Good Security Does Not Require Sacrificing Our Liberties
Recently, President Bush has made the argument that protecting the nation is the top priority. Many conservatives in congress have made the same type of statements, including on of my own senators, Richard Lugar (R-Indiana). In a letter written in response to my voicing opposition to the renewal of the USA Patriot Act, he responded as follows:
“Protecting American citizens from harm is the federal government’s most important responsibility. As a United States Senator, I take that responsibility very seriously. The tragic events of 9/11 showed us that Americans are no longer insulated from the political and social turmoil in other lands that gives rise to international terrorism. …”
The problem is that neither Senator Lugar nor President Bush have examined their oaths of office. Their primary duty, their most sacred duty, is to faithfully execute, serve and protect the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Preamble of the Constitution sets forth the objectives, goals and mission of the Constitution as a whole. All of what follows the Preamble is supposed to be in pursuit of that mission. In the Preamble, national defense is but one of the purposes of the Constitution:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
If we use the tools that lawyers use to interpret and apply the law to contracts—and the Constitution is a social contract between us and those that govern us—we can see that there are six purposes of the government, defense of our nation is but one of them. There are two ways to read this contract. The first is to read the purposes in order, giving precedence to those that are listed first. If we use this method, the most important purpose of our government is to form an effective government. The next most important purpose is to establish justice. The third would be to provide domestic tranquility and the fourth would be common defense.
If we use the second methods of reading this contract, then each of these purposes of the Constitution is given equal precedence and importance. Using this method makes all six of these purposes equally vital to the oaths sworn to by our leaders. Our leaders must balance out the importance of each purpose so that all are protected effectively.
So let us examine some facts. The events of 9-11 were tragic and served as a wake up call for our methods of security. But the fact is that none of the provisions of the USA Patriot Act nor any of the wiretaps have made us any safer. Our airport security—where all of the events of 9-11 began—is still a joke. Those of us having experience in security work know that there were calls for increased and improved security at airports, train stations, subway stations, bus terminals, fuel depots and trucking terminals as far back as the Reagan years. We still have insufficient security at ALL of these most likely places of attack. The security at nuclear power plants has been the target of scrutiny as far back as the mid-1970s. Our physical security measures—what is often called mechanical security—are insufficient to do the job.
Quite frankly, we could do more to prevent terrorism by having more police, more physical security measures, and effective security at airports, than any wiretap could ever provide. The events of 9-11 occurred because those bastards got on the plane in the first place. The tragedies of that day did not occur because of international phone calls made by private citizens. The tragic events did not occur because of a failure of wiretapping, but because the SOBs were allowed onto the planes that crashed into the towers, plummeted into the Pentagon and crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania. The intelligence failures that allowed these terrorists into our country are but a piece of the puzzle, and a small piece at that.
When we talk about security, we have to talk about layers of protection that serve as barriers to penetration of the culprits. Intelligence gathering is but one layer of protection and is a middle layer at that. The outer layers are the physical layers that prevent infiltration of perpetrators. A lock, a gate, a locked door, security guards, metal detectors, explosive detection systems, roving security patrols and proper training of ALL personnel in the airport are the first layers of defense and security. Proper identification and badges for all personnel, including ID checks of those personnel on a regular and random basis, is also part of the first layer. Also included in this layer would include proper background checks of EVERYONE working in the airports, from the trash collectors to the pilots and everyone in between. The security background checks should be done by an independent entity. Having an abundance of security professionals on the premises is a vital starting point, including adequate staffing of the baggage areas.
Also included in the first layer of security is evaluation of the premises for architectural, design and traffic flow issues to determine where security risks and single points of failure (SPOFs) exist. After determining where these SPOFs exist, implementing changes and instituting measures to resolve the SPOFs is necessary.
Closed circuit monitoring and alarms, facial recognition technologies, and database tools are included in the second layer of a good security system. These are technologies that only work if the first layer is adequately provided. Also included in this layer would be adequate EMS and rapid crisis response teams that can handle any security incident, accident or breach of security in a lightning fast response. Also in the second layer is a continual training program that includes daily updates regarding watch lists, wanted posters, new security techniques and technology, and review of existing measures and technology.
