS oversight needs to be addressed.

Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, speaking before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, made a “dire prediction.” She warned the Senate that if Congress does not give DHS “the authority to designate critical infrastructure and set risk-based cyber security standards for it” [in] “a year or 18 months…we would have suffered a major infiltration or attack, and we will find that some part of our critical infrastructure was a gap.” The Secretary’s prediction and roundabout effort to foist responsibility on the Congress for her Department’s obvious lack of progress in assuring, beyond their protection, the operational resilience of America’s interdependent cyber and physical infrastructure challenges is — at best —ill-conceived.

Last week, I testified before the House Homeland Security Committee about Hezbollah capability to attack within the United States, should the group decide to do so. I explained that it is by no means a foregone conclusion that Hezbollah would attack America in the event of an attack on Iran, but also laid out four different scenarios of how they could carry out such an operation.

A brief exchange between Chairman Peter King and Ranking Member Bennie Thompson on Wednesday was strange. Rep. Thompson questioned the committee’s jurisdiction to hold a hearing on whether Iran and Hezbollah pose a terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland. Thompson’s “word of caution” should be taken again to his party’s leadership so they can understand the consequences of their failure to implement the only remaining recommendation of the 9-11 Commission – consolidating congressional oversight of homeland security.

Last night, protest organizers for Chicago G8 were celebrating their perceived victory of the move of the G8 to Camp David. However, despite what seems to be a common perception, the move will not affect the protests in Chicago. There are a number of serious issues facing Chicago Police, including their tactics and command preparation and the attendance of the anarchist community.

Throughout history, wars have often turned on the success or failure of seizing the high ground. Waterloo, Gettysburg, the Battle of Hastings, D-Day all depended on taking the heights, and the results of these battles changed the tides of wars and history. Today is no different, but the high ground looks much different on the Internet.

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..

For better or worse, social media is the billboard of our lives in today’s digital world. Recent news stories detailing how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was monitoring media outlets, news sites, and other social networking platforms have raised some eyebrows, but it would be completely irresponsible for DHS, intelligence, or law enforcement authorities to ignore these valuable resources and the information and insights they can provide.

By Jay Alan

At some point during my day I can usually see the scaffolding atop the landmark National Cathedral here in Washington, D.C. — a reminder of damage from the August earthquake. And a reminder that disaster can strike anywhere at anytime. We all know and preach the doctrine of preparedness, but building resiliency and knowledge takes time. This effort takes another great step forward on Feb. 7. The Great Central U.S. Shakeout will occur at 10:15am CST, with (as of this writing) 1.7 million people in nine states practicing the ‘duck, cover and hold’ earthquake drill.