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Stories in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, along with congressional testimony by the GAO, caused a frenzy in the media and blogosphere this week with suggestions that the Department of Homeland Security was “mothballing” the effort to build a virtual fence along the southern border. After millions spent and high expectations set, the idea that the Department was dropping the effort — known in typical government bureaucratese as “P28″ — caused quite a stir. However, Secretary Michael Chertoff responded assertively in a post on the DHS Leadership Journal, saying that the idea that the virtual fence is being dropped is simply inaccurate.
I understand that the NYPD may be reluctant to expose its flaws, but if the officers’ actions resulted from a failure in the system rather than a failure in themselves, it should be identified and publicly rectified, if only to restore faith in the Department’s ability to police itself.
Having passed something, members of Congress will go back home and tell their constituents that they did the right thing and addressed the critical security needs of our country. They simply won’t mention the complicated telecom issue, and act as if they took bold action. They’ll feel no sense of urgency to return the matter — which means that the private sector companies, whom the government has begged to join the homeland security effort, will be open targets for lawsuits … and good luck getting such cooperation from the private sector ever again.
Earlier this week, representatives of the chemical industry expressed concerns at a hearing by the House Homeland Security Committee to make the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards regulation - that went into effect in June 2007 and is set to sunset in October 2009 - permanent. The debate shows that Congress needs more education about the nuances of the chemical legislation.
A recently issued Congressional Research Service report expresses concern over the operation of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate, including the ability of businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs to access S&T leaders and the effectiveness of the Directorate’s relationships with others. The report seems to overlook many of S&T’s initiatives - if there is any component of DHS that is readily open, accessible and clear on its priorities and the others identified in the CRS Report, it’s the Department’s S&T shop.
Not only is this a crime that hurts the American economy — and therefore results in higher costs for consumers — it is also be the cause of serious illness or even death. If a patient is dependent upon prescription medication and is unwittingly taking counterfeit drugs, her life could be in danger. And yet, these crimes capture little attention in the media and even less in many law enforcement circles.
After being featured as one of the top stories in CQ Homeland’s Behind the Daily Lines, Security DeBrief contributor Rich Cooper was a guest on Federal News Radio’s Daily Drive to discuss the role FEMA played in preparing for the possibility of hazardous debris from the broken spy satellite that was shot down last week, and to address the agency’s perpetual critics . Listen to his interview here.
Pakistan is facing a most defining moment in its history with serious implications to US security interests in the region. As stated in earlier analyses, the United States should have long ago adopted alternative approaches to Pakistan. It did not, and consequently, the situation in Pakistan today is much more dangerous. It is not, however, too late for the United States to re-engage more effectively.
As a longtime train traveler with an interest in security issues, the recently announced Amtrak regulations were of particular interest to me. From initial reports, the regulations appear as if they are likely to improve security without impeding the convenience of rail travel.
It is interesting to see that the Grand Jury investigation into the Sep 16 shootings by Blackwater continues. What is equally interesting is that following the rush of knee-jerk reactions in Congress to throw legislation at the problem that ‘closed the loophole’ by including contractors to the State Department to the Military Jurisdiction Expeditionary Act, which apparently meant that all contractors would now be covered and accountable under US law. Unfortunately, having satisfied themselves that all was now right with the world, the politicians and their staffs wrenched their arms out of their sockets patting themselves on the back for a job well done….if only that were so.
Last night, the Defense Department, via the USS Lake Erie fired a SM-3 missile to intercept a broken spy satellite from the sky rather than letting it break apart in the atmosphere and leave hazardous debris to fall back to the Earth. In the days prior to missile launch, FEMA engaged in a number of preemptory actions.Rather than applaud and support such forward thinking and action, some have used this as another opportunity to make FEMA a punch line and to accuse the agency of acting like Chicken Little crying out to the nation, ‘The sky is falling!’
It is Hezbollah’s illicit enterprises in America that have drawn the attention of our security and intelligence agencies. A Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) investigation into a pseudo-ephedrine smuggling scam in the American Midwest led investigators to Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, and other Middle Eastern countries including bank accounts tied to Hezbollah and Hamas. 11 DEA chief Asa Hutchinson confirmed: “a significant portion of some of the sales are sent to the Middle East to benefit terrorist organizations.”
The Department of Homeland Security recently joined with the Department of Labor to reform rules for hiring temporary agriculture laborers in an effort to cut back on the red tape and delays associated with agricultural worker visas which have threatened a steady supply of critical labor. Security Debrief contributor David Venturella spoke with Government Executive magazine about the reforms, praising the step is long overdue but perhaps not going far enough.
Threat is found in all sorts of places and even in the smallest of places such as small boats. These craft come in all shapes and sizes, from smaller pleasure craft all the way to speedboats, and a thousand other private and commercial platforms. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security faces a difficult task in trying to track, control and mitigate the risks posed by the millions of small boats that regularly operate in U.S. waters. Congress and the Administration should invest in assets that improve the overall security of the maritime domain.
As seen in the Washington Post’s Government Inc. blog, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance is hosting a summit where technology companies can present their ideas and innovations to a panel of representatives from the federal government Science & Technology organizations.
Analysis: EU Hezbollah policy draws fire - UPI.com
The European Union has long resisted calls to add Hezbollah to its terrorist list, a move that could financially cripple the Lebanon-based political and militia organization, and a policy shift is unlikely, especially after recent hopes of German and French leadership on the issue have faded.
Columnist Bob Novak offers some interesting observations about the connection between the Democrats’ decision to let the FISA reform expire rather than offering a house vote, suggesting that the power of the trial lawyers within the Democratic Party was too powerful to overcome:
The recess by House Democrats amounts to a judgment that losing the generous [...]
The psychological effect in each of these cases is for the psychiatrists, medical experts and ultimately the legal apparatus to decide. My concern is that the crimes demonstrate that the federal safety net in place to catch and treat sufferers is not effective, and that merely educating the soldiers themselves is not working. PTSD is a legitimate threat to anyone who has served in combat or experienced conditions of high stress. Knowing that, and mixing alcohol, loaded weapons and an aggravating situation is a recipe for disaster.