The Political Chase

The IED’s that crossed the Atlantic

(Update below)

George Bush desperately wants Congress to give him unconditional warrantless surveillance with full immunity (retroactive and future) and he knows Congress will give it to him if he engages the fear-mongering propaganda machine, which has already started and the media continues to gladly serve as his stenographer and water carrier. However, the good news is, Americans only have to worry about IEDs on every street corner and in every mall, instead of the tried and true atomic bomb of yesteryear. However, instead of dispatching Dick Cheney to tell us the nukes are coming “fairly soon,” Michael “Gut Feeling” Chertoff has been tapped as the Deputy Fear-Monger in Chief.

The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI agree that the homemade explosive devices that have wreaked havoc in Iraq pose a rising threat to the United States. But lawmakers and first responders say the Bush administration has been slow to devise a strategy for countering the weapons and has not provided adequate money and training for a concerted national effort.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who told the Senate last month that such bombs are terrorists’ “weapon of choice,” said yesterday at a local meeting that President Bush will soon issue a blueprint for countering the threat of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Chertoff’s department said in a draft report on IEDs earlier this year that national efforts “lack strategic guidance, are sometimes insufficiently coordinated . . . and lack essential resources.”

At least the administration’s strategy wasn’t entirely “trust me” this time, however their good-cop, bad-copy act portraying Bush as incompetent doesn’t suffice either. Chertoff and his fellow propagandists allege that Bush has been DHS’s primary obstacle to complete a national strategy for protecting the Homeland (who was the numskull that put that Bolshevik term in our government lexicon anyway?). I must admit as I read the Post’s article, hypertension was looming as I pondered yet another revelation of Bush’s incompetence. But one needs only to remember that George Bush will never sanction a Cabinet Member criticizing or indicating that he is anything but perfect to recognize it is a sham.

Summarizing, the country is allegedly in serious danger of IEDs propagating — if not already present — throughout the nation and the top priority, according to Chertoff, is to find out where the Terrorists are and what their strategy is. Low on the priority list are: implementing explosive detection technology; feet-on-the-street investigations; and, establishing adequate response teams with appropriate and applicable equipment if an IED is triggered.

Of course, any person with half of a cerebrum present knows they should both be equal in priority — if the threat is real — but that will not bolster their strategy. They must have FISA revisions that give the administration carte blanche privileges and authority to surveil what the Terrorists are up to and what deep, dark hidden corners they lurk in.

Chertoff gave the Post all the evidence necessary to prove unequivocally that gathering intelligence is indeed the silver bullet.

Chertoff cited the example of Raed al-Banna, 32, a Jordanian identified through his fingerprints as the perpetrator of a February 2005 suicide car-bombing in Iraq. In 2003, he was flagged as a potential terrorist by customs inspectors at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and ordered to leave the country.

They just happened to catch one person and that supposed to be compelling evidence they will catch all the perpetrators? I suppose the War on Drugs ended 25 years ago and I just missed it.

Chertoff’s tactics become quite transparent, when put in context with several other recent activities, most of which the Post conveniently fails to report. The most telling is the October 9 release of the first revision of the National Strategy for Homeland Security in more than seven years. The administration released the first Strategy in July 2002 — perfect timing to support the August 27, 2002 roll out of Bush and Cheney’s propaganda escalation to support the invading Iraq in March 2003. Sounds like perfect timing again to me. Bush wants his bill passed, hence the false threats cometh.

We have been fighting the War on Terror since 9/11/01, but our strategy for domestic security against all those Terrorists that are constantly seeking to kill every last one of us sat on the shelf for seven years and three months? They didn’t need to make any revisions — George Bush was spying on anybody he wanted and nobody knew about it. Why would he want to put anything on paper that had to be submitted to Congress? He couldn’t submit anything to Congress, because he would have to lie in order to keep the warrantless surveillance program in place.

Consider the facts and the recent sequence of events.

