What Keeps the Homeland Security Enterprise Up at Night?
.By Gina Scott Ligon
What Keeps the Homeland Security Enterprise Up at Night?AP
Over the past 22 years, everyday Americans have been able to sleep because those who work to prevent terrorism do not.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, caused a seismic shift in government resources and academic attention, resulting in a new homeland security enterprise such as the newly created federal Department of Homeland Security, National Counterterrorism Center, and academic research centers committed to preventing the next ideological attack on Americans at home.
The cadre of government civilians who have held the line is inspiring. But because they conduct their hours of watch in windowless buildings and without attention, most Americans go about our days without ever learning about them or the myriad dangers that stalk us.
Despite—and perhaps because of—these quiet successes, America is on the brink of a sea change in federal support and attention for the counterterrorism mission. An upcoming federal budget portends to slash prevention programming at the Department of Homeland Security, reallocate defense and intelligence priorities away from the counterterrorism mission, and jettison critical collection capabilities such as Section 702, which provides intelligence on activities of terrorist organizations, weapons of mass destruction, and malicious cyber actors.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/09/11/what_keeps_the_homeland_security_enterprise_up_at_night_978684.html
