Gilmore: Balancing Homeland Security and Civil Liberties

By Governor Jim Gilmore
Washington Examiner
March 7, 2014

Our country is currently in a struggle between the need to protect our citizens from terrorism and the need to protect the civil liberties of our citizens. How can we do both while not sacrificing either?

During my five years as chairman of the National Commission on Homeland Security, we analyzed and debated issues of national security and presented our finding to the president and Congress, which became the framework for the Department of Homeland Security.

America must never make the mistake of sacrificing liberty for security. However, an equally severe mistake would be to give up the ability to track the enemy because of a fear of government. This duality of purpose demands oversight, not dismantling.

While our security focus has been primarily on non-state entities such as al Qaeda, the past several weeks in Ukraine have been a sobering reminder of the threat we face from state actors as well. The easiest way for such entities to circumvent our security is by revealing the tools we use in order to protect our country.

A perfect example of this are the crimes committed by Edward Snowden. Some would argue he is a patriot. I can tell you those people are dead wrong. Mr. Snowden swore an oath to protect his country and, in turn, was given the trust of America.

Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, said it best:

“Edward Snowden is not a whistleblower worthy of protection, but a fugitive deserving of prosecution. He violated his sworn pledge to protect classified information. He jeopardized our national security. And he betrayed the trust of the American people. This man is no hero.”

Mr. Snowden’s traitorous act is a perfect example of the dual threat we face from state and non-state actors. His actions helped al Qaeda by revealing a program used to track terrorists, while at the same time giving the world’s largest bully a propaganda tool used to legitimize its actions.

Throughout our history, the United States has committed itself to thought leadership, but today the world is more dangerous than it has ever been, and we have to do even more than we have ever done to combat the challenges we face in an unstable world.

In today’s world, we continue to have the potential for a dangerous national conflict, but we have a new construct in which international organizations grow beyond borders and endanger and threaten our country and other countries as well.

We have been staring into the face of this struggle since Sept. 11, 2001, when the Pentagon was struck in my home state of Virginia. Now we live in a more interconnected world with advanced techniques of reconnaissance and communication, intelligence-gathering and the Internet.

We are now faced with the challenge of protecting the civil liberties of our citizens while being able to successfully put our foot on the throats of terrorists who want to destroy our most sacred institutions.

As chairman of the National Commission on Homeland Security, I brought the issue of protecting our civil liberties to the forefront of the national conversation and helped establish and implement the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

This panel was tasked with ensuring that liberty concerns are appropriately considered when implementing laws, regulations and policies used to successfully protect America against terrorism.

There are some assertions that perhaps our policies have gone too far in the wake of Sept. 11, but we believe in the well-being of our people, and we must act to ensure that our civil liberties are once again central to the national conversation about the mass collection of data.

I suggest that the intelligence community talk more about these challenges and what might happen, so if another Sept. 11-type attack occurs, the American people can shake it off and maintain their coherent narrative of who they are and what kind of people they will be.

The citizens of the United States are not yet fully engaged in the entire defense of the nation that will be necessary in the 21st century.

If the advantages of our free people are brought to bear, then even though we live in a new and dangerous world, I promise you we will prevail. We will continue to be a beacon of hope to the world.

Jim Gilmore is the president and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation. He served as the 68th governor of Virginia and 59th chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Illegal immigration and the southern border

Immigration problems are probably best illustrated by the southern border of the United States where lawlessness prevails in many places. Last week an American rancher and his dog were shot and killed by an illegal, further illustrating the increasing danger to Americans.

Roger Hedgecock has written an in-depth article for Human Events about the very troubling issues concerning illegals crossing the border:

Rancher Rob Krentz spent his life working on his 35,000-acre cattle ranch by the border with Mexico in Cochise County, Ariz. His family had owned the ranch since 1907.

He died there last weekend, he and his dog shot by an illegal alien that he was trying to help.

