The world has faced tragic events of late: the Japanese earthquake and tsunami; the tragic bombing and shooting in Oslo, Norway; and post-Hurricane Irene floods along the U.S. East Coast. With these and other ever-present threats to our critical infrastructures and way of life, the National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) 2011 Homeland Security Symposium is “Disasters: Preparing, Surviving and Responding to Dynamic Threats.”
How to Transcend Post-9/11 Homeland Insecurity – Forbes I work in public policy, and civil liberties matter to me; I wondered with my Cato colleague Adam Theierer about 9/11′s havoc on citizen’s anonymity and privacy. Ten years later, I remain fascinated and worried by the exile of private enterprise from security policy. But given the disdain […]
There has been a great deal of intellectual froth over the subject of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Numerous editorials cover the entire intellectual waterfront. Most focus on the continuing sense of loss and grief we feel and ask us to never forget. There is a different group I have a problem with, those who say America “overreacted” to 9/11. I was in the Pentagon on 9/11, and so was my wife. I know in my heart as well as my head. Our leaders didn’t overreact; they did exactly what was needed.
The attacks of September 11 are full of many amazing and heartbreaking stories of loss, heartbreak and heroism. Frank Culbertson was the Commander of Expedition 3, a three-man crew on board the International Space Station when then attacks occurred. Frank recorded his thoughts and experiences at the time in an open letter that was circulated shortly after the attacks. With the ten-year anniversary observances underway, deserved attention is finally being given to Frank, his unique letter and his one in 250 million American experiences.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a statement urging the public to remain vigilant throughout the 9/11 anniversary weekend.
The attacks on September 11 resulted in a decade-long Global War on Terror, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and expenditure of billions of dollars to secure our country, which have all had a significant impact on our current economic crisis. President Obama’s Job Creation Plan is an opportunity to actively link our economic security with our nation’s security. The plan should not only focus on “shovel ready jobs” and infrastructure but should also help this nation build the long-term capacity to protect itself in a sustainable way.
Ten years after 19 foreign hijackers staged the 9/11 attacks, much has changed in America’s immigration and border-control policies, and much has not. The Center for Immigration Studies will host a panel discussion to examine what’s been done in immigration and related areas since 9/11 to strengthen America’s security and what challenges remain.
Recently, the Center for Biological Diversity issued a press release criticizing DHS and the Border Patrol because their plan to “triple base size on Arizona-Mexico border puts endangered wildlife, fragile Lands at risk.” While I agree with the Center that Organ Pipe National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge are some of the most scenic and impressive landscapes on our southwest border, this area is also a haven for smugglers and others illegally crossing our open borders to violate our security, our safety and our rule of law.
We are still more than a year out from the next Presidential election (and the accompanying Congressional races), and the level of discourse is so divorced from reality that I am a little nervous about our ability to govern effectively. Both sides are so unwilling to act like adults, to compromise, to build consensus, that many folks are assuming we’ll get nothing done for the next year plus. If that happens, we will have some big problems. America’s networks experience intrusions pretty much continuously, and nearly everyone agrees we have a problem. The bad part is that Washington is not in a problem-solving mood.
Despite the fact that in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, it became accepted wisdom that the weaving together of counterterrorism efforts at the local, state, and federal levels is critical, a decade later, there is a consensus among the police intelligence commanders for the fifty-six largest American cities that the nation lacks an adequate understanding of the counterterrorism intelligence enterprise. This was a finding in our just-released research brief — “Counterterrorism Intelligence: Law Enforcement Perspectives.”
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