WHO? The American People.
WHAT? Are better protected today than they were on 9/11.
WHEN? However, misdirected or missing efforts leave the nation unnecessarily vulnerable.
WHERE? Recognizing what we do bad is the first step to improving homeland security.
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 bad? In this context, we consider “bad” any homeland security investment not contributing to the core mission of safeguarding the nation from domestic catastrophic destruction. As before, let as approach this from a mission standpoint. Border and Transportation Security. This homeland security mission has two primary objectives: Keep malicious agents and weapons of mass destruction from entering the country. This mission is also constrained by the competing requirement to facilitate legitimate trade. In this regard, we are failing bad. The current state of the practice is such that we CAN’T keep criminals or contraband from entering the country, and we pay a high economic price for ineffective screening. Counterterrorism. This homeland security mission has the primary objective of stopping catastrophic terrorist attack before it can occur. This mission is fundamentally flawed because it tries to predict crime based on motive. Motive is a poor indicator of future action because humans are non-deterministic, we do not act in linear fashion. We have free will. Just because we have motive does not mean we will act on it. Nature does not have free will. Nature IS deterministic AND acts in linear fashion according to physical laws. Despite this, the complexity of variables makes it impossible to accurately predict natural phenomenon such as weather. If we can’t predict nature, what chance have we at predicting humans? Emergency Management. This homeland security mission has the objective of quickly drawing together diverse agencies to effectively respond to catastrophic incidents. Unfortunately, we are still confronted with a same basic problem that plagued New York City First Responders on 9/11: interoperable communications. Different agencies use different radios and frequencies. Despite recognition of the problem, it remains unresolved and continues to confound emergency response. Countering WMD. This homeland security mission has the primary objective of keeping WMD from falling into malicious hands. The sad fact of the matter is that WMD agents remain readily accessible in this country, primarily due to the absence and delay in developing long-term disposal for nuclear waste materials. Malicious agents need not worry about smuggling WMD agents into the US; they are already here. Critical Infrastructure Protection. This homeland security mission has the primary objective of keeping critical infrastructure from being subverted to inflict domestic catastrophic destruction. Although the risk management approach is sound, this mission is failing in many areas, but perhaps most significantly in developing metrics. In the absence of a proper metric, it is impossible to determine where you are, figure out where you should go, or calculate how much it will cost to get there. In short, you cannot formulate strategy. Finally, Cybersecurity. The mission objective here is to keep from subverting critical infrastructure. The basic problem is we don’t have defense in-depth. Owners and operators are responsible for their own protection, meaning security is uneven and the entire sector vulnerable to attack.