Unfortunately, the United States has already missed the boat and time has run out for any “catching up” in policy and tactics in dealing with Pakistan. Today, the world faces the stark and real possibility of Pakistan becoming a failed state and a haven for terrorism with potential nightmarish consequences. Can this be stopped and what should the U.S. do about it?
On March 31, Washington took its first step toward engagement with Tehran through a diplomatic encounter with the Iranian government at the Afghanistan conference in the Hague. Even though the initial contact was awkward, it was clearly a step forward for the Obama administration, and both countries agreed that the opium/heroin trade was a destructive force in both the region and the world. As such, the United States should consider using collaboration on counternarcotics as an effective means to jump-start diplomacy with Iran.
While the debate on the future of cyber security has been underway for some time, one of the world’s great deliberative bodies, the US Senate (in the form of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee) brought an elevated and informed discussion in today’s hearing, “Cyber Security: Developing a National Strategy.”
Here’s the question – who pays for the protection afforded to private companies engaged in protecting America’s critical assets? The answer is: it depends.
CQ Politics | SpyTalk – Repetitive Interrogations Reveal CIA’s Lack of Spies, Agency Veterans Say In the continuing cacophony over what torture is and whether it “works,” an important point has gone missing, say current and former counterterrorism operatives. The CIA’s reliance on repeated, and brutal, “enhanced” interrogation techniques shows how few spies the spy […]
The release of a report warning of rightwing extremist threats in the United States continues to generate controversy. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman has sent a letter to Secretary Napolitano expressing civil liberties concerns and inquiring about additional actions the Department may take.
Security Debrief is hosting its first online debate to analyze a strategic plan released by the Department of Homeland Security to secure the border with Mexico. The Department released a fact sheet last week — “Southwest Border: The Way Ahead” — which outlines the new activities and spending for specific departments and locations. Contributors Doug Doan and Chad Wolf kick off the debate by offering differing views on the appropriate use of stimulus funds for homeland security projects.
CQ Politics | GOP Leaders Assail Proposals To Probe Past Interrogation Decisions House Republican Leader John A. Boehner slammed proposals Thursday for investigations into harsh interrogation methods used on terrorism suspects under the Bush administration, as a key Senate Republican accused the Obama administration of politicizing national security issues. With leading congressional Democrats calling for […]
This Wednesday, April 22, 2009 four senior DHS nominees will appear before the US Senate for their confirmation hearings. These four individuals are part of the first wave of Obama Administration senior executives, following the confirmations of Secretary Napolitano and Deputy Secretary Lute, selected to take the reigns of key DHS components and lead it for the next four-plus years. Here are some questions for them.
Many border security projects have suffered from the sloth, or indifference, of the senior political leaders responsible for their success. Far too often, senior leaders were unwilling to assume direct and full responsibility for their agency programs, and instead, delegated responsibility down to more junior, and less qualified, government officials, who then delegated responsibility down still further.
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