Recent reports indicate Iran could have a nuclear bomb by 2015, if not earlier. What has been largely ignored is Iran’s ability to acquire an equally destructive device, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon. Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and I recently penned an …
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, brokered a deal this week between Russia and Georgia, and the Russians are declaring victory. Sarkozy, as the current EU President, negotiated the deal with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and later got it approved by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. In the deal, Georgia pledged “not …
A September 10 article in the WSJ hits all the marks on missile defense. In typical Russian fashion, the Kremlin promised their response to a U.S. missile shield in Poland would go “beyond” diplomacy, even though the system is clearly ineffective against an onslaught of Russian ICBM’s. Until recently, this …
Republicans cheered Presidential hopeful John McCain following his closing remarks at their convention last week in St. Paul, Minnesota, particularly when he said, “Let me just offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second crowd: Change is coming.” Throughout his speech he talked about …
Supporters of “comprehensive” immigration reform often purport the zero sum argument that there must be permanent legalization or the forced deportation of all 12 million illegal immigrants. However, a new pilot program by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is testing another option. The pilot of Operation Scheduled Departure allows …
The United States is ready for the next Hurricane Katrina according to Admiral Thad Allen, the former director of the FEMA response effort in New Orleans. In an article put out by Bloomberg, Allen was quoted saying “there is nothing right now that inhibits an effective response.” However others seem …
Seven years removed from the attacks of September 11, 2001, what are the key next steps for homeland security? In a testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight, I provided several answers to that question; my first answer, consolidation of congressional oversight of …
Data security is an issue within the federal government, according to a recent GAO report. The report indicated that, as of September 2007, only about 30% of sensitive information stored on the laptops and mobile devices of federal employees was encrypted. Concerns about the lack of data security in the …
Kentucky is to be the recipient of $11.9 million federal dollars in pork. A Kentucky news station reported that the money was “to increase preparedness and response measures across the state,” however such federal grants are actually undermining state homeland security preparedness measures. According to a Heritage WebMemo by Homeland …