• August 22 - DNI Mike McConnell begins demanding Congress give the telecom companies retroactive immunity for conspiring with the Bush administration’s illegal warrantless surveillance.
• September 19 - New York Times reports ” Democratic leaders have now largely accepted the idea of warrantless surveillance of international calls as long as the target is foreign, but they have been arguing that a special court should play a stronger role.”
• September 26 - Federal judge rules two major portions of the Patriot Act are unconstitutional. The judge said that FISA, as amended by the Patriot Act, “now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment.”

The judge’s ruling is a major blow to the telecom companies’ defense in all the civil lawsuits pending against them for participating in the warrantless surveillance. It is also a serious blow to the Bush administration’s claims that the warrantless surveillance programs are legal. They could all be wearing orange jump suits if Congress does not grant them immunity and the Supreme Court does not intervene.

The heat on the White House has continued to rise and they had to do something — something that they know has always been successful.

• October 3 — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) demands the White House provide previously subpoenaed documents related to the warrantless surveillance programs and threatens to “encumber” President Bush’s nomination of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General.
• October 9 — Representatives Conyers (D-MI) and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) introduced proposed FISA revisions that did not provide retroactive immunity for the telecom companies nor the Bush administration.
• October 9 — George Bush releases new National Strategy for Homeland Security, the first and only revision in more than seven years. The Strategy demands that Congress make the Protect America Act permanent and has a plethora of references — direct and indirect — to the necessity of of broad surveillance powers and enhanced “processes for sharing all relevant and appropriate information throughout all levels of government and with our partners.”
• October 13 - The Washington Post reveals the Bush administration began spying on Americans a few weeks after President Bush’s 2001 Inauguration — seven months before 9/11.
• October 16 - Verizon provides Congress evidence for the period January 2005 through mid-September 2007, that it gave the Bush administration information about its customers’ calls and emails, without a court order, tens of thousands of times.
• October 19 - Senate Intelligence Committee approves draft FISA revisions that will allow “blanket warrants” and provide retroactive immunity for the Bush administration and the telecom companies lawbraking related to warrantless surveillance.
• October 20 - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warns the country via the Washington Post that IEDs — homemade explosive devices used against U.S. troops in Iraq — are a clear and present danger to America. Chertoff claims “gathering intelligence” is the necessary tool to rid America of the pending national nightmare.

The government warns Americans via some piece in the Washington Post about “rising threats” that will span the country? That is precisely what they did on September 8, 2002 when they wanted to start a bogus war in Iraq over WMDs that never existed. - atomic bombs were on the way.

When George Bush wanted Congress to pass the Protect America in August, he played the fear-mongering card again. DNI Mike McConnell suddenly sounded all the alarms possible — declaring he could only illegally spy on 25% of the people that he had previously spied upon before Congress made recent changes to the surveillance laws. And, the “chatter” had risen dramatically during that time. Yes, the chatter was George Bush wanting the Protect America Act passed; badly enough to issue a bogus threat that al-Qaeda may strike the U.S. Capitol at any time, and if Congress did not give Bush what he wanted the blood would be on their hands, not his. They swiftly passed the bill.

And, Bush is doing it again. Michael “Gut-Feeling” Chertoff is telling us IEDs are going to start raining from the sky, and George Bush has whipped out his new Homeland Security Strategy just in the nick of time to support Chertoff and his silver-bullet solution of gathering intelligence.

Bush’s new strategy and America’s new clear and present danger are like twins. How can one possibly ignore or deny the sequence of events and history? They can’t.

Take a look at the new National Strategy that follows. I have duplicated it here and highlighted several passages. The green highlight is the money statement.

I elected to publish the entire piece, including the hand-wagging picture the White House used, and just use highlights, because without it, you don’t get the full effect. It is Madison Avenue marketing.

All emphasis are in the original, except where I have noted. The highlights are mine.

Update:  The Post covered the release of Bush’s domestic security strategy in an October 10 piece, which I did not know about. Interestingly enough, others questioned the president’s motives and criticized the content of the strategy.

