SIGN UP - IT'S FREE!
SEARCH FSM
| National Debt Clock |
A million seconds pass in 12 days.
A billion seconds pass in 31 years.
A trillion seconds pass in 31,688 years!
December 29, 2009
Exclusive: The System Failed…Miserably
Presidential Policy: Does It Make the Grade?, James Jay Carafano, PhD
The year on the national security front did not end well with a Christmas Day effort to set a Detroit-bound plane on fire. This is not a good news story. The system failed. The U.S. government had a number of red flags about the would-be fire starter, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, but failed to revoke his visa, place him on the no-fly last or flag him for additional screening.
Heritage homeland security analyst Jena Bake McNeil reports, “[o]n December 25, a Nigerian student attempted to ignite a mixture of powder and liquid on a Northwest Airlines flight landing in Detroit, Michigan. Passengers helped to stop the suspect from carrying out his plot after the device failed to fully detonate, marking the 28th foiled terror plot against the United States since 9/11.”
This isn’t the only time the system failed. Five youths from Northern Virginia made it all way to Pakistan where they tried to join al Qaeda; Somali immigrants to the U.S. have been recruited away to join Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate; and Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan killed a dozen of his fellow soldiers and injured 31 in a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas.
The White House will have to do a much better job to keep the country safe in 2010. The U.S. will have to show real resolve in Afghanistan and press Pakistan to go after al Qaeda and the Taliban. The administration will also have to pat more attention to two budding al Qaeda sanctuaries in Yemen and Somalia. Meanwhile, the President needs to show a lot more resolve to winning the long war here at home. That includes stop playing politics with terrorist detention and trials by adopting practical solutions, like keeping detainees at perfectly adequate facilities in Guantanamo Bay, rather than just changing their zip code to curry favor with critics of U.S. efforts to keep the nation safe. Furthermore, the president needs to show real resolve in pressing for the full reauthorization of Patriot Act investigatory authorities and ensure Congress doesn’t undermine the surveillance authorities established under FISA.
The President has a long to do list. Hopefully, he will get it right before al Qaeda gets lucky.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affaires, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation.
Reader Comments: Submit Your Comment (1) | Sign Up for FSM Updates!
Goodbye Janet Napolitano!
You haven't done your job so it's time to resign your position.
posted by: Kim Bruce
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 11:40 AM
