Why would you do this? DHS was specifically created after 911 to prevent another terrorist attack, and a worse case scenario - WMD attack at home. WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has quietly dismantled or cut back multiple programs that were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to help detect and prevent terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction, a Times investigation has found. The retreat has taken place over the last two years at the Department of Homeland Security, which has primary domestic responsibility for helping authorities identify and block potential chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. The changes, not previously reported, were made without rigorous review of potential security vulnerabilities, The Times found, undermining government-wide efforts aimed at countering terrorist attacks involving unconventional weapons, known as WMD. More than 30 current and former Homeland Security employees and contractors voiced concern that the changes — including the cancellation of dozens of training exercises and the departure of scores of scientists and policy experts — have put Americans at greater risk. “What we had done in the past was analytically based: Where are the threats? Where can we get the most return on the taxpayers’ investment for security?” said Paul Ryan, who until mid-2017 helped lead Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, which was merged with another office last year. “We’re not as secure as we were 18 months ago,” said Ryan, a retired Navy rear admiral. ... “We asked, `Why are you making changes and what are these changes going to look like?’” David Trimble, the supervising analyst for the report, recalled in an interview. “The details were very light. [Homeland Security] couldn’t really provide us a road map of where they were going. We found no analysis behind it.” McDonnell’s overall objectives are unclear. ...
This one seems pretty obvious. Look at their policy on NK, Iran, and Russia. This is an administration that obviously believes it’s good foreign policy and politics to ignite an arms race with our opponents. Having DHS purposefully turn a blind eye makes a ton of sense if you have this reckless foreign policy agenda just to score political points for a reelection strategy of “only Trump can keep you safe from nuclear annihilation because of his personal relationships.”
This doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t believe this agency is involved with arms policy. Right? I thought it only deals with security at home.
Annnnnnd they're inviting chaos.... good job people... good job... do you want terror attacks? Because this is how you get terror attacks.
I'm not a tribalist. Nor a Trump supporter. Never voted for him. Certainly may vote for him this time, but I am waiting to see what his opponent offers. I really would like Tulsi. If Biden and Tulsi run together, I may vote that way in hopes that Biden dies of old age so we'd have Tulsi in the Oval Office.
John Kelly led the agency followed by Kirsten Nielsen who took over when Kelly moved to Trumps Chief of Staff who then moved to ownership of private concentration camps at the border. Now DHS is led by a temp essentially. Point being DHS has since inauguration been very very close to the Oval Office. In this admin there is almost no daylight between Trump and this agency at the top. Arms policy is Trump policy and Trump policy is the jambalaya pot of immigration fear, and Middle East God of War game where we play the arms game with countries like Saudi Arabia for the sake of oligarch business deals who curry favor with Trump and Putin. Again I just see Trump creating this Jambalaya pot with the different agencies and in the end all the food groups end up with the same stench. John Kelly was that original recipe of having one arm in policy of the Middle East with his connections to the pentagon and one hand in immigration-Border policy which is the cornerstone of Trumps political strategy.
I agree with this, but I still don’t get these changes. I don’t discount incompetent that may lead to this, but it’s not likely given the scale. Why would they do this? “The Times found that more than 100 scientists and policy experts with knowledge of radiological and nuclear threats were reassigned or given positions not related to their expertise. The same has happened to numerous more scientists and experts specializing in countering biological threats.”
My guess would be that it relates to them refocusing their efforts at illegal immigration and their war against people seeking refuge.
The most charitable explanation is incompetence at the top. The most nefarious would be orders from the top to allow a blind eye to the likes of Russia and North Korea to build up their arsenal because... of whatever back alley negotiations he’s got going on with foreign dictators or political motivations to go tit for tat with Iran and NK to drive fear into the hearts of voters and make Trump look like the only thing standing in the way of nuclear annihilation. Foreign policy is an area the Dems could seize on in 2020 with this level of data to show how Trump actually has made us less safe. The problem is the Jambalaya pit convolutes everything and in the end all anyone smells is immigration and racism. This is good evidence though that the Trump admin is seriously weak in protecting our country from the most immediate threat of attack and it might actually be on purpose which is insane and makes no sense as you noted.
