Biological terrorism warnings gaining increased attention

Concerns about the risk of biological attack on the United States have led the list of potential threats in 3 important reports released in December, making it increasingly likely that both policy and technology to combat biological terrorism will be at the forefront of HS policy in the Obama administration. Expect new legislation and funding (for both R&D and increasing capabilities) regarding biological terrorism, and increased political attention.

Report: Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism

The bi-partisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism released a long-awaited report on December 4th about the current state of the WMD threat against the U.S.. The report received fairly wide coverage in both the main-stream press and on the Internet. Summary of the report, recommendations, and reactions, and links to the full text of the report and other sources for more information and analysis.

DHS opens $3B in FY2009 grants with less restrictions

From the Washington Post:
The Department of Homeland Security announced plans yesterday to dole out $3 billion in counterterrorism grants next year to state and local agencies with far-fewer strings attached than in past years.
The DHS move marks a response to criticism from a Democratic Congress and increasingly restive state and local leaders. They have complained [...]

Why HS isn’t an election issue: Voters don’t know what they want

From CQ Politics:
The presidential candidates’ deafening silence on homeland security has a logical explanation: voters have no particular policy preferences on the topic, so there’s no advantage in being specific.
“If you ask [voters] ‘are you concerned about homeland security, are you concerned about terrorism,’ they actually are,” James J. Carafano, a senior homeland security fellow [...]

Opinion: How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Our National Security

An interesting piece from From Family Security Matters about how the Supreme Court may be overstepping its legal authority and overturning historical and international precedents in favor of terror detainees.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article are the author’s own, and I neither endorse nor disavow them (my personal political views are not what this [...]

Intel chair says White House withholding info in interrogation probe

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), accused the White House on Wednesday of withholding documents showing it authorized the CIA to use waterboarding and other tough interrogation tactics on suspected terrorists.
Rockefeller was reacting to a report in Wednesday’s editions of The Washington Post that two White House memos, in 2003 [...]

Bush sets up council to work on transition to next administration

From TheHill.com:
President Bush on Thursday signed an executive order creating a Presidential Transition Coordinating Council that “will help to coordinate efforts already under way to ensure a seamless presidential transition.”
In the explanation of the order, one of the reasons cited for why this is important is that we are “working to protect ourselves from future [...]

Likely approaches to counterterrorism in next Presidential administration

From Kim R. Holmes, PhD, The Heritage Foundation:
There are certain enduring truths or facts about fighting terrorism that will persist regardless of who becomes president or what the candidates have said during their campaigns. Indeed, rhetoric of late leaves the impression that there are two radically different paths to fighting terrorists. While such differences do [...]

House Democrats call for hold on new FBI investigation rules

House Democrats are calling on the Bush administration to hold off implementing new rules that broaden the FBI’s investigative authorities until a new administration can approve them next year.
[Update 10/12: The Justice Department, in a nod to concerns that Americans could be investigated in terrorism cases without evidence of wrongdoing, said Tuesday it will tweak [...]

House bills focus on improved information sharing

A couple bills in the House intended to promote information sharing.  Both have passed in the House, but haven’t yet passed in the Senate.
[Update 10/09: See also: Seven Years after 9/11, Spies Finally Forced to Share - If nothing else, the photo posted with the article is worth a smile]

1. H.R. 3815, Homeland Security Open [...]