The Next Administration Must Set Priorities for Homeland Security
As the shock of 9/11 fades, there is a need to determine which efforts to expand or to cut back
Since the terrorist attacks in 2001, an 18-member National Guard contingent has augmented security around the clock at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass. Next month, though, these soldiers will end their mission, since state officials concluded that the potential threat doesn't justify the $1.5 million-a-year expense. It's the same with many other security measures around the country that were launched with much fanfare and are now being quietly reassessed, revamped, or rolled back.
This is a touchy subject. "There are no politically viable words to say what's going on," remarks Juliette Kayyem, under secretary of the Massachusetts homeland security department. "You can't say 'ratchet down' or 'drawing back'; there's only the 'ratchet up' theory of homeland security." But a quiet ratcheting down is exactly what is happening around the country after nearly seven nervous years on high alert.
So far, neither John McCain nor Barack Obama has filled in many details of how he would address a variety of pressing issues that fall under the heading of homeland security, including counterterrorism, cargo screening, disaster preparedness, and port security. Obama, even before he secured the nomination, was the lone candidate to publish policy ideas specific to homeland security on his website. But though he sits on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, he rarely speaks about the topic on the campaign trail. Meanwhile, McCain staffers say that the presumptive GOP nominee plans a formal policy address on homeland security in the coming weeks.
Topics of more immediacy to voters—the economy, for instance—have taken precedence during the primaries. And many experts are quietly hoping it will stay that way. "Part of me doesn't want homeland security to become a big political issue in this campaign; if it does, whoever wins will be forced to make dramatic changes," says James Carafano, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. "What we now need to do is improve it, better manage it, and make it more focused."
The next president will play a major role in prioritizing security initiatives in response to the changing assessments of threats. But the issues start with defining what constitutes homeland security. Republicans define it broadly to include the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and U.S. border security. A successful homeland defense, the GOP argues, depends not just on measures at home but on achieving military victory abroad. Democrats consider the wars as separate issues from homeland defense, which they more often define as port and airline security and disaster response.
"It's a good issue for the Democrats because they can argue there's a huge gap between the rhetoric—that the country faces an existential threat—and the record of this administration, which has left all these vulnerabilities unaddressed so many years after 9/11," says Clark Kent Ervin, head of the Homeland Security Program at the Aspen Institute and the first inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security. For example, airline security, where Americans most frequently encounter DHS's role, remains surprisingly vulnerable, judging from undercover tests that screeners routinely fail.
Katrina aftermath. Homeland security, goes the maxim, is all about bad guys, bad bugs, and bad weather. Airline security and other counterterrorism measures are what first comes to mind, but the Bush administration's systemic failure to quickly deal with the Hurricane Katrina disaster highlights the stakes for disaster preparedness. Both candidates have been critical of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. McCain favors greater integration between the public and private sectors for disaster response. "UPS, FedEx, and Wal-Mart can tell in real time where a package is anywhere in the world, but FEMA, despite its multibillion-dollar budget, couldn't track many of its assets during its Katrina response," McCain told a crowd last month. Obama wants to remove the agency from DHS altogether, making its chief directly accountable to the president, and to extend the FEMA director's tenure to six years to depoliticize the office. "We need to know—before disaster comes—who will be in charge and how the federal, state, and local governments will work together to respond," he told a rally in New Orleans in February.
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Reader Comments
.Homeland Security.
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..First We have to decide just what We want....Are You Voting For WAR or peace ?.? It may sound stupid -.- but a man of war generally ends up in just that WAR...
..There is no Cowardess in peace....It actually takes more strenght -.- TALK is cheap - Diplomacy costs little -.- SAVES ALOT....
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...NAFTA -.- FreeTrade -.- GLOBALIZATION -.- a grand scheme that will never work .-.-
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..OPEN BORDERS -.- and closed minds - WASHINGTON -.- THE IDEA IS MONEY $.$.$.$ -.- Gunboat Diplomacy..
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..George Bush has used Homeland Security to make the economy look good - SPEND IT OR LOSE IT -.- nice stimulus package - made himself look good....then the public's stimulus package (in time for the holidays) CHRISTMAS PRESENTS ALL AROUND -.- NOW THE BILLS ARE DUE.
