Boston Marathon Blast Highlights DHS Failures
As yet we still don’t know who planted the bombs at the Boston Marathon which killed 3, including a child, and injured over 175. It was a cowardly act of terrorism and we can all be thankful for the fast response of the police, fire and rescue units who saved lives. But the blasts could have been far worse. Had the attacker used more or larger devices, the carnage would have been devastating. But while some politicians, celebrities and pundits point the finger at leftist groups, islamic groups, right-wing kooks or crazed lone wolves, there is someone I’m pointing a finger at- The Department of Homeland Security. They are chartered to perform fusion analysis, track vulnerabilities, advise on security and safety, protect national critical infrastructure and assets, manage customs and immigration and protect our airports. They collect billions and billions yearly, yet they failed to protect a major sporting event.
@stevehuff it’s more consternation to us to sit back and watch us spin. Here’s a question. Why did DHS fail us so epically?
— Dr. Jones (@BelchSpeak) April 16, 2013
@stevehuff they oversee intelligence fusion, immigration and are chartered to protect critical infrastructure. Billions in taxes wasted
— Dr. Jones (@BelchSpeak) April 16, 2013
@stevehuff and it won’t be DHS that cracks this case. Will be FBI and traditional law enforcement. Napolitano will be ‘whaHappend?’Derp
— Dr. Jones (@BelchSpeak) April 16, 2013
@belchspeak They were caught flat-footed and need to get called on the carpet in a big way.
— STEVE HUFF (@SteveHuff) April 16, 2013
What do we get with our DHS tax dollars? Airport patdowns, unenforced illegal immigration, botched intelligence analysis, bullet hoarding and IEDs in the streets. And you know how the DHS is supposed to be monitoring social media for terror keywords? With 40 Million Facebook and Twitter users screaming about bombs, DHS is swamped now with false positives. Yet another failed idea.
And as long as nutjobs are coming up with crazy conspiracy theories, here’s one for you- Know how sometimes fire marshals go on an arson spree? I think the bombing was perpetrated by a DHS employee. It draws attention, ya’ know? Here’s to hoping the FBI solves this case quickly.
I sort of have to disagree here. I am not quite sure what DHS could have done in this case? I really am curious to hear your answer to that question, because quite frankly I am stumped. We all know that unattended bags are dangerous (at least everyone who has ever been to an airport does). In addition to that short of kicking everyone who could potentially be a terrorist out (which is a lot of people) there was nothing specific about these kids that made them seem like a threat. I am sorry, but I think you are way off here. Somebody who was allegedly tweeting about Finding Nemo a week ago, drops a bag off at a race and blows it up a few minutes later… doesn’t seem like there was much we could do. Beyond that, how many cases has DHS helped to prevent that we don’t know about because they didn’t happen.
First of all Bryan I see you are still sympathizing with the killers- in this case you refer to two grown men as kids. The eldest should have been deported after his violent attack on his girlfriend. Also, dagestani nationals that travel in and out of the country are supposed to set off alarms at USVISIT, and someone dropped the ball on that one too. And have you ever been to a major sporting event? Most venues have worked with DHS to establish good security practices. It seems like there was little to no security at this sporting event, including a distinct lack of portable security cameras. DHS wastes billions monitoring things like facebook and twitter for suspicious keywords, yet failed to use their fusion intelligence center to track bomb-making purchases by foreign nationals. A bomb, by the way which was described in an Al-Queda publication. And I’ve worked at DHS many times both as a member and as a consultant, and I can tell you that these people don’t do anything other than sit on their asses and collect a fat government check. DHS is chartered to prevent things like this and they failed.