CQ Behind the Lines

From CQ Homeland Security

Behind the Lines for Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011 — 3 P.M. By David C. Morrison, Special to Congressional Quarterly If a tree falls in the forest: DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis "sending out 300 reports a month and intelligence officials have stopped listening" . . . Jobs program: More than a million security guards patrolling America, more than twice the number working pre-9/11 . . . And isn't it ironic: More skyscrapers go up over last decade than in all of architectural history before destruction of the Twin Towers. These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- Here's "a fact Big Sis [a/k/a Janet Napolitano] would rather you forget: Our government frequently does more damage to our way of life than any terrorists could ever hope to do," The Washington Times' editors weigh in. DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis which "was meant to keep law-enforcement agencies in the loop . . . is sending out 300 reports a month and intelligence officials have stopped listening," Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz reveal in Newsweek. Homies: "We don't right now have intelligence that a big plot is in the works," Napolitano tells ABC News' Pierre Thomas — while USA Today's David Jackson hears of President Obama directing the feds to be especially vigilant this weekend. DHS "is getting a report card of sorts. And the grade, to few people's surprise: Incomplete," CNN's Mike M. Ahlers leads, in re: a sweeping GAO assessment — as FOX News' Judson Berger sees DHS's budget facing the knife after nine years of sustained growth. A draft Senate spending bill includes $56 million to continue building the new DHS headquarters, setting the stage for a clash with the House, The Washington Post's Ben Pershing reports. Feds: Since 9/11, Uncle Sam has spent an estimated $8 trillion on "security," FOX News' John Stossel notes, asking: "Was it worth it?"Congress, meantime, raced to boost counter-bioterror lab capacity and vaccine stockpiles, "but 10 years later, some of that effort has slacked off even if the danger hasn't," National Journal's Maggie Fox surveys. Justice is probing why the ATF in 2010 released an Arizona man accused of supplying grenades to a Mexican cartel, The Wall Street Journal's Evan Perez reports. A spike in domestic terrorism and attacks by American citizens directed from overseas are top concerns for police departments across the country, FOX News' Catherine Herridge has a new report discussing. 9/11 Now: Since the attacks, "police on patrol carry gas masks and protective gear and have updated radio systems to communicate with other agencies," The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press surveys, relatedly, in re: post-9/11 law enforcement. More than a million security guards — double the number in 2001 — "patrol shopping malls and power plants and work through the night to protect public spaces," the Post reports. "More skyscrapers have gone up in the last 10 years than in all of architectural history before the destruction of the World Trade Center," the Los Angeles Times spotlights. Don't forget "the rarely noticed casualties of the terrorist attacks: the security guard, the ticket agent, the baggage handler," The Boston Globe memorializes from Logan International. Bugs 'n bombs: A Navy medic who left a note claiming he planted explosives at San Clemente High School has been detained, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reports. New Jersey, closely tied to the 9/11 and anthrax attacks, still lacks trained health care pros sufficient to manage a major crisis, The Newark Star-Ledger sees a new report rebuking. The United States has hired contractors to grab Libyan shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles before they fall into terrorist hands, Bloomberg spotlights. "A death in a bathtub accident is obviously a terrible [personal] tragedy," but deaths from terrorism "can have a profound effect on society and the economy," The Atlantic advises. State and local: "The NYPD has become not just the nation's most highly regarded police department but the nation's most effective counterterrorism force," City Journal lauds. Gotham's record of no new attacks "speaks for itself," NYPD commish Ray Kelly tells The Associated Press — and see The National Review for more on N.Y.'s Finest. "Taxpayers have spent $460 million protecting Georgia, and officials say it was all worthwhile," The Augusta Chronicle leads. Marinette County's emergency czar understands that his Northeastern Wisconsin county, pop. 41,700, is an unlikely terror target, but prizes $626,000 in DHS grants anyway, The Green Bay Press Gazette relates. The future of criminal trials in Jefferson County, Ala., ride on a cash-strapped County Commission funding courthouse security screeners, The Birmingham News notes. Ivory (Watch) Towers: Fewer than half the states explicitly ID the 9/11 attacks in their high school curricula standards, Education Week (sub. req.) advises — as The Parsippany (N.J.) Daily Record sees teachers struggling to address 9/11 with students too young to remember, and the Post spots some educators deciding "to be more forthcoming with kids about exactly what happened." Now "a popular — and well-funded" area of college study, homeland security "has meant new courses, new life for old disciplines and jobs for graduates," the L.A. Times surveys. Western Illinois University, for one, has established not only a Homeland Security Research Program but also a minor in homeland security, TMCnet notes. A new course at Michigan's Oakland University, meantime, will chart post-attack changes in America, "both visible and behind the scenes," Security Info Watch relays. Close air support: Two men were pulled off a Dulles-bound American Airlines flight yesterday, which was then canceled, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth