January 12, 2010
Exclusive: Can the System – As It’s Being Run – Really Stop the Next Jihadist Attack?
Presidential Policy: Does It Make the Grade?, James Jay Carafano, PhD
Last week, the White House continued to look weak on national security as the administration struggled to explain not only why security agencies failed to stop the Christmas day crotch bomber, but why the administration seemed so behind events.
It was not until last week that the President finally fully addressed what happened and what his administration would do to make sure it never happens again. Even after the White House speech, there were some key unanswered questions. Here is what the administration did not explain:
In 2006, the “system” took down a plot that was much more sophisticated than the Christmas Day crotch-bomber. The U.S. government worked with international partners to penetrate the plot, take it down, develop effective countermeasures, and alert Americans to the threat. Nothing that the President said in his comments from the White House this week explained why the system worked then, but failed now. It is an important question. Maybe, we should not be blaming the system at all – but the people who are running it.
If that’s true, then all the fixes we were promised probably won’t do much to stop the next terrorist attack. Turning airports into the next Maginot Line is going to certainly fail sooner or later. Changing the rules about how intelligence is collected, distributed, or evaluated will certainly come up short sooner or later as well. That’s because we are not fighting idiots. The enemy is a thinking, breathing adversary who is dedicated and persistent. They improvise. They innovate. “Fixing” the system means just setting it up for the next failure.
Don’t rest easy. It is unlikely that the administration’s reforms will keep us safe for very long.
Think of safeguarding the homeland like trying to childproof a house. It is not something that parents can do once and walk away. Little kids get bigger, stronger, and smarter. You watch them 24 hours a day, turn your back for a moment, and they are drinking bleach. It’s a full time job. So is being a war president. Presidents have to be on the job 24-7-365.
So while it seems the president still doesn’t get it, at least he said some promising words that ought to give us hope. He said the fault of failing to foil the Christmas Day attack long before the bomber got near a plane was his. He was right. Admitting he failed is the first step.
Next, the president stated publicly and clearly that America is at war with al Qaeda. This is not just another law enforcement problem.
Third, he rightly said this is a war that can be won. In the last nine years, we have won many battles in the fight. Although al Qaeda almost got lucky this time, we have thwarted attacks on U.S. soil in the past and we can do so again. America can take the battle to the enemy and root them out, expose them illegitimate and evil, and destroy them.
Now all the president needs is to be a war president all the time – not just during a short prime time speech. Until then, the White House gets a grade of “L” for lack of leadership and letting us down.
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.
When the Man in charge takes the Intelligence Community and strips them of all of their ability, Then is doing his best to remove our 2nd amendment rights behind the scene, we have no other option but to believe that an attack will be successful either by design or fault. Either way, it will happen.
posted by: Bernie Ewell
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 03:11 PM
OBVIOUS IT'S THE PEOPLE RUNNING "THE SYSTEM" THAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE OR NOT. WE ARE A DIVIDED NATION, RADICAL ISLAM IS NOT.
posted by: thomas sciarrotta
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 05:20 PM
AS MOST REALIZE, OBAMA IS A MUSLIM, AND HE READILY ADMIS IT, SO HOW CAN HIS DECISIONDS IN ANY WAY HELP OUR COUNTRY ?
posted by: jer mynor
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 05:38 PM
Has anyone considered why Obama appoints barely incompetent suck ups to lead the nation's most important security departments? These blind buffoons who have come up through the political (and military) ranks give the appearance of implementing a workable solution which many Americans believe will be the answer, because it came from their beloved messiah who can do no wrong. However, their efforts are an exercise in futility as the measures they take are a direct reflection of the level of seriousness they consider the problem to be. Obama knows that the solutions he has offered will not work. He refuses to breach the politically incorrect profiling barrier or hold other countries accountable for their part in allowing radical Islam to take root. If he was serious about the many problems facing America today, he would appoint no B.S.leaders with proven track records and then get out of their way and let them do what they do best. In their hearts, (the Obama team) doesn't really believe that radical Islam with its millions of followers is a united, world-wide effort to kill or convert EVERY non-muslim, especially Americans and Jews, and conquer the world for allah.
When the WTC fell, the muslim employees of the airport security companies working the European airports clapped and cheered, estatic that finally a devastating blow had been delivered to the great satan.
Can we really expect them to give a rat's rump if their heroes are successful in killing more of us?
posted by: ron
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 05:59 PM
