Closing the Gaps: Why Changes are Needed in Law and Policy to Improve Homeland Security

摘要

In the last twenty to thirty years the threat to the United States has grown from straightforward state actors to include the less well defined threats posed by terrorists. The most likely threat of violence to the US homeland is not from an organized military operation but from terrorists. Historically, terrorist threats have been addressed by law enforcement agencies. Meeting this threat as from the US as possible means using the military, and since the threat is likely to be terrorist in nature, it follows that combating it will require at least some law enforcement actions. However, current laws and policies preclude many such actions by the military, thus opening gaps in our defense that could be exploited, deliberately or fortuitously, by our enemies. These gaps must be closed if US Northern Command, as the DoD component charged with assisting in homeland security, is to be successful in its homeland security role. To accomplish this, the Posse Comitatus Act and DODD 5525.5 should be thoroughly revised.