Homeland Security

I can see why our intelligence officials were so opposed to the release of those memos. Without a doubt, they were embarrassed.



Not by the admissions that U.S. interrogators tortured the prisoners; we knew that. If I were them, I'd be mortified that the public knew how pathetic the torture was. 


No wonder there were so few redactions. What's to redact? I mean, putting a major terrorist in a small box with insects? In most American cities that would be called renting an apartment. Maybe he thought the CIA agent was his landlord.

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CARY, N.C. — A quick review of The Associated Press a few moments ago had rendered me momentarily speechless. One item notes that the president is "Open to prosecuting Bush administration officials who devised the legal authority for gruesome terror-suspect interrogations, saying the United States lost 'our moral bearings' with the use of the tactics."

This just two days after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told reporters that the administration had no interest in prosecuting CIA officials and one day after the president himself traveled to the CIA to stage a photo opportunity for himself where he assured the CIA employees he "had their back." The audacity of the president is seemingly endless. Read more...

I am against torture. Torture is what the Gestapo did in World War II. Torture is what the Japanese did in the movie “The Bridge Over the River Kwai.” Torture is what they did in the Middle Ages. Remember the rack?

President Bush said repeatedly that America doesn't do torture. Well, in my book, putting somebody in a little box and filling it up with insects is torture. Waterboarding is torture. You can’t parse your way out of that one. Sorry.

We lose the moral high ground when we condone torture. And I believe that the moral high ground is a useful space to occupy. Read more...

I have refrained until now from being overly critical of the Obama administration as it completes its early days in office. Back in 2001, I remember, it took us a few months to get the kinks out and streamline our operations in the Bush administration, so I've afforded Obama's team a certain level of professional courtesy.

Now, however, I'm wondering if they have any idea what steps must be taken to secure the country from those who seek to harm us. Lost in the discussion of the stimulus bill, the pork-laden omnibus bill and President Obama's new budget is the lack of focus on national security issues. Why is the president seeking to cut funding to the military when every other domestic pork project seems to prosper under his watch? Read more...

The twin specters of terrorism and tough economic times have brought the immigration debate to the forefront of American politics in a big way. The average citizen sees the flood of immigrants entering the country as a symbol of the lack of border security in the midst of a particularly dangerous time for America. In addition, the growth in illegal immigration is seen as diluting the value of citizenship, cheapening the labor pool and leading to a lower standard of living for actual citizens.

Some of the rhetoric surrounding the debate has unfortunately resorted to ethnic bigotry, but the fundamentals come down to jobs and security. Thus, the reaction to the current wave of immigration has been similar to those of prior waves of migration: The new lumps in our stew froth and steam, and sometime bubble over, in the melting process that is American society. Read more...

By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

President Obama’s record in battling terrorism has proven so weak that one wonders if he really takes the issue seriously.

Since he has taken office, the president has:

• announced closure of Guantánamo;

• declined to prosecute the mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing;

• closed all overseas CIA interrogation centers;

• appointed an attorney general and Justice Department officials on record as opposed to the use of “enhanced” interrogation techniques in terror investigations; Read more...

There’s a picture on my wall of me with my former boss, Denny Hastert, surrounded by a group of reporters. I am on his left shoulder, listening in. As it turns out, the reporters were listening in, too. Hastert was talking to three ladies who weren’t registered lobbyists, who weren’t elected representatives, and weren’t reporters. They were three concerned citizens who had petitioned Congress to enact legislation that they thought would make America safer.

One of those ladies was Beverly Eckert. She was one of the ringleaders of the so-called “9/11 widows.” She badgered the Speaker and the Congress to allow a full investigation of what actually happened on one of the worst days in the nation’s history. Without Beverly, there probably wouldn’t have been a 9/11 Commission. Read more...

With the stroke of a pen, President Obama fulfilled a campaign pledge this week, closing within the year the infamous Guantánamo Bay prison facility and the apparent abuses carried out under the Bush administration.

The symbolism of this gesture is powerful, for it stands as a reminder that Americans value the sanctity of the rule of law and judicial review. But now the cold reality sets in — what are we going to do with the remaining 250 detainees?

It’s not a question that’s easily answered. We sure can’t bring them to our nation’s shores. As much as we want to give them their legal rights, it doesn’t mean we should bring dangerous suspected terrorists to, say, Kansas. Read more...

As George Bush departs the presidential stage, he leaves behind many detractors and one rather large accomplishment that they either ignore or undervalue.

Since the horrific attacks of Sept. 11, not one terrorist has been successful in attacking America. Not one Islamic terrorist, not one domestic terrorist. In the days following 9/11, nobody would have believed that more than seven years later, the terrorists would have struck out.

There are a lot of reasons for that. First, Bush created a whole separate battlefield for the Islamic extremists to fight. That battlefield was in their backyard, in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Read more...

The most poignant message of President George W. Bush's farewell address will endure and become stronger over time. He has earned credit, but it has not yet been given. I believe history will ensure that he is awarded his due for doing what most of us feared, just over seven years ago, was impossible, or at least highly unlikely.

Reflecting on our nation in the months and years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the president noted, "Most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did. Every morning, I received a briefing on the threats to our nation. And I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe." Read more...