HLS501 discussions

Discussion 2

1. What is the current status of airport and aviation security in terminals and in flight? Provide example(s) of any latest incident. Did the terminal have to shut down and flights delayed?

2. Where would you think are the weak points of security in airports? Would they be at parking lots, terminals, and tarmacs?

Discussion 3

1. (Boston Globe, 24APR13): *A federal audit … warned there was a “high risk” that the government’s information-sharing system would not prevent a terror attack, raising questions about whether a communications breakdown allowed the Boston Marathon bomb plot to evolve undetected and its perpetrators to elude quick capture.

2. US officials disclosed that the CIA had placed TamerlanTsarnaev on a terrorism watch list several months after the FBI had placed him on a different watch list. Both actions were based on separate alerts provided by Russian authorities, but they failed to help the United States recognize and intervene to head off the threat or identify Tsarnaev as a suspect once the bombs went off. The Commonwealth Fusion Center is located in Maynard, Mass…. The Massachusetts State Police did not respond to questions about whether the center was alerted to the FBI’s concerns about Tsarnaev.

Is this information-sharing mix-up an isolated event or could there be other instances? If so, what would be the first step in “tightening up” Fusion Centers?

Discussion4

Jesse Ventura on Homeland Security:

*“Are we ready for martial law? I think we are, because everybody's sitting back and watching our freedoms being taken away. Guess what? The terrorists are winning because our country has changed in the last decade, and not for the good. We're a country that's now living in fear and so are willing to trade our freedoms for safety….”

Is Ventura just wrestling with over exaggeration, or is there some truth to what he says?

Are we “sitting back” and allowing the government to extract intelligence from us indiscriminately?

Please support your statements.

*On the Issue. http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Jesse_Ventura_Homeland_Security.htm

1. How would the NRF work in conjunction with the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF)?

2. It is said, the NRF “is always in effect, and elements can be implemented at any time.” What does that mean?

3. After reviewing the readings for this module, comment on whether the Incident Commander (IC) has a code of ethics and whether he or she needs one.

4. Would a concrete, enforceable code of ethics help analysts perform their jobs better?—and to know their limits?