Seven months ago, intelligence organizations uncovered an attempt to bomb airliners by putting explosives in cargo. The cargo bombing plot highlighted the absence of effective cargo screening systems for air cargo being flown into the United States. The U.S. government should move expeditiously towards risk-based screening before al Qaeda strikes again.
By Jena Baker McNeill and Matt Mayer
The 9/11 attacks acted as a catalyst for major changes in U.S. security efforts. The attacks altered not only how the nation would identify and prepare for threats but also how it would work to prevent them. The approaching 10th anniversary of the attacks gives policymakers an opportunity to undertake a realistic and retrospective assessment of homeland security policies since 9/11.
President Obama’s Middle East speech, focused on America’s commitment to democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, included comments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What was surprising was that the President publicly recognized that the primary stumbling block preventing forward movement on the peace process is not settlements, or even the status of Jerusalem or the right of return, but Hamas.
It was a solid decision for President Obama to ask Congress to keep Robert Mueller at the head of the FBI and extend his term by another two years. His leadership, expertise and experience will be invaluable as the agency continues its fight against terrorism. As a former Agent who served in the CT program, I am always astounded when I hear or read press reports saying that the FBI is now an “intelligence-driven” organization. Folks, I am here to say that it was always an intelligence-driven organization.
House Republicans just unveiled their lean budget for the Department of Homeland Security. Asking DHS to make do with less is reasonable, but precluding DHS from buying more passenger scanning machines – as the new budget makes a point of doing – is foolish.
In many ways, the Abbotabad raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden was the beginning, not the culmination, of a massive intelligence operation. One area that could be particularly ripe for disruption is al Qaeda’s financial support network. As I argue in ForeignPolicy.com, terrorist financiers must be under tremendous stress since news broke that U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden and seized hard drives and other electronic media from his safe house.
By Doug Doan
In a recent post, Frank Cilluffo warned about the potential harmful impact of all the loose talk about the intelligence received from the Bin Laden hit last week. However, the contrarian in me thinks there might be a different explanation for all the speculation and press reports of the huge intel bonanza. If the raid resulted in a bust for intel collection, what would that mean?
Aviation pre-screening (now Secure Flight) has made airports and airplanes more secure against terrorism. This is why Senator Chuck Schumer’s post-bin Laden proposal to create a “Do Not Ride” list for the Amtrak rail system had a very small glimmer of merit. On closer look, however, this is a really bad idea.
Though Osama bin Laden’s death brings discussion on the future of al Qaeda, but let us not forget that this terrorist organization is large and spread throughout the world. Their methods for attack are many, and al Qaeda had plans to use cargo as a method to smuggle plastic explosives into the United States and the UK concealed in shipments of women’s and children’s clothing. This threat remains real.
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