Chris Battle

Look at me – I’m a crack addict!

June 17, 2010

Folks who want to ruin their lives have the right to do so, I guess. More of us have probably come closer than we’d like to admit. But we don’t have the right to ruin the lives of others — especially children, who aren’t given the chance to make their own decisions in life and must suffer the awful choices made by others. And that’s what the Legalization Lobby – comprised of those who want to legalize drugs in America – fails to understand.

Will Republicans Embarrass Themselves with Pistole TSA Nomination?

Chris Battle |

June 10, 2010

Will John Pistole, the FBI deputy director nominated to lead the TSA, go the way of the previous two nominees? Let’s hope not, but it all depends upon whether certain Republicans intend to embarrass themselves – again – by demanding answers from Pistole that he simply will not be in a position to answer. I am speaking here of demands that he take a clear position on unions in the TSA. “The unionization issue,” Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison recently told CQ Homeland Security, “is clearly one that he’s going to need to answer.” It is not. He cannot. And he won’t.

Watch the Live Broadcast – Roundtable on 100 Percent Air Cargo Screening

Chris Battle |

May 25, 2010

Broadcasting live online from the Newseum at 2:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 26, American Airlines Cargo joins forces with TSA and others for a 100 percent air cargo screening roundtable.

The TSA Deadline No One is Talking About

Chris Battle |

April 15, 2010

It is a curious thing that the mainstream media seems largely unaware of – or perhaps uninterested in – a major new benchmark in the air cargo security realm that is two weeks away. As of May 1, passenger airlines must screen 75 percent of all air cargo before it can be boarded. This benchmark is meant to wake the industry up to the approaching congressionally mandated requirement that 100 percent of all air cargo transported on passenger planes be screened. To ratchet up to 75 percent, airlines will have to start breaking down the large pallets of cargo and screen each piece individually. This is not an easy task, and it certainly is not a quick one.

DEA Finally Gets Nominee for Administrator – Now We Just Need Senate Confirmation

Chris Battle |

March 31, 2010

With his 15 recess appointments, why did President Obama not include DEA nominee Michele Leonhart? It took this White House an embarrassingly long time to simply nominate someone. Now that we have a nominee, we need senate confirmation. Without that approval, it will be difficult for Leonhart to lead the agency in a bold direction. The White House needs to step up and get this done. There is too much border violence not to.

Second TSA Nominee Withdraws

Chris Battle |

March 27, 2010

Will the TSA ever get an Administrator? After original pick Erroll Southers withdrew his nomination after months of waiting and facing opposition for his refusal to take a position on unionization, now second pick Robert Harding withdraws due to questions about potential conflicts of interest related to his work as a defense contractor.

Murder in Juarez — And Still no Leader at DEA, CBP, or ATF

Chris Battle |

March 15, 2010

If this Administration were truly outraged by these drug-related murders and truly planned on working to bring justice to the border violence, it is doing so in an odd way: Practically the entire border security infrastructure of this Administration remains leaderless more than a year into Obama’s tenure.

Erroll Southers ill treated — TSA nominee collateral damage in the fight over unions

Chris Battle |

January 20, 2010

Erroll Southers became a political scapegoat for Senator DeMint to send a message to the White House. It’s unfortunate. Southers has more than thirty years of experience in the law enforcement and homeland security environment. Unfortunately – and ironically – he is too apolitical to know how to expertly maneuver through Washington’s often perilous political landscape. He’s a law enforcement professional, not a politician.

New York’s Terror Trials – Lessons from Nuremberg

Chris Battle |

January 4, 2010

I was watching a History channel documentary on the Nuremberg trials, and it offered some insights and “teachable moments,” as our President likes to say, when it comes to the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the rest of the bloody terrorists held at Guantanamo. In particular, the role of Hermann Goering as the leader, apologist and chief propagandist of his own gang of war criminals. The decision to hold the trials in New York has been made. So instead of re-arguing this point, let’s focus on what can be done to minimize al Qaeda turning the trial into a publicity bonanza for its radical and violent agenda.

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