A third layer of security involves a regular and random testing of the system, including disaster drills, rapid shut down of areas of the terminals, rapid response drills, mock hostage drills, etc.
In any security system, the inner layers of security involve intelligence and investigation. Investigation involves making the case against perpetrators and analyzing how the security problem developed and what to do to prevent future breaches of the same type. Intelligence is a hit-or-miss proposition. Effective intelligence relies on data coming from multiple resources and sources, and analyzed in a proper manner. But the most important part of intelligence is getting the decision-makers to understand the intelligence and listen to the analysts that are actually providing the intel. In most cases, the decision-makers are far removed from the actual person doing the analyses, and the intel has undergone several reviews and re-writes in a filtering process.
It is this far-removed status and the filtering that caused the failure of the intelligence we had before 9-11. The all-too important intelligence that could have warned us and aided in the prevention of the events on 9-11 did not get through at the highest levels in an effective manner. The daily security reports passing through layer after layer of intermediaries led Condaleeza Rice and others to conclude that Osama bin Laden’s threat of surreptitious attack was less threatening than it actually was.
So, what we can conclude is that we need to emphasize the outer layers of our security. Doing so would allow us to adhere to the provisions of our Constitution that preserve and guarantee our most precious civil rights. While we need to employ intelligence methods, doing so must be done in accordance with our first principles. Protecting our nation also means preserving the liberties that are the foundation of our nation.
So, my message to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Attorney General Gonzalez, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Rice, Senator Lugar, all of Congress, and to all of those reading these words is that protecting our nation includes, by constitutional and practical principle and necessity, preserving our rights, liberties and first principles. Sacrificing our rights is not necessary to providing solid, effective security for our nation. The reason we are at risk is NOT directly related to wiretapping.
Let us ask those that represent us to remember all SIX essential purposes of our Constitution, not just the one that keeps us afraid and imprisoned by that fear. Let us recognize the real work that needs to be done and re-focus our attention from an all-out intelligence approach to an effective security approach that employs the layering of security measures. And let us preserve our freedom in the process!
“Protecting American citizens from harm is the federal government’s most important responsibility. As a United States Senator, I take that responsibility very seriously. The tragic events of 9/11 showed us that Americans are no longer insulated from the political and social turmoil in other lands that gives rise to international terrorism. …”
The problem is that neither Senator Lugar nor President Bush have examined their oaths of office. Their primary duty, their most sacred duty, is to faithfully execute, serve and protect the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Preamble of the Constitution sets forth the objectives, goals and mission of the Constitution as a whole. All of what follows the Preamble is supposed to be in pursuit of that mission. In the Preamble, national defense is but one of the purposes of the Constitution:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
If we use the tools that lawyers use to interpret and apply the law to contracts—and the Constitution is a social contract between us and those that govern us—we can see that there are six purposes of the government, defense of our nation is but one of them. There are two ways to read this contract. The first is to read the purposes in order, giving precedence to those that are listed first. If we use this method, the most important purpose of our government is to form an effective government. The next most important purpose is to establish justice. The third would be to provide domestic tranquility and the fourth would be common defense.
If we use the second methods of reading this contract, then each of these purposes of the Constitution is given equal precedence and importance. Using this method makes all six of these purposes equally vital to the oaths sworn to by our leaders. Our leaders must balance out the importance of each purpose so that all are protected effectively.
So let us examine some facts. The events of 9-11 were tragic and served as a wake up call for our methods of security. But the fact is that none of the provisions of the USA Patriot Act nor any of the wiretaps have made us any safer. Our airport security—where all of the events of 9-11 began—is still a joke. Those of us having experience in security work know that there were calls for increased and improved security at airports, train stations, subway stations, bus terminals, fuel depots and trucking terminals as far back as the Reagan years. We still have insufficient security at ALL of these most likely places of attack. The security at nuclear power plants has been the target of scrutiny as far back as the mid-1970s. Our physical security measures—what is often called mechanical security—are insufficient to do the job.
