by Xinhua writer Wang Wei
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, which has been fighting against the economic crisis on the domestic front and mending the country's international image throughout 2009, entered the new year with the national security issue becoming a top priority.
The so-called Christmas Day bomb incident, during which a Nigerian successfully smuggled an explosive device through security screening on a U.S. international flight but failed to set it off, not only disrupted Obama's vocation in Hawaii, but also shocked the nation that is still living under the shadow of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when three U.S. planes were hijacked and crashed into landmark buildings.
Questions were raised and fear triggered.
Why was the air security still breached after the U.S. government invested 40 billion U.S. dollars to upgrade it since Sept. 11, 2001? Why do terrorists always appear to be at least one step ahead of us? How to identify all the vulnerabilities and then address each one before terrorists strike again?
Obama has to provide satisfying answers to the Americans while continuing with his efforts on job creation and economic growth in2010.
VULNERABLE COUNTER-TERRORISM SYSTEM
While still giving credit to U.S. intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement agencies for their considerable success in collecting intelligence, Obama conceded that the system "has failed in a potentially disastrous way."
"In other words, this was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had," he said during a public speech Tuesday.
Even before Dec. 25, 2009, the holes in the U.S. counter-terrorism system have repeatedly raised red flags.
According to a report by The USA Today, since Sept. 11, 2001, the government's terrorist watch list has reached 1 million entries, including a large amount of names of innocent people who were mistakenly recorded as terrorist suspects or having terrorist connections. The same with the "no-fly" list, which has the names of people who are not allowed to board U.S.-bound flights.
It has proved to be a tough job to make such lengthy lists. On the one hand, its organized inaccuracy functioned effectively for security and law enforcement officials to identify and stop terrorist threats. On the other hand, they triggered a controversy over human rights and inconvenience for air travelers.
In the Christmas Day bomb scare, the suspect managed to get on the Delta/Northwest international flight with an explosive device and a valid U.S. visa, although his potential threat had been reported to the U.S. embassy in Nigeria and his name added to the watch list.
The failure also showed the flaws in cooperation and coordination among different intelligence and security agencies in the government, although they are all under the leadership of the Director of National Intelligence.
The Nigerian would-be bomber could have been kept from boarding the flight if the information on his U.S. visa had been included in the warning the U.S. embassy sent back home.
Another challenge to the U.S. counter-terrorism efforts became clearer on Dec. 25.
"As al-Qaeda and its allies are constantly evolving and adapting their efforts to strike us, we have to constantly adapt and evolve to defeat them," Obama said.
Even if it seems that the United States won the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, al-Qaeda still remains a major threat since it still has affiliates and branches around the world.
Christopher Boucek, an expert on security affairs with the Washington, D.C.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, believed that this supports the point of view that rooting out the terrorist network will be an arduous process.
MORE EFFORTS TO MEND HOLES
Several measures have been taken as the U.S. government is still trying to identify human and systemic failures which led to the Christmas Day bomb incident, including a new directive from the Transportation Security Administration demanding more security checks for all international travelers bound for the United States.
An overhaul reform of the current terror watch and "no-fly" lists was also put in place to prevent more potential terrorists or terrorist-linked travelers to board flights to the United States. Moreover, U.S. embassies and consulates were required to include visa information in their warnings on individuals with terrorist or suspected terrorist connections.
"All of these efforts are taken to improve security with airline traveling, and will reduce the likelihood of something like this (the Christmas Day bombing attempt) happening," Boucek told Xinhua.
"But the problem with counter-terrorism is that terrorism officials have to be there every single time, while terrorists can just get right once, so there is always a need for vigilance," said the expert.
On the international front, the U.S. government has stepped up its aid and cooperation with its Yemeni counterpart.
"We have seen the administration focusing on building capacity of Yemen going after al-Qaeda, by providing financial, technical and intelligence help to its government to make sure it can actively engage military operation against the terrorist group," Boucek said.
However, it seems very unlikely that the United States would send troops to the country, considering the size of its military existence abroad now and the unbearable burden brought about by a growing defense budget.
During the first-year administration that focused on saving the economy and pushing forward with health care reform, Obama did not propose any major reform of the current intelligence and security system, which is mostly the Bush administration's legacy.
Boucek did not rule out the possibility that Obama's administration would map out a new proactive strategy defending national security from terrorist attacks.
"We are still in the reactive phase," he said. "Looking forward, there might be something new coming from the Obama administration, but even so, there will be some time before it happens."
DO OTHER PRIORITIES HAVE TO YIELD?
As the homeland security issue made headlines again, speculations were raised if other priorities on Obama's agenda have to give way.
Since his first day in the White House, the president has been trying to relocate terrorist suspects held in the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison in order to close the controversial facility.
However, the deadline of the closure, which was set for Jan. 22,is likely to be pushed further back due to the Christmas Day bomb plot.
U.S. officials believe that at least two former Guantanamo prisoners had played a role in the plot, one of who is No. 2 in the al-Qaeda's branch on the Arabia Peninsula.
Under pressure from bipartisan lawmakers and the public, the Obama administration announced to indefinitely halt the transfer of dozens of Yemeni Guantanamo prisoners to their home country, although this may not stand in the way of closing the prison "in a manner that keeps the American people safe and secure."
"It will make closing Guantanamo more complicated," said Boucek, "It will take a lot of time, energy and efforts to figure out how to transfer Yemeni detainees while securing the nation."
The prospect of Obama's efforts to reach out to the Muslim world is blurred by a new directive which requires enhanced screening on all international travelers bound for the United States. Especially those traveling from or through 14 countries on the State Department's lists of the Terrorism Sponsor states and other states of interest, most of whom are Muslim countries, are affected.
In a protest to the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday, Nigeria's Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe said that Washington's introduction of tighter screening for passengers from Nigeria is "unacceptable."
"The Bush administration got criticism for policies like that, so will Obama's administration," Boucek concluded.
However, the White House denied that the homeland security issue would be a distraction from other priorities.
"The president understands and believes wholeheartedly that keeping the American people safe and secure is his first job, and nobody here would ever describe that as any sort of distraction," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs at Tuesday's press briefing.
