I learned something new about bureaucratic lingo. Homeland security really means fighting terrorism somewhere else. Leave any domestic disasters to local authorities. At least that's how the Bush administration operated. "Homeland" appears to be misplaced.
Federal policy on homeland security is about to change under an Obama restructure plan according to Stephen Flynn, Ph.D., a member of a transition team for the new president. Flynn addressed a group at the University of California, San Diego Faculty Club sponsored by the School of International Relations/Pacific Studies.
"What I did mainly (at the strategy meetings) was to kick shins," the speaker quipped. Why was that? The whole concept that the federal government could efficiently deal with natural and aggression disasters is wishful thinking. Just look at FEMA's management of the Hurricane Katrina debacle.
According to Flynn, it takes active involvement of local agencies and citizens to respond promptly to a flood, a tornado or a terrorist attack. Think New York City firemen and police trying to save lives on Sept. 11. The federal government is unable to be any help without the support of people on the ground.
When the Department of Homeland Security was formed by President Bush after 9/11, the focus and funding was directed to apprehending foreign operatives on their home ground. Vice President Cheney wanted all threats to homeland security kept overseas, not a burden for domestic authorities, claimed Flynn. That way the feds are in charge and can direct the proposed 2010 budget of $55 billion toward their interests. "Let it happen there," was the federal credo for the past seven years.
The speaker had just come from a survey of the Los Angeles-Long Beach port for terrorist risk. Storage facilities there are limited to 10 to 14 days' supply of oil. There is only one pipeline coming into the port to supply all of Southern California with millions of residents. Yet the LA/LB port is not classified as "strategic" by Washington.
On the other hand, San Diego is a strategic port with considerably less flow of material and supplies necessary to sustain the region. Why is that? San Diego has the U.S. Navy and other military bases that are judged to have higher terrorist risk.
Professor Flynn pointed to federal employee inertia and turnover of political appointees as part of the problem. He reported a 75 percent personnel change in the last three years at homeland security. Some bureaucrats managing this department would think parking a Coast Guard cutter in front of the Statue of Liberty is enough protection from terrorists.
On the other hand, the speaker advocated his faith in the American DNA to combat adversity. His prime example was the actions taken by passengers on United Flight 93 on 9/11 to keep the aircraft from attacking the U.S. Capitol. Again, Flynn put more trust in the people closest to a disaster or threat of one for solutions. He cited CERT as the best support program for a neighborhood.
Besides Professor Flynn's appointment as Lead Policy Advisor on Homeland Security for Obama's transitional team, he serves as a Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and National Security Studies and on the Council for Foreign Relations. He is a consulting professor at Stanford University. His books "Edge of Disaster, Rebuilding a Resilient Nation" and "America the Vulnerable" and published articles also address America's infrastructure crisis, pandemic preparedness and misguided missile defense.
As President Obama works his way through the minefields of health care reform and capping off his stimuli programs, time will come to resolve the homeland security issues. Transfer and trials of the incarcerated suspected terrorists, policy on interrogation torture and restructure of CIA operations will top the list.
The challenge will be to segregate duties of the overseas operatives from the needs at home for natural disasters as well as risk of terrorist threat like the 9/11 attack.
Let's hope the president will select the right team to manage security whether homeland or foreign and let local agencies do their jobs without federal interference.
Ford is a freelance writer based in San Diego. He can be reached at johnpatrick.ford@sddt.com. Comments may be published as Letters to the Editor.
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