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said…the document “provides little guidance for the deficiencies already taxing our homeland security capacity, while at the same time, it attempts to define successes . . . which have not yet been realized.”

Several security analysts praised the document for attempting to put such policies on more solid footing. But they also questioned its timing and long passages defending the pet initiatives of a dwindling administration, instead of reconciling security directives and plans issued over the past six years.

“It reads more like a legacy document than a forward-leaning strategy,” said Frank J. Cilluffo, a former Bush adviser now head of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. “To some extent, it was a missed opportunity,” he said.

“It’s a surprising time . . . to come up with a new strategy,” [David W. Heyman, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies,] said. 

Update End

Protecting the Homeland

 

Fact Sheet: The National Strategy for Homeland Security

 

On October 9, 2007, the President issued an updated National Strategy for Homeland Security, which will serve to guide, organize, and unify our Nation’s homeland security efforts. This Strategy is a national strategy – not a Federal strategy – and articulates our approach to secure the Homeland over the next several years. It builds on the first National Strategy for Homeland Security, issued in July 2002, and complements both the National Security Strategy issued in March 2006 and the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism issued in September 2006. It reflects our increased understanding of the threats confronting the United States, incorporates lessons learned from exercises and real-world catastrophes, and articulates how we should ensure our long-term success by strengthening the homeland security foundation we have built. This includes calling on Congress to make the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reforms in the Protect America Act of 2007 permanent.

• Since September 11, 2001, our concept of securing the homeland has evolved, adapting to new realities and threats. The Strategy issued today incorporates this increased understanding by:
  • Acknowledging that while we must continue to focus on the persistent and evolving terrorist threat, we also must recognize that certain non-terrorist events that reach catastrophic levels can have significant implications for homeland security.
  • Emphasizing that as we secure the Homeland we cannot simply rely on defensive approaches and well-planned response and recovery measures. We recognize that our efforts also must involve offense at home and abroad.

Our National Efforts to Secure the Homeland

The Strategy provides a common framework through which our entire Nation – Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, the private and non-profit sectors, communities, and individual citizens – should focus its homeland security efforts on the following four goals:

1.        Prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks. To prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks in the United States, we are working to deny terrorists and terrorist-related weapons and materials entry into our country and across all international borders, disrupt terrorists’ ability to operate within our borders, and prevent the emergence of violent Islamic radicalization in order to deny terrorists future recruits and to defeat homegrown extremism.

2.        Protect the American people, our critical infrastructure, and key resources. To protect the lives and livelihoods of the American people, we must undertake measures to deter the threat of terrorism, mitigate the Nation’s vulnerability to acts of terror and the full range of man-made and natural catastrophes, and minimize the consequences of an attack or disaster should it occur.

3.        Respond to and recover from incidents that do occur. To save lives, mitigate suffering, and protect property in future catastrophes, we must strengthen the foundation of an effective, coordinated response. This includes clarifying roles and responsibilities across all levels of government and the private and non-profit sectors. We must also focus on ensuring we have the operational capabilities and flexibility necessary to facilitate both short-term recovery and an effective transition to long-term rebuilding and revitalization efforts.

4.        Continue to strengthen the foundation to ensure our long-term success. To fulfill these responsibilities over the long term, we will continue to strengthen the principles, systems, structures, and institutions that cut across the homeland security enterprise and support our activities to secure the Homeland. Ultimately, this will help ensure the success of our Strategy to secure the Nation. This includes:

