WHO? The American People.
WHAT? Are better protected today than they were on 9/11.
WHEN? The nation is better prepared to prevent, protect, respond, and recover from catastrophe.
WHERE? Homeland security helps save lives and protect property.
WHY? Homeland security safeguards the nation from domestic catastrophic destruction.
Homeland security safeguards the US from domestic catastrophic destruction. Safeguarding prevents, protects, responds, and recovers from domestic catastrophic destruction. Historically, domestic catastrophic destruction was wrought by nature and nations. The 1995 Tokyo Subway Attacks introduced the new threat of non-state actors with WMD. And 9/11 demonstrated how to achieve WMD effects by subverting critical infrastructure. DHS was created in the wake of 9/11 to direct and coordinate the nation’s homeland security. What are we doing well? Let us start on the Prevent and Protect side of homeland security missions. Border and Transportation Security have become more integrated. DHS has knit together once independent functions and unified them under single management. Unification supports a more comprehensive program and helps eliminate some of the seams that were previously vulnerable. Counterterrorism has also become more tightly integrated across the country. Federal, State, and Local law enforcement work more closely together than they did previously, sharing vital information that can make the difference in preventing the next domestic catastrophic attack. Emergency Management has especially benefitted from homeland security. Without taking charge, DHS is now looked to for national leadership and has led the way in establishing national standards that make First Responders a more capable and more interoperable in catastrophic incidents. Countering WMD has also become more integrated across government, providing better insight and direction on how to monitor, track, and control the movement of WMD agents around the world. Critical Infrastructure Protection has developed an unprecedented level of cooperation between government and private industry in sharing information to help reduce vulnerabilities to attack. Cybersecurity has been given due consideration for its destructive potential, and DHS has formed a public/private partnership to help monitor the Internet and quickly responds to emerging threats. Now let’s look at the Respond and Recover side of homeland security missions. Border and Transportation Security. The nation is better prepared to adapt to emerging threats and more quickly reduce new vulnerabilities as they are found. Counterterrorism. The National Counterterrorism Center has fostered an unprecedented level of cooperation across the FBI, CIA, and DoD in conducting global counterterrorism operations. Emergency Management. The National Incident Management System has made First Responders much more capable in their ability to rapidly combine agencies and work together towards common objectives when responding to a catastrophic incident. Critical Infrastructure Protection. The Risk Management Framework has helped public and private agencies identify acute vulnerabilities and implement protective measures to more rapidly recover from both natural and manmade threats. Cybersecurity. Although limited, DHS has response assets in the form of the US-CERT and ICS-CERT that stand ready to assist private industry in rapidly responding and recovering from cyber-attack. A key question often asked is “Are we better protected today than we were on 9/11?” The answer is undeniably “yes”, but with a key caveat. That caveat is this: “There is no absolute security.” There is not absolute security because we cannot stop the forces of nature or man. There is no invulnerable defense, and a determined attacker will eventually succeed. That’s why homeland security assumes failure in its very mission. It’s not a matter of “if”, but a matter of “when” the next catastrophe will strike. But in this regard, the missions undertaken since 9/11 will help save lives and protect property.