Even the volunteer Minutemen organization has disbanded:

The Minutemen, organized as a "neighborhood watch" on the border five years ago, recently disbanded citing increased violence from the smugglers. Incursions into the U.S. by what appears to be Mexican Army personnel protecting drug smugglers have become frequent.

Mr. Hedgecock writes, "The smugglers are bold and well armed. They steal vehicles, invade ranch houses, trash the countryside, set fires, and bring all manner of contraband into the U.S."

How are states along the border responding?

After the murder of Rob Krentz, Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer this week called on the President to heed her call (and that of the governors of New Mexico, California, and Texas) to place National Guard troops on the border to restore order. Arizonans were quick to point out that the governor could call out the Arizona Guard herself. What’s she waiting for?

Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry faced similar calls for action when U.S. consular employees were gunned down two weeks ago in the streets of Juarez, Mexico, across the bridge from El Paso, Texas. What’s he waiting for?

Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico is not waiting for Obama. He’s ordered state law enforcement to the Mexico-New Mexico border

Amnesty champion Arizona Sen. John McCain, facing a formidable challenge in the Republican primary from former congressman and border security advocate J.D. Hayworth, also called on President Obama to call out the National Guard and control the border.

Is all this outrage from politicians just more of the same blather we hear everytime some outrage occurs along the border? Or will Rob Krentz’ murder finally spark the public firestorm that will bring security to our border with Mexico.

This would appear to be a national problem, not just an issue to be faced by the border states. Our national safety is in question. The rancher who was killed had described 11 years earlier how he had found Muslim prayer rugs and a Koran on his property ... a mere two short years before the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Read the entire article here. It reveals just the tip of the iceberg.

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon

Cheney receiving kudos for standing his ground

It is about time a Republican stood his ground. Americans are responding positively to former Vice President Dick Cheney as he stands up for terrorism policies implemented after 9/11 by the Bush administration that have kept this country safe since that time.

Mr. Cheney, coming under withering attacks from Democrats, is being lauded by others including the American public, according to the Washington Times:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney's sweeping indictment of administration policy changes on the handling of terrorism-suspect detainees has thrown President Obama on the defensive and scored points for the vice president and his party, according to pollsters and political analysts.

While Mr. Cheney has come under increasing fire from Democrats for charging that Mr. Obama's policies have made the country more vulnerable to future terrorist attacks, polls show a majority of Americans side with him on using aggressive interrogation methods on high value al Qaeda prisoners and are against moving them from the detention facility at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to maximum-security facilities in the U.S.

It's not Republican ... it's not Democrat ... it's American.

Vice President Loose Lips in the Balkans

Exiled? Or just a getaway? Joe Biden revealed the "undisclosed location" ... the secure area for the safety of the Vice President of the United States in the event of danger. When confronted about it, the story changed and it became a room upstairs at the VP residence that had been turned into a bedroom.

What?

Then Joe Biden found himself in the Balkans.

Rush Limbaugh referred to an article by Eleanor Clift in the Detroit Free Press:

"If Eleanor Clift reported it accurately, if the referenced undisclosed location was indeed classified, then I am told that Joe Biden, the vice president, may be subject to 37 United States Code section 793 which says that "such an action shall" -- not the usual "may," but "such an action SHALL" -- "be punishable by a fine or up to ten years in prison." Now, admittedly this is going to have to be fact checked, but if indeed...

"The reaction to getting Biden out of town and the quick re-characterizing of what he said here -- and we know that he flaps his gums off and says the most uncontrolled, undisciplined things.

"But all this talk about how stupid Sarah Palin is, how risky she would be in office, and here's Biden potentially violating a federal law punishable by ten years in jail, by revealing the secret bunker where any vice president is taken. Not just Cheney, where any vice president is taken during an attack, and now, "No, no, no, no! It wasn't underground. It was upstairs bedroom." An upstairs bedroom with electronic equipment on the hallway with a steel door? It's hard to believe. So that's why, among many other things, the vice president is in the Balkans."

If America comes under attack, Joe Biden may have compromised his own safety.

Sad but true....

Photo at Yankee Phil's ... "When next terrorist attack comes...."