• Applying a comprehensive approach to risk management. We must apply a risk-based framework across all homeland security efforts in order to identify and assess potential hazards (including their downstream effects), determine what levels of relative risk are acceptable, and prioritize and allocate resources among all homeland security partners, both public and private, to prevent, protect against, and respond to and recover from all manner of incidents.
• Building a Culture of Preparedness. Our entire Nation shares common responsibilities in homeland security. In order to help prepare the Nation to carry out these responsibilities, we will continue to foster a Culture of Preparedness that permeates all levels of society – from individual citizens, businesses, and non-profit organizations to Federal, State, local, and Tribal government officials and authorities.
  • Developing a comprehensive Homeland Security Management System. In order to continue strengthening the foundations of a prepared Nation, we will establish and institutionalize a comprehensive Homeland Security Management System that incorporates all stakeholders. This system involves a continuous, mutually reinforcing cycle of activity across four phases – guidance; planning; execution; and assessment and evaluation.
  • Relevant departments and agencies of the Federal government must take the lead in implementing this system, and State, local, and Tribal governments are highly encouraged to ultimately adopt fully compatible and complementary processes and practices as part of a full-scale national effort.
  • In order to ensure the success of this system, our Nation must further develop a community of homeland security professionals by establishing multidisciplinary education opportunities. In addition to covering homeland and relevant national security issues, this education should include an understanding and appreciation of appropriate regions, religions, cultures, legal systems, and languages. We also must continue to develop interagency and intergovernmental assignments and fellowship opportunities, tying them to promotions and professional advancement.
• Improving incident management. We must develop a comprehensive approach to incident management that will help Federal, State, local, and Tribal authorities manage incidents across our goals of prevention, protection, and response and recovery. Our approach will build upon the existing National Incident Management System (NIMS) and help decision-making during crisis and periods of heightened concern.
• Better utilizing science and technology. The United States derives much of its strength from its advantage in science and technology, and we must continue to use this advantage and encourage innovative research and development to assist in protecting and defending against the range of natural and man-made threats confronting the Homeland.
• Using all instruments of national power and influence. The United States is using its instruments of national power and influence – diplomatic, information, military, economic, financial, intelligence, and law enforcement – to prevent terrorism, protect the lives and livelihoods of the American people, and respond to and recover from incidents. We must build on these efforts, by continuing to enhance our processes for sharing all relevant and appropriate information throughout all levels of government and with our partners, and by prioritizing the continued transformation of our law enforcement and military.

Working With Congress To Make FISA Reform Permanent, And Other Legislative Action

The U.S. Congress should take bold steps to fulfill its responsibilities in the national effort to secure the Homeland and protect the American people.

• Congress should help ensure that we have the necessary tools to address changing technologies and homeland security threats while protecting privacy and civil liberties. We must make additional reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and ensure that the statute is permanently amended so that our intelligence professionals continue to have the legal tools they need to gather information about the intentions of our enemies while protecting the civil liberties of Americans.
• Both houses of the Congress should take action to further streamline the organization and structure of those committees that authorize and appropriate homeland security-related funds and otherwise oversee homeland security missions.
• The Congress should fully embrace a risk-based funding approach so that we best prioritize our limited resources to meet the most critical homeland security goals and objectives first.

Progress Made Securing The Homeland

Since September 11, we have made extraordinary progress in securing our Homeland and fighting the War on Terror. We have:

• Disrupted multiple potentially deadly plots against the United States. We have greatly increased worldwide counterterrorism efforts since 9/11, which has constrained the ability of al-Qaeda to attack the Homeland and led terrorist groups to find that the United States is a harder target to strike.
• Strengthened our ability to protect the American people by creating the Department of Homeland Security. We have also enhanced our homeland security and counterterrorism architecture through the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Homeland Security Council, the National Counterterrorism Center, and U.S. Northern Command, a Department of Defense combatant command focused on homeland defense and civil support.
• Made our borders more secure. We are implementing an effective system of layered defense by strengthening the screening of people and goods overseas and by tracking and disrupting the international travel of terrorists.
• Instituted an active, multi-layered approach to that integrates the capabilities of Tribal, local, State and Federal governments, as well as those of the private and non-profit sectors. In addition, Federal grant funding and technical assistance has also enhanced State, local and Tribal homeland security training and equipment, emergency management capabilities, and the interoperability of communications.
• Worked with Congress to create, implement, and renew key legal reforms. The USA PATRIOT Act, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, and the Protect America Act of 2007 promote security and help to implement 9/11 Commission and WMD Commission recommendations, while protecting our fundamental liberties.