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But the problem isn’t the technology.2:28 PM, Nov 17, 2010 • By PHILIP TERZIAN
Not so long ago I arrived at Dulles airport, outside Washington, after a very protracted journey from Russia, including a layover in Germany. Like most transatlantic voyagers, I was weary, only approximately awake, and felt vaguely unwashed. Standing for a long time in a long line to present my passport to customs officials, I observed that an unusual number of my fellow travelers appeared to be elderly—that is to say, older than myself—and I could only surmise that the rigors of modern air travel were especially taxing for them.
Read more... Who is the "EU Person?"11:30 AM, Sep 20, 2010 • By JOHN ROSENTHAL
Late last month, EU Home Affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmström announced the resumption of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP), under which American counterterror investigators have consulted and analyzed selected data on international bank transactions originating in Europe. (Note that it was not the Obama administration that announced the resumption of the program.)
Read more... We were lucky Shahzad’s bomb fizzled. Next time we might not be as lucky.5:50 PM, May 4, 2010 • By STEPHEN F. HAYES and THOMAS JOSCELYN
On Sunday morning, Janet Napolitano twice suggested that the attempted attack in Times Square was a "one-off" event during an interview with ABC News. ABC's Jake Tapper had asked Napolitano directly about the possibility of international involvement, given the similarities (superficial, at least) between the crude bomb discovered in the Nissan Pathfinder in New York City and those used in attempted bombings in London and Glasgow in 2007. "Well, right now, we have no evidence that it is anything other than a one-off, but we are alerting state, local officials around the country, letting them know what is going on."
Calling the attempted attack a "one-off" wasn't directly responsive to Tapper's question. But it's clear that Napolitano, who also described the bomb as "amateurish," wanted to downplay the seriousness of the attack.
Read more...  We can’t keep relying on Lady Luck.12:48 PM, May 4, 2010 • By THOMAS JOSCELYN
Faisal Shahzad, a 30 year-old naturalized American citizen from Pakistan, has been arrested as the chief suspect behind the failed car bomb attack on Times Square this past Saturday. The good news is, of course, that the bomb was fairly unsophisticated (showing a low-level of expertise), it failed to detonate (sparing the lives of New Yorkers and tourists), and the man believed to be responsible for assembling and deploying the car bomb was apprehended in short order. Authorities were able to pinpoint the would-be terrorist in impressively little time.
It is not all good news, however. Law enforcement and intelligence officials failed to stop the perpetrator from placing his bomb in the first place. We were simply lucky that onlookers weren’t killed. If this was truly the work of a rogue individual, a “one-off” event as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano suggested on Sunday, then that failure would be somewhat understandable. As law enforcement and intelligence professionals have repeatedly lamented, it is exceedingly difficult to stop a “lone wolf” terrorist.
Read more... Confidence, continued.9:58 AM, Jan 8, 2010 • By MARY KATHARINE HAMNeither the determination of al Qaeda, nor the tactic used in this incident seem particularly shocking or new. Perhaps this kind of thing has something to do with a news search for "Napolitano" today bringing up three calls for her resignation.
Read more... Post 9/11, the Bush administration has mostly gotten it right.Jul 21, 2003, Vol. 8, No. 43 • By AMITAI ETZIONITHE BUSH ADMINISTRATION is incessantly criticized, and not only from the left, for a variety of safety measures it introduced in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Read more... When it comes to homeland security, some questions are better left unanswered and some scenarios left unexplored.11:00 PM, Feb 25, 2003 • By HUGH HEWITTFROM THE MOMENT listeners realized that terrorism had come to America, callers to my radio program have wanted to discuss various terrorism scenarios. Invariably the conversation begins, "If I was a terrorist, here's how I'd paralyze the country . . ."
Then I cut them off. It is a conversation with no upside other than ratings, and perhaps a little--or even more than a little--risk. Why advertise vulnerability, and why encourage paranoia?
Last week I called some local law-enforcement types to press them on the mechanics of homeland defense.
Read more... To solve a big problem requires a big budget.Mar 3, 2003, Vol. 8, No. 24 • By FRED BARNESDEMOCRATS--some, not all--are playing a cynical game on homeland security. At their instigation, Congress passed a $5 billion expenditure last August supposedly for homeland security. It came with a hitch: President Bush was required to spend all or none of the money, but only about half the funds were to beef up security efforts. A portion would finance a new facility for the worm and bug collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Other funding would pay for fighting forest fires and implementing election reform. The president decided to spend none of the money.
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