Quite frankly, we could do more to prevent terrorism by having more police, more physical security measures, and effective security at airports, than any wiretap could ever provide. The events of 9-11 occurred because those bastards got on the plane in the first place. The tragedies of that day did not occur because of international phone calls made by private citizens. The tragic events did not occur because of a failure of wiretapping, but because the SOBs were allowed onto the planes that crashed into the towers, plummeted into the Pentagon and crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania. The intelligence failures that allowed these terrorists into our country are but a piece of the puzzle, and a small piece at that.
When we talk about security, we have to talk about layers of protection that serve as barriers to penetration of the culprits. Intelligence gathering is but one layer of protection and is a middle layer at that. The outer layers are the physical layers that prevent infiltration of perpetrators. A lock, a gate, a locked door, security guards, metal detectors, explosive detection systems, roving security patrols and proper training of ALL personnel in the airport are the first layers of defense and security. Proper identification and badges for all personnel, including ID checks of those personnel on a regular and random basis, is also part of the first layer. Also included in this layer would include proper background checks of EVERYONE working in the airports, from the trash collectors to the pilots and everyone in between. The security background checks should be done by an independent entity. Having an abundance of security professionals on the premises is a vital starting point, including adequate staffing of the baggage areas.
Also included in the first layer of security is evaluation of the premises for architectural, design and traffic flow issues to determine where security risks and single points of failure (SPOFs) exist. After determining where these SPOFs exist, implementing changes and instituting measures to resolve the SPOFs is necessary.
Closed circuit monitoring and alarms, facial recognition technologies, and database tools are included in the second layer of a good security system. These are technologies that only work if the first layer is adequately provided. Also included in this layer would be adequate EMS and rapid crisis response teams that can handle any security incident, accident or breach of security in a lightning fast response. Also in the second layer is a continual training program that includes daily updates regarding watch lists, wanted posters, new security techniques and technology, and review of existing measures and technology.
A third layer of security involves a regular and random testing of the system, including disaster drills, rapid shut down of areas of the terminals, rapid response drills, mock hostage drills, etc.
In any security system, the inner layers of security involve intelligence and investigation. Investigation involves making the case against perpetrators and analyzing how the security problem developed and what to do to prevent future breaches of the same type. Intelligence is a hit-or-miss proposition. Effective intelligence relies on data coming from multiple resources and sources, and analyzed in a proper manner. But the most important part of intelligence is getting the decision-makers to understand the intelligence and listen to the analysts that are actually providing the intel. In most cases, the decision-makers are far removed from the actual person doing the analyses, and the intel has undergone several reviews and re-writes in a filtering process.
It is this far-removed status and the filtering that caused the failure of the intelligence we had before 9-11. The all-too important intelligence that could have warned us and aided in the prevention of the events on 9-11 did not get through at the highest levels in an effective manner. The daily security reports passing through layer after layer of intermediaries led Condaleeza Rice and others to conclude that Osama bin Laden’s threat of surreptitious attack was less threatening than it actually was.
So, what we can conclude is that we need to emphasize the outer layers of our security. Doing so would allow us to adhere to the provisions of our Constitution that preserve and guarantee our most precious civil rights. While we need to employ intelligence methods, doing so must be done in accordance with our first principles. Protecting our nation also means preserving the liberties that are the foundation of our nation.
So, my message to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Attorney General Gonzalez, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Rice, Senator Lugar, all of Congress, and to all of those reading these words is that protecting our nation includes, by constitutional and practical principle and necessity, preserving our rights, liberties and first principles. Sacrificing our rights is not necessary to providing solid, effective security for our nation. The reason we are at risk is NOT directly related to wiretapping.
Let us ask those that represent us to remember all SIX essential purposes of our Constitution, not just the one that keeps us afraid and imprisoned by that fear. Let us recognize the real work that needs to be done and re-focus our attention from an all-out intelligence approach to an effective security approach that employs the layering of security measures. And let us preserve our freedom in the process!
posted by Jim Downey at 3:05 PM
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