GWOT Lockbox

By Bill West

More than five years out from the 9/11 attacks, our nation still grapples with who the enemy really is as much as how to fight that enemy. In this 21st Century war, America and its allies, and those allies vary at any given moment, with all the technology and manpower available to it, apparently still cannot produce an effective "no fly" lookout list. After long and tremendously divisive political debate, our political leadership has decided the best immediate course of action for border security is to erect a 700 mile fence along our southern border. Meanwhile, the computerized database (US VISIT) that is supposed to track temporary foreign visitors entering and departing the US still only tracks their entry, with the departure control half of the system still years away from implementation. The recently declassified "Key Judgements" portion of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) related to the war on global terrorism reads more like the reports we hear from talking head experts on any network or cable news show. Was there really anything we didn't already know in that NIE? Was that the best our multi-billion dollar Intelligence Community can produce? Perhaps that should be the real story behind the NIE.

Ironically, more than 60 years ago during WW-II, the last declared war this country fought, in less time than we have now been in Iraq, America built thousands of ships, airplanes, tanks and other war machines and fielded millions of warriors against multiple well-armed nation-states dedicated to our destruction and we completely defeated those enemies. In the process, this country developed, from scratch, the atom bomb and did so in complete secrecy. That "Greatest Generation" demonstrated it deserved the title.

We now appear to be so self-contained within such a bureaucratic quagmire, at least at the Federal Government level, that virtually nothing innovative and progressive occurs. This is nothing new. The Federal Government has become so huge and intransigent over the decades that anything but reaction, and that generally means lethargic reaction, is completely abnormal. The immediate post-9/11 creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was a rare exception, and given the notable inefficiencies and notable failures that have come out of DHS, a strong argument might be made that mistakes were made in that Department's creation. Even so, the risk-taking and innovation involved behind DHS was a golden moment for both Congress and the Executive Branch. Better to have tried and failed than never have made the attempt...a motto hardly ever heard within the Federal Government and even less seldom experienced. Bureaucrats, especially those of the senior management ilk, are far more inclined to take little or no risk and seek little or no change. It appears little has changed in that regard since 9/11.

That is not necessarily the case at the state and local level and even within the private sector. The New York City Police Department, for instance, has aggressively created and staffed its own counter-terrorism cadre independent of the Feds and has even sent Detectives overseas to work with key allied law enforcement agencies. These efforts have not always been viewed favorably by the Federal authorities, but the NYPD has stood its ground and the results have worked. Other local authorities, especially in the arena of immigration enforcement, have decided enough is enough. Some cities are enacting anti-illegal alien ordinances making it illegal to employ illegal aliens or to rent to illegal aliens, subjecting violators to fines and loss of business licenses. Private groups like the Minuteman Project have demonstrated, far from being the "vigilantes" some have labeled them, that a viable cadre of fixed surveillance observers at key border locations can have a dramatic positive effect on border law enforcement and security, since illegal crossings dropped dramatically where the Minutemen deployed and there were no adverse incidents during those deployments. These are but a few examples of some of the non-Federal "out of the box" concepts linked to improving security for Americans.

It is not a complete loss at the Federal level. The men and women on the front lines of Federal law enforcement and intelligence and security agencies work very hard each day, often under difficult and dangerous conditions, to insure our safety. It's seemingly the lack of imagination and innovation at the policy making and implementation level that stymies genuine forward motion. One of the reasons DHS was created was to "cut through the red tape" and "streamline the bureaucracy" of the various agencies incorporated into the new Department so national security and counter-terrorism efforts would be "cutting edge," modernized and swiftly implemented. Can anyone seriously say that has happened? Even so, occasionally, there is reason to hope.

One such reason is a bill that was introduced in the US Senate by Sen. John Ensign [R-NV]. This is S. 2483, the Law Enforcement Assistance Force Act of 2005. The bill would create a volunteer law enforcement force within the DHS comprised of qualified retired law enforcement officers. This force would be called to active duty in times of natural disaster or national emergency and would serve for up to one year, without pay (but would be paid travel and per diem allowance). Consider the value of such a volunteer force during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, or after a major terror attack, or perhaps deployed along the border in place of a civilian effort like the Minutemen? The costs of such a program within the Federal budget would be minimal. The manpower resources, especially if the initial cadre was tapped from retired Federal law enforcement sources wherein DHS had ready access to OPM files for updated background checks, would provide a nearly immediate pool of trained and experienced officers who are highly motivated for the work (all volunteers). This bill is a solid example of someone at the Federal level trying to break out of that lockbox. Unfortunately, the bill remains locked in committee for now.

The Global War on Terror threatens all Americans. We need innovative and creative ideas and the will to try them if we hope to prevail in this struggle. The generation that won WW-II understood this. We should also.

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