The Homeland Security Department ordered its border agents “effective immediately” to verify that every international student who arrives in the U.S. has a valid student visa, according to an internal memorandum obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
Homeland Security
Cyber-Security: Stand Down, for Now, Congress
Washington, it seems, can’t get no satisfaction.
After years of often-alarmist rhetoric about the threat of deadly cyber-attacks – and repeated calls for government to ‘do something’ to address the threat – President Obama …
Dark Knight Shooter Not A Veteran
I have to admit that when I saw the news about the Aurora, Colo., shootings Friday morning, my first reaction wasn’t appropriate. My very first instincts should have been shock and sympathy towards the victims and their …
New Air Force Mission: Cyberwar Belongs to Us
The Wall Street Journal noted last Friday about how the “Pentagon digs in on cyberwar front.” Bit misleading, as it’s really the Air Force that’s desperate to corner that market. You know the general story of Big War Blue (Navy, …
BioWatch: False Alarms, and a False Sense of Security
Following 9/11, the U.S. decided on two courses of action:
– It decided to go war by invading Afghanistan (which achieved “Major Non-NATO Ally Status” with Washington on Friday). Alas, 530 days later it fumbled that effort by invading Iraq.
– It decided to turn the nation into Fortress America.
That second decision led to the …
Leon Panetta, Doomsday Cabin Salesman
This ad appeared on page 15 of Sunday’s New York Times. In stark terms, using a recent comment by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, it warns of impending cataclysm. It urges New York City readers to prepare for doom…by buying a cabin in the Catskills, “located less than two hours from New York City.”
The website linked to the ad …
House Pushes for East Coast Missile Shield
The House has approved a $643 billion defense-spending bill for 2013 that’s $3.7 billion more than the Obama Administration, and its Pentagon, is seeking. That’s just about the same amount the Congressional Budget Office …
The Changing of the Guard
I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.
The sentiment is usually attributed to Groucho Marx, but as of this week it works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, too.
The Pentagon’s New Year’s Resolutions
You make them, I make them, we all make them…but few of us keep them. In keeping with the seasonal delusion, let’s imagine our favorite world’s biggest office building is a sensate creature, and suffered shortcomings and …
A Real War on the Homefront
While we’ve been busy focused on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we’ve failed to pay heed to the war now underway along the U.S.-Mexican border. Frankly, it’s on the cusp of an invasion, says retired Army major general Robert Scales. He joined retired general Barry McCaffrey in authoring a report on this third front for the state …
“Did the U.S. Overreact to 9/11?”
It’s a fair question as the 10th anniversary of the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon looms. After all, it was the most shocking macro-event most Americans alive have experienced. It changed our way of life, or at least our way of living. It also triggered two costly and continuing wars. If we did overreact, …
Defanging Those “Lone Wolves”
In this week of massive 9/11 coverage, it’s important to keep terror threats in perspective. The recent hot threat seems to be “lone wolves” who become jihadists over the Internet while living somewhere in America. To be sure, there are such animals; Exhibit A is Army Major Nidal Hassan, who killed 13 at Fort Hood in 2009. …
Taking Stock: The U.S. Military a Decade After 9/11
The 10th anniversary of 9/11 closes in on us this week. Try as you might, you will not be able to avoid it. Amid the pathos and bathos, it’s time to take a knee and conduct a map check.
Just to cut to the chase: you can’t argue with success, and on 9/12 most Americans were petrified a second wave of attacks was likely. It hasn’t …
