THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

 

First a little history about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS):

After 911 several problems with our security and intelligence became very apparent, such as FBI field reports pertaining to some of the 9/11 attackers never making it to the higher ups in the agency. CIA reports were never shared with the FBI and FBI reports were never shared with the CIA.

Therefore, not only was information not getting to the personnel that it was intended to, two of our countries intelligence organizations did not know what the other knew.

Hence the Department of Homeland Security was born from these intelligence failures. The DHS was supposed to encompass all of our intelligence agencies including the CIA and the FBI.

What agencies are under the umbrella of the DHS?

 

The DHS is broken down into four major directorates:

 

Ø    Border and Transportation Security

Ø    Emergency Preparedness and Response

Ø    Science and Technology

Ø    Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection

 

Border and Transportation Security 

The U.S. Customs Service (Treasury)

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (part) (Justice)

The Federal Protective Service

The Transportation Security Administration (Transportation)

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (Treasury)

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (part)(Agriculture)

Office for Domestic Preparedness (Justice)

 

Emergency Preparedness and Response

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Strategic National Stockpile and the National Disaster Medical System (HHS)

Nuclear Incident Response Team (Energy)

Domestic Emergency Support Teams (Justice)

National Domestic Preparedness Office (FBI)

 

 

 

Science and Technology

CBRN Countermeasures Programs (Energy)

Environmental Measurements Laboratory (Energy)

National BW Defense Analysis Center (Defense)

Plum Island Animal Disease Center (Agriculture)

 

Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection

Federal Computer Incident Response Center (GSA)

National Communications System (Defense)

National Infrastructure Protection Center (FBI)

Energy Security and Assurance Program (Energy)

 

The Secret Service and the Coast Guard will also be located in the Department of Homeland Security, remaining intact and reporting directly to the Secretary. In addition, the INS adjudications and benefits programs will report directly to the Deputy Secretary as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

 

But, to this day neither the FBI or the CIA reports to the DHS.

The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff is currently the man who oversees all of the above departments.

Last year CNN obtained records from Homeland Security that showed the Mexican Army crossing U.S. borders without permission more than 350 times. The incursions have happened all along the border from San Diego to the Rio Grande Valley

The Mexican Army has been escorting drug cartels that are smuggling illegal aliens and drugs.

The official story from Border Patrol Agents is: from time to time, they get lost.

Michael Chertoff when asked about this said “I think to create the image that somehow there is a deliberate effort by the Mexican military to cross the border would be really to traffic in, you know, kind of scare tactics. I don't think that we have a serious problem with official incursions”.

More than 350 incursions by a foreign army bringing drugs and illegal aliens, and Michael Chertoff said, “I don't think that we have a serious problem with official incursions”.  I wonder what he would consider a real problem.

The Whitehouse and the Department of Homeland Security have been downplaying the threats posed by repeated Mexican military incursions into the United States.

 

Outsourcing Security

Last year we learned that the vetting process for hiring border patrol agents is out sourced to a job search firm, which is supposed to do background checks. It was discovered that some of the people they hired, were themselves illegal aliens.

The border patrol agency said, that they have discontinued using outside sources to do background checks.

A few months back, we learned that the uniforms that the borders patrol agent’s wear are made in Mexico where they could be stolen, and used by people who have other things in mind besides patrolling our borders.

The border patrol agency said, that they could make uniforms cheaper in Mexico, than in the United States.

Earlier this year two border patrol agents who in the course of doing their duty, were in pursuit of a drug trafficker who had a van loaded with marijuana. The agents chased the suspect and under threat for their lives, they shot the suspect in the butt.

The suspect escaped back across the border into Mexico.

The two agents were charged with discharging their firearms unnecessarily, the suspect was given immunity brought back into the United States where in court he testified that the agents shot at him for no reason, the two agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean are serving 10 and 11 years respectively.

The prosecution of these two border agents sent a message to all border agents; this could be you.

Last year we all learned that our Government, with the approval of George W. Bush, was about to sell six of our major seaports to United Arab Emirates (UAE), who just a couple of years earlier, were providing banking services to Al-Qaeda.

Remember the big out cry over this sale?

Remember when Bush said we would have a forty-five day cooling down period, after which we would reconsider the sale?

Bush said that the UAE government could be trusted and six days after he made the promise of a forty-five day cooling period, the UAE sale went through.

The UAE took control of six of our major seaports, but our government said that they must sell the six ports to an American company as soon as possible.

January of this year the UAE announced that they found a buyer for the six ports, AIG Global Investment Group. There has yet to be an announcement that the sale went through.

Last December President Bush tried to get the laws that govern ownership of our International Airlines changed so that foreign countries could buy controlling interest (51 percent) in the companies. The current law is that foreign investors cannot own more then twenty-five percent of any airlines.

The response or lack of response to the Katrina disaster was because of FEMA’s lack of experienced personnel. During the 90’s FEMA was a well-oiled machine, but with Michael Chertoff and Michael “Brownie” Brown at the helm, most of the upper management left FEMA.

The last six years under President Bush’s watch and with a Republican controlled Congress the words that echoed from republican rooftop to republican rooftop have been, “We can protect you better then the Democrats.”

Republican Security is a Myth; the Republican Party has left the United States in more danger then ever before, we have wide-open borders where anyone, including our enemies, can just walk in. Our Seaports have as many holes in them as our borders, less then five percent of all cargo containers are inspected.

The next time you hear someone, anyone, say that they can protect you better then the other guy…look out.

 

 

 

David Phillips is the publisher and editor of the online political magazine

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