From
The Right
By
Harris Sherline
Is Our
Homeland Secure?
For the
most part, I have always been an optimist, generally seeing opportunity in
difficult situations. However, I
must admit that when it comes to homeland security, I tend to be somewhat pessimistic. When I do think about it, I invariably
ask myself,
§
Are
we secure?
§
Has
our government done enough to make the American homeland safe?
§
Are
we doing enough ourselves, as individuals?
§
Is
it even possible to make us secure?
Starting
with the fact that we are relatively new at this game, having begun to focus
intently on the problem only since 9/11, my sense is that it’s a bit early to
know just how secure we can be. One thing is for sure, in my judgment, at this
point we are definitely not secure.
Do you
feel that we are? Does anyone you
know really feel the nation is safe from another attack? I don’t know anyone who does when you
put the question to them.
Do you
ever think about the problem, even for a few minutes? Or, do you generally tune
it out from day to day, working at your job, enjoying family life, planning for
the future – just plain living?
The
Administration and many Republicans have been taking credit for the fact that
we have not suffered another major terrorist attack since 9/11, which makes me
wonder what the reaction of the American people will be when it finally
happens. And, it is going to
happen!
Chances
are, the reaction will be to “throw the bums out.” Unfortunately, that won’t make much difference –
because we will only get another bunch just like them in office.
Every
time I hear the head of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, talk about what
the government has done or is doing to protect America, I wonder how anyone can
actually believe we are adequately protected when we are so plagued by
political correctness that it prevents us from even doing something as basic as
profiling airline passengers. Over
five years after 9/11 we are still not inspecting most of the cargo on airplanes
at our ports, or adequately protecting our water and food supplies, power
plants, etc. Further, what about
the potential of suicide bombers attacking our public places, such as major
shopping malls? If anything would
disrupt our way of life that certainly would.
Our
leaders responded to 9/11 by creating the largest bureaucracy in American
history, the Department of Homeland Security, with a $46.8 billion budget and
upwards of 200,000 employees.
Just
looking at the organization chart is enough to boggle the mind: There are
22 departments organized in
five levels of bureaucracy. The
major agencies are Transportation Security, U.S. Customs & Border
Protection, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration
Customs Enforcement, U.S. Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) and the U.S. Coast Guard.
They all
report to the Secretary of Homeland Security, along with 18 other assorted
“Secretaries,” Officers, Directors and the like. There is also a Homeland Security Advisory Council, which
provides “advice and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland
Security,”
The
way I see it…
To my
eye, it looks like an organizational nightmare, with a span of control that
exceeds the ability of any single individual to manage. Just looking at it raises questions, and,
as usual, Congress has a hand in managing everything, adding to the complexity
and confusion that surrounds the agency’s activities.
In my
opinion we are a long way from being secure. I also believe we can never be completely safe. How on earth is it possible for us to
protect ourselves from every conceivable attempt to attack us, ranging from
nuclear to poisoning our food and water, to attacking our transportation
systems (air, shipping, railroads, trucking), power grids, major installations
and Lord knows what else?
One thing
for sure, without adequate border security there can be no homeland
security. Listening to the endless
arguments about securing our borders, especially with Mexico, it is obvious
that we are wide open to being infiltrated by our enemies.
Apart
from 9/11, the breathtaking scope of the Katrina disaster underscored the fact
that the most important function of government is to protect its citizens.
So, what
are we getting for our $46.8 billion Homeland Security budget, especially at
the local level?
For the
most part, it’s a top down system, with the agencies that comprise the
Department of Homeland Security applying their funding to a wide variety of
programs, including emergency preparedness activities at the state and county
levels. But, in spite of this, are
we really prepared for major emergencies, such as fires, torrential rains,
accidents involving hazardous materials, earthquakes or other natural disasters
- and the unthinkable, a terrorist attack or perhaps the overflow consequences
of one in a major metropolitan area?
When
there is a fire, earthquake, tornado, flood, who’s available to help? We tend to rely on local Fire, Police
or Sheriff’s departments, public utilities, agencies like the Red Cross, or the
National Guard. What if no one can
get to you for two or three days, or a week? What can you do?
Are you adequately prepared to tough it out on your own? New Orleans vividly demonstrated that
most people are not.
In a
major crisis, the reality is that you will probably have to fend for yourself
until help arrives, conceivably days, a week, or longer. There are simply not enough police,
firefighters and emergency personnel to respond to every situation.
Think
about how unprepared you probably are for an emergency. Everything from fire extinguishers to
first aid kits and CPR training to an adequate supply of food and water to a
pre-determined survival plan and escape route for your family, to just plain
knowing what to do to protect your home and loved ones and to help your
neighbors.
Thomas
Sowell made the following observations in an article about New Orleans and
Katrina:
When all is said and done, government is ultimately just
human beings -- politicians, judges, bureaucrats. Maybe the reason we are so
often disappointed with them is that they have over-promised and we have been
gullible enough to believe them.
Government cannot solve all our problems, even in normal
times, much less during a catastrophe of nature that reminds man how little he
is, despite all his big talk.
The most basic function of government, maintaining law and
order, breaks down when floods or blackouts paralyze the system.
During good times or bad, the police cannot police
everybody. They can at best control a small segment of society. The vast
majority of people have to control themselves.
If we
don’t know what to do in a major emergency, and we expect our local police and
firefighters to be the “first responders,” and they are not available, who will
be accountable: the Federal Department of Homeland Security, the state
government, your city council or county board of supervisors? As we have already seen with Katrina in
New Orleans, there will be plenty of blame to go around.
In the
final analysis, self-help is inescapable. Think about it. Are you prepared? Do you know what to do if outside help
cannot get to you when the next major emergency strikes, which will surely
happen.
There’s
another major emergency in your future, and the likelihood that the government,
local, state or Federal, will be able prevent it or provide 100% protection is
slim to none. We all need to be
prepared to take care of ourselves and to help our neighbors until the
situation stabilizes.