I am all for cutting back government spending. There are, however, smart and less than smart ways to do that. For example, a family can balance the budget by just skipping the mortgage payment leaving plenty of bucks for Netflicks and munchies. The House appropriations bill for the Homeland Security Department budget looks to be taking a similar approach—gutting the Office of Policy.
Black swans are another name for Secretary Rumsfeld’s famous category of “known” unknowns, things we know we don’t know – but maybe we should. The Japanese anticipated the double-shot of earthquakes and tsunamis, but not the triple whammy of earthquake-Tsunami-massive release of low-dose radiation from nuclear power plants. It is hard to believe that Washington would not screw up a nuclear incident just as badly as Toyko, particularly if the event happened in the midst of another catastrophe.
The Homeland Security Policy Institute Preparedness, Response, and Resilience Task Force released its Interim Report on Resilience, a report urging policymakers to develop a shared – and actionable – vision of resilience. The report represents the first in a series of Task Force contributions this year that will offer recommendations for Federal policymakers on how to enhance national resilience.
Interesting hearing Wednesday on visa security at the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration policy enforcement, where I testified alongside Security Debrief co-contributor Janice Kephart and officials from State and ICE. The hearing was called to consider the Secure Visas Act, legislation calling for the expansion of the number of ICE agents deployed in overseas embassies.
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) accounts for about one-quarter of the staff of the Department of Homeland Security. Its role in protecting the homeland is vital. The White House is poised to make the bad state of the service’s aging fleet worse, cutting back even further on the anemic plans to refurbish and replace aging vessels. This disaster in the making will have consequences nowhere worse than in the Pacific, where the oceans are as big as U.S. interests.
By Frank Cilluffo and Sharon L. Cardash
In the aftermath of the death of Usama bin Laden, much has been made of the “treasure trove” of material found in his safe house. With so much still at stake, it is wrong – indeed counterproductive – to be discussing in significant detail in the public domain, such as newspapers, the lode of intelligence that may have been found and its implications for action in the field.
After the recent announcement that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. special forces operation in Pakistan, I spoke with CNBC about what this means for the terrorist organization and for our own counterterrorism efforts going forward.
Usama bin Laden is dead, a significant blow to al Qaeda. Yet on this first day after his death, much remains to be done — al Qaeda and legions of jihadists remain a threat. As President Obama announced the outcome of American actions in the Abbottabad Valley, he was correct in his assessment that, “The cause of securing our country is not complete…”
As dramatic scenes of destruction from tornados in the South flash across our televisions, many states across the Midwest and South were preparing for a similar calamity: an earthquake along the New Madrid fault line. At 10:15 this morning students in schools across eleven states were practicing their earthquake preparedness actions for “The Great Central U.S. Shakeout.”
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