relates. "As part of the largest reorganization of the government since that undertaken by the Truman administration after World War II, the TSA hired, trained, and equipped 50,000 federal screeners," NBC Los Angeles recalls — as the Post profiles a flight attendant who almost worked American Flight 77. "Some of the evolution in airport security follows operational or intelligence findings [while] other changes come from public pressure," The Tampa Tribune thumb-sucks. "For many Iowans, airport security remains perhaps the greatest ongoing frustration stemming from post-Sept. 11 security upgrades," The Des Moines Register registers. Coming and going: A decade after Islamists hijacked jetliners for the 9/11 attacks, Muslim American travelers "are repeatedly singled out at airports, ports and land crossings for special screening and intrusive questioning about their religious beliefs," MSNBC mentions. Washington's Port of Longview has spent $450,000 since 2001 installing fences, security lighting and a dozen wireless security cameras, and plans to spend another $100,000 from DHS on a portwide warning system, The Longview Daily News notes — as Politico hears Rudy Giuliani urging Americans to enhance port security and "get out of the mindset that the next attack will be like the last one." Check, also, The Coast Guard Compass: "Remembering 9/11: A decade later." Courts and rights: The fourth defendant in an FBI sting plot to bomb synagogues in the Bronx was yesterday handed 25 years behind bars, Bloomberg relates. An LAX screener is threatening an advice columnist with defamation and asking for $500,000 and the removal of a blog post accusing her of committing rape with an intrusive pat-down, Techdirt tells. "By historic standards, the domestic legal response to 9/11 gave rise to civil liberties tremors, not earthquakes," a New York Times analysis assesses — and see the Bircherite New American on "Washington's War on Liberty." Over there: Europe's counterterrorism coordinator believes the continent is less vulnerable now to terror attacks than after 9/11, but says Islamist militants still pose a significant danger, The Irish Times tells. In a change in tone, U.S. and Pakistani officials celebrated their cooperation in the arrest of three senior al Qaedaites, The New York Times relates. "Reminders that the Bush administration collaborated with Libya's Qaddafi regime on the detention and interrogation of Islamists makes some afraid. They shouldn't be," The Christian Science Monitor leads. A new interactive from CFR's Global Governance Monitor points out that "counterterrorism efforts worldwide are still insufficient and uncoordinated." Over here: Half of all Muslim Americans say their leaders haven't done enough to condemn Islamic extremism, the Post sees a new poll showing — as Aman Ali insists on CNN that "Muslims should stop apologizing for 9/11," and another Post item discovers Obama's "tepid embrace" leaving those leaders disappointed. Once a popular rapper in Germany, Muslim convert Denis Mamadou Cuspert "is an influential figure who incites violence and unrest through inflammatory videos and fiery speeches that praise terrorists," the Times quotes German police. More Australians "are becoming involved in terrorist groups overseas, forming uncomfortably close links with extremists in the Middle East and Africa," The Australian sees a government report warning. The anti-Islamophobia movement "ignores jihad activity altogether, portraying Muslims as victims and demonizing all who stand in the way of the misogynistic and unjust agenda of the Islamic jihad," Robert Spencer slams in Human Events. Holy Wars: "Our armed forces are becoming ground zero for American Muslims in the ideological struggle between Americanism and Islamism," M. Zuhdi Jasser alerts in The Wall Street Journal. "Will the investigation into Aryan Nation leader August B. Kreis III saying he wanted to join al Qaeda prove to conservatives that white people can be terrorists too?" Death and Taxes wonders. "In the decade since 9/11, experts have elaborated complex theories for the role religion plays in global violence," The Religion News Service noodles — while CNN, again, charts four ways 9/11 changed Americans' attitudes toward religion. "Al Qaeda may lose its relevance in the Muslim world to rival Islamist groups that are prepared to run in elections and take power through politics," a Foreign Affairs essay assesses. Underkill: "Promising to cover the event responsibly and with the kind of delicate restraint it deserves, the nation's cable news outlets announced that while they would be devoting some airtime to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, they 'certainly wouldn't be going overboard with it,'" The Onion reports. "According to the news providers, they only intend to devote 15 minutes of coverage to the anniversary, tops, saying it is their obligation as professional journalists to do justice to the victims' memories as opposed to using the occasion for their own ratings gain. In addition, network representatives admitted it would be lazy news reporting to use the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks as an excuse to fill up hundreds of hours of programming with repetitive video packages and anchors repeatedly asking their guests, 'How did 9/11 change America?'" Source: CQ Homeland Security --------------------------------- Other CQ Roll Call Products CQ Floor Video CQ.com CQ Weekly CQ Today CQ Amendment Text CQ BillTrack CQ Budget Tracker CQ Energy & Climate CQ HealthBeat CQ Homeland Security CQ Hot Docs CQ House Action Reports CQ LawTrack CQ MoneyLine CQ StateTrack CQ Politics Roll Call See all CQ Roll Call products Rob Margetta, CQ Homeland Security Editor Arwen Bicknell, Behind the Lines Editor Published by CQ Roll Call To sign up for CQ Roll Call's free newsletters, click here. Source: CQ Homeland Security Copyright © 2011 CQ Roll Call. All rights reserved.