Preparing defenses against terrorism in the Homeland

Remember in the many shifts and new ideas for dealing with "homeland security" that the military was given a whole new level of responsibility? Surely the Bush administration is making use of that fabled Pentagon efficiency to get on top of that, right?

Well, not exactly.  I mean, after the Iraq fiasco, the Katrina fiasco, the Medicare Part D fiasco, etc., etc., we have to remember that spectacular incompetence has been the hallmark of this administration.  And it seems that our man Rummy has other priorities.  In Transformation for What? Dec. 2005 (Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College), reporting on an expert conference in November 2004, John White, former US Deputy Secretary of Defense 1995-97, writes:

Last year [2003], our discussion noted that while establishment of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was the single most important step that the government has taken to meet the threat of catastrophic terrorism, considerable time and effort would be required to build an integrated capability that involved both domestic and national security agencies. This year [2004], one knowledgeable participant argued that progress in mounting a coordinated effort has proven slower than expected, in large part because of DoD’s failure to engage seriously in its role in homeland security. It appears that the current DoD leadership has decided, perhaps because of the pressure of Iraq or perhaps fearing a raid on the DoD budget, not to engage actively in the government-wide process to strengthen homeland security, other than through force protection.

We must conclude that, as yet, there is no agreement on what the DoD’s role will be in homeland security or, in DoD terms, homeland defense. There are many examples where DoD can and must play a role: (1) terminal air defense within CONUS, (2) longrange maritime interdiction beyond Coast Guard capabilities, (3) participation in high stress hostage rescue teams’ (HRTs) operations, (4) contributions to domestic threat intelligence using approved DoD sources of investigatory information, (5) protecting critical facilities in high threat circumstances, and, most importantly, (6) assistance in the response to an act of catastrophic terrorism, should it occur. (my emphasis)

Well, shoot, it's onlybeen 4 1/2 years or so since the 9/11 attacks.  Hey, just because those people in the 1940s could fight an entire Second World War in less time than that doesn't mean Rummy and his crack team could pull off something like this already, do you?  Okay, okay, he's reporting on 2004, so it had only been just barely 3 years then.

More seriously, the projected role of the Army in this situation may not be appropriate. But the fact that something like this has been neglected as it appears to have been is disturbing.  Maybe some constructive progress was made in 2005.