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The Most Complete Political Analysis Of Sarah Palin. By: Jordan C. Fan, Prophet Of Environment.
Political Summary And Analysis Of Sarah Palin.
By: Jordan C. Fan, Prophet Of Environment.
Since Palin is from the West, those battle ground states such as Alaska, Oregon, Hawaii and Washington State can be won more easily by Republicans. There is also potentials for a California victory which will definitely be decisive on the whole election. Obama was born in Hawaii, Obama's defeat there will be his greatest humiliation. Alaska is one of the biggest oil producing state. When oil drilling is the number one issue in this election, being a govenor of Alaska will certainly help. Alaska is also the last remaining wilderness of the U. S. A. It will be a good opportunity for the Republican to show their concerns of the Environment by using her. Palin is a woman therefore will attract women voters. As a former beauty queen, she is young and very pretty with great sex appeal to straight men and lesbian women also. Her pregnant teenage daughter will draw sympathy from those who were teenage unwed mothers and pro-life anti-abortion voters. Single mothers will also be attracted to the Republican Party. She represents traditional White families of Puritan values as opposed to those predominately single parent unwed mother type Black families. Neither McCain nor Palin are political correct. They only speak the truth and are very "genuine, what you see is what you get!" as quoted from the Alaskan Republican Convention delegates. She represents White people who have been displaced from the lower 48 states due to crimes and harassment from Blacks there. Those White people have little or no choice but to seek Northern Exposure living in Alaska for peace and quiet. They will certainly revenge Black intimidation and harassment. McCain's situations is quite similar. After the Civil War, the U. S. was destabilized by its Black minority. The only way to unite this country was to destabilize other nations and the world. To achieve that goal, the U. S. had to invade other countries such as Vietnam. McCain was a pawn and victim of such U. S. aggression. He certainly will blame African American for that. Palin was the military commander of the Alaskan Air National Guard which are useful experience for a future Commander-in-Chief of this country because Alaska is bordering Russia and near China and Japan with one fourth of all U. S. nuclear missiles located in that state. McCain who was also a professional soldier himself will feel comfortable working with Palin. Among both Republican and Democratic Party tickets Palin is the only one with executive and administrative experience . All other candidates McCain, Obama and Biden have only legislative experience.
John McCain's Naval Academy. By: Jordan C. Fan, Prophet Of Environment.
John McCain's Naval Academy.
By: Jordan C. Fan, Prophet Of Environment.
An important presidential election record will be broken this year, it is not the first time that a woman or Black person will be elected to the Executive office. We will be witnessing a great American tragedy unfold right before our eyes. It is one of the rare occasions when a native son will not be elected by his own state. To make it worse, such native son is the greatest hero in an area which has always been the pride and joy of that state. Correct me if I am wrong! I have hardly heard any one at the Republican Convention or during their campaign mentioned the Annapolis Naval Academy, not even McCain himself. Being born in Panama to a naval family and travel all over this country and the world, McCain really does not have a true home. Arizona is a states he used for election to Congress which he has not visited frequently. The Navy Academy is the only place McCain can really call his home in which he had spent the happiest time of his college life with his navy friends. Maryland should welcome her naval native son with open arms and elect him as president.
Unfortunately, Maryland have 1.6 million Black or approximately 30 % of the state's population or making it the "Black Capital" near of the real U. S. Capital. It was 36 % to 61% (almost double) in favor of Obama over Hillary during the primary there. All media and people there have expressed the sad fact that little or no Marylanders will vote for McCain. I personally don't like McCain very much but my conscience forced me to campaign for him. This episode is not only the greatest disgrace of all Americans but also of that of the human race. It is an unforgivable sin committed by all Marylanders and her Black racists. I suggest the Government relocates its Naval Academy out of Maryland. Arizona is probably not a good location because it is a desert and has no water for the navy people. McCain should decide where it is going to move to depending on whether that state has voted for him. This time, the true and only battle ground states (Armageddon) are not Ohio, Florida or Michigan but Maryland. The decision is not who is going to become president? But whether God had made a mistake in creating man?
As usual with this letter I, as Prophet of Environment, have ended this election right here and now. People, advertisement and media don't bother to comment on the election again. It will a waste of our time.
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