Funny, the press falls into the trap of considering the NSA domestic spying scandal as a contest of ideas between the government and the press. I rather thought it was a contest between fundamental American values vs. unchecked governmental power. But, hey, when some white house stooge puts it that as a free press issue, it flatters the press, and so they distort the debate. too bad for the american people.
all they have to do is say "publicizing this endangers the USA; our playbook is on page one, while al quaeda's is secret". really? actually, al qaeda's playbook has been on page one for quite some time now: announce attacks before springing them; engage multiple attacks simultaneously; use spectacular attacks on insecure targets; use a mysterious, charismatic leader to inspire new leadership worldwide; keep ties loose so the organization cannot be easily taken down by capturing senior members;
so.. let's see if bushie boy has been paying attention.
- don't catch OBL
- steal hundreds of millions of nail clippers from innocent americans while leaving plenty of soft targets (because you can't protect them all), as opposed to focusing our billions on locating existing cells or gaming the next possible target
- announce a capture of al qaeda's #2 or #3 in charge every couple of months.
- distribute anti-terror funds on the basis of politics, not risk
- protect critical targets capable of doing the most damage:
- appoint unqualified cronies to response agencies and give no attention to remediation
- outsource without regard to effectiveness - cost OR results. use an uncompetetive process directed at business world cronies.
- Shut down the terrorist training camps in afghanistan, and turn iraq into the biggest and best training camp the world of terror has ever known, with no order and no security, plenty of unemployed elite army members, fervent islamacists, untold tons of explosive material available, and a populace with an unsympathetic view of the targets.
- find OBL. nuff said.
- minimize the stimulus to formation of new terrorists, cells, and organizations. don't pick new fights with al qaeda: keep the focus on their unprovoked attacks on civilian targets and the unislamic nature of this behavior
- Protect the most critical resources with stringent security - nuclear plants, major financial institutions, water, power plants, other infrastructure. focus attention based on the number of people potentially affected. do not waste energy on targets too diffuse to be protected - shopping malls, tiny rural towns.
- in forming a DHS, find the people and organzations already in government who excel in the following areas; arabic and islamic culture, disaster relief, biowarfare
- redefine their missions towards DHS, empower them to train other public safety organizations throughout the country, and use outside contractors to help develop spread this training rapidly throughout the nation.
- Don't
