Security Debrief

A Response to "Kip Hawley’s Suggested TSA Reforms"

April 23, 2012

By Doug Doan
I previously criticized Kip Hawley for being too timid and for his rather late conversion to understanding TSA security is ineffective, expensive, and demeaning. My key point is that the problems that plague DHS/CBP/TSA are not so much policy driven, but leadership issues. Or, put more bluntly, a succession of poor and timid leaders that are unwilling to make difficult choices or align themselves with unpopular, but wiser, policies until they are safely out of office and pursuing consultant fees. This piece is in response to Jeff Sural’s recent post on Hawley and TSA.

The Long Goodbye to America’s Space Shuttle

Rich Cooper |

April 20, 2012

The United States has changed the world in many ways. Our inventions, innovations and enterprising national nature impact people around the world every day, and for decades, one of the biggest feathers in America’s cap was our space program. For those of us who were fortunate enough to be a part of the program, the Shuttle’s final tour of America has been a slow, painful goodbye, but as with all things, the end of one era is also the beginning of another.

Remember Today – Oklahoma City

Security Debrief |

April 19, 2012

Everyone old and young remembers September 11, because that was a horrific day for America. But let us not forget that horrific event on American soil, started April 19, 1995, when the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was destroyed by a truck bomb, killing 168 of our fellow Americans.

Abu Zubaida's Clear Ties to al-Qaeda

Security Debrief |

April 19, 2012

Here is a piece I published in the Washington Post about Abu Zubaida, at one time al Qaeda’s third in command. While Abu Zubaida’s lawyer argues the absence of charges is evidence of innocence, the facts say otherwise.

Kip Hawley's Suggested TSA Reforms and "Permanent Emergency"

Jeffrey Sural |

April 18, 2012

Complaints about the TSA are numerous and perpetual. Everyone from the Congressional committees who created TSA to self-described security experts to the most recently inconvenienced passenger has a story, and an opinion, about what needs to be changed. But when a thoughtful critique, and significant suggestions for reform, come from someone who led the agency for three-plus years, we may finally be getting somewhere. Former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley’s piece this weekend in the Wall Street Journal should have excited anyone who follows the travails of TSA. Mostly silent on the subject since he left in 2009 as the fourth TSA administrator, Kip unleashed a whopper of a critique.

Secret Service in Colombia – Does Due Process Exist in the Press?

Security Debrief |

April 18, 2012

One of the great things about the United States is that our forefathers wrote and established a timeless Constitution as a cornerstone to the best nation in the world. It is the basis for the best legal system in the world, where citizens are afforded due process. Sadly, there are more and more instances where the press has self-appointed itself judge, jury and even attorney for both sides. What happened to reporting the facts and not opinions? Indeed, many in the press have tried and convicted the Secret Service agents and officers that were in Colombia recently.

Administration Decides to "Fight" for Cyber Security

Steven Bucci |

April 18, 2012

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.

US Secret Service Woes – Trouble in Colombia

Security Debrief |

April 17, 2012

Reporting over the past few days regarding an advance detail of U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Military personnel’s activities in Colombia has been riveting. Being a former federal law enforcement officer, I was not shocked by their activities, but I was truly saddened. People responsible for the safety and security of the President and others just cannot engage in this kind of behavior. Part of the problem could be that the Secret Service is incorrectly situated in DHS. My own sense is that they are in the wrong department, with leadership problems, and are starved for funding.

A Savvy Terrorist with a Quality Fake ID Can Breach Airline Security

Janice Kephart |

April 17, 2012

Since investigative reporter Josh Bernstein filed his story, “License to Terrorize: Failure to safeguard against sophisticated phony IDs leaves opening for bad guys to slip through air security,” the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has neither responded to nor acknowledged the report, and refused Bernstein an interview. But as much as TSA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) want to hide from the shocking revelations of Bernstein’s investigation — that anyone with a good fake ID can make it through TSA security checkpoints as long as the name on the fake ID matches the name on the boarding pass — ignoring the problem will not make it go away.

Kip Hawley’s New Book – "Why Airport Security is Broken and How to Fix it"

Security Debrief |

April 16, 2012

By Doug Doan
Former TSA Boss Kip Hawley has written an important, but flawed, new book, telling us that TSA is a broken agency in need of urgent reform. The book offers thoughtful recommendations for reform, which is why I find it all so sad. The one big issue that Hawley does not much discuss is why he never tried to implement any of these urgent reforms while he was in charge of the very agency that he now tells us, correctly, is broken. And every other DHS senior leader, from the former Secretaries at DHS, Commissioners of CBP, and TSA, has either started, or joined, a consulting company advocating urgent reforms to the very organization that they once led. Let’s also admit that every one of them had the opportunity to implement the reforms that they now advocate in exchange for huge consulting fees.