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Recent News

Smithsonian balances security and openness -- Is it safe?
Homeland Security NewsWire
February 6, 2012
Some security experts agree that the randomized approach strikes the right balance between security and access. “By having the randomness, nobody knows what they’re going to be doing, how extensive, when or where they’re going to be doing it,” said Lynn Mattice, a senior fellow at George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. “By deploying methodologies that are sound practices and allow the flexibility of an organization like the Smithsonian to have randomness allows them to really meet both sides of the spectrum and keep it into an environment that is inviting for people to want to come to.” Meanwhile James Carafano, an expert on homeland security at the Heritage Foundation [and HSPI Senior Fellow], said he agrees with the random screening approach, but also noted that the Smithsonian’s many museums are still vulnerable due to their openness and accessibility. More

Global supply-chain security initiative to gather private-sector feedback
Federal News Radio
February 3, 2012
The global supply chain is getting more secure. President Barack Obama has signed the National Strategy for Global Supply Chain, which aims to promote the efficient and secure movement of goods throughout the global economy. The strategy was introduced by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano last month at a global economic forum. Seth Stodder, president and CEO of Palindrome Strategies, joined In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss the new strategy and the role he will take. More

White House Releases National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security
Security Debrief
January 27, 2012
HSPI Senior Fellow Seth Stodder, who assisted the Department of Homeland Security in developing the new strategy, writes about its principles as enunciated by Secretary Napolitano at the World Economic Forum at Davos. "The Strategy is, by its very nature, a conceptual document – at only a handful of pages, it does not delineate chapter and verse on every aspect of how the Administration plans to move forward on supply chain security. This more detailed work is left to a future implementation effort. Rather, the Strategy attempts to lay out an intellectual framework for the efforts since 9/11, and for how the world should address this issue in the future. It is broken down into two main “Goals”: (1) to “promote the efficient and secure movement of goods;" and (2) to “'foster a resilient supply chain.” More

The National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy: Closing a Window of Criminal Opportunity
Security Debrief
January 25, 2012
HSPI Associate Director Sharon L. Cardash discusses the policy and politics of the release of the Administration's National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy. "Unless you knew it was coming and happened to be keeping an eye peeled for it, the document may well have escaped notice—with its release on a Friday, in the heat of primary season, and in the immediate lead-up to the President’s State of the Union Address. This is something of a shame because the plan contains some welcome elements that, if well executed, could make a positive contribution to the field." More

Supreme Court Rules on GPS Surveillance
Security Debrief
January 25, 2012
Seth Stodder, HSPI Senior Fellow, discusses law enforcement's use of GPS surveillance technology and how it stands up to the Fourth Amendment. "The Justices’ three competing opinions in the case, however, raise more questions than they resolve – and point to many legal battles to come as courts wrestle with whether and to what degree 21st Century surveillance and analytics capabilities should be circumscribed by constitutional principles." More

Seeking quick lines, Smithsonian lets most visitors enter unscreened
The Washington Examiner
January 22, 2012
One visitor questioned whether the random screenings are enough. "It's kind of surprising," said George Li, a visiting student from an Atlanta suburb. "It probably would make me feel a bit better if they did turn it on every single time. I experience it everywhere else, so why not here?" But some security experts say the randomized approach produces an appropriate balance of security and access. "By having the randomness, nobody knows what they're going to be doing, how extensive, when or where they're going to be doing it," said Lynn Mattice, a senior fellow at the George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. "By deploying methodologies that are sound practices and allow the flexibility of an organization like the Smithsonian to have randomness allows them to really meet both sides of the spectrum and keep it into an environment that is inviting for people to want to come to." James Carafano, a homeland security researcher at the Heritage Foundation, said he backs the concept of random screening but that the museums remain vulnerable, partially because of the accessibility of the Smithsonian facilities. "Most of the security at the Smithsonian is kind of nonsensical," Carafano said. "It's like security at mass transit: It doesn't really work. You can't have good security and control access like that." More

Risks Abound at Home and Abroad
Security Debrief
January 19, 2012
Daniel J. Kaniewski, Deputy Director of HSPI, discusses the difficultly of planning responses to low - probability, high - impact catastrophes. "The challenge of preparing for the high-impact, low-probability events is that they are by definition rare, and thus not at the top of the policy agenda or a salient issue for citizens. Events also may not be anticipated at all, as is the case with so-called “Black Swan” events. The conundrum is, then, how to best allocate limited resources in the face of uncertainty. The best option is to take a risk management approach that is informed by risk assessments specific to the hazards that communities, regions, and the nation as a whole face. Policymakers should engage and empower citizens through dialogue about risks we face. Doing so both educates the public as well as informs policymakers—knowing which risks citizens view as most distressing helps officials better communicate with them and more effectively calibrate citizens’ expectations." More

Why I'm Unfollowing and Generally Unliking Law Enforcement Social Media
Security Debrief
January 20, 2012
Chris Battle, HSPI Senior Fellow, discusses federal law enforcement's use of social media platforms. "The continuous desire on the part of government agencies to “control the message,” a concept that went out the window back in the days when discussion boards were all the rage, is self-defeating. Guys: You’re not controlling any message. Other people are talking about you. Every day. Every minute. Online. Whether you like it or not. You should be talking back. Putting your mission in perspective. Making sure correct information is circulating." More

Economy 4.0: the economic impact of catastrophe
American Public Media
January 17, 2012
[Marketplace special correspondant David Brancaccio] talked to Daniel Kaniewski who does homeland security planning. He says people talking about planning for remote possibilities like this have a tough pitch. Daniel Kaniewski: They'd probably be thrown out of the room and told they were crazy to make an investment in some of those areas when we much more pressing threats that face us every day, you know. With al-Qaeda attacks or natural disasters that occur, whether it be a hurricane in Florida or a wildfire in California. Those are clear and present dangers." More

Cyber Power: Which Nations Will Emerge as the Cyber Powers of the 21st Century?
Federal News Radio
January 3, 2012
HSPI Director Frank J. Cilluffo comments on the future of international competition in an age increasingly shaped by the proliferation of information technology. More

Homeland Security Experts Weigh In: Where to Cut and Where to Spend
CQ
January 3, 2012
Frank Cilluffo, director of The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute: "While undoubtedly there have been areas where homeland security spending has been inefficient and ought to be cut accordingly, generally speaking, I hope we learned from recent history and don’t repeat the same grave mistakes we made with the “peace dividend” cuts following the Cold War. This had a debilitating effect on our intelligence capacities and overall national security posture and took years to recover from. For example, on the counterterrorism front, now is the time to ramp up — not ease off — the gas pedal and exploit this unique window of counterterrorism opportunity while al Qaeda is back on its heels to consolidate recent gains. Another crucial area where we simply cannot afford to under-invest is in the cyber domain — both in terms of offensive and defensive capabilities. U.S. government and industry have already suffered staggering losses in this area including massive amounts of highly valuable intellectual property. As countries continue to flex their computer network exploit and attack capabilities, we need to double down and get truly serious in this sector." More

Homeland Security Experts Weigh In: The Year of the ‘Lone Wolf’
CQ
January 2, 2012
Frank Cilluffo, director of The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute: "Our successful strikes against bin Laden and al-Awlaki were definitely milestone events, but the ideology, narrative, and movement they gave rise to lives on. Over the past few years we’ve seen the threat metastasize and morph and today it comes in various shapes, sizes and forms. These range from al Qaeda Core — which, despite the recent deaths among their leadership ranks, still poses a significant threat to US national security — to al Qaeda’s affiliates, which continue to grow in reach, most notably al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operating out of Yemen, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operating out of north and west Africa and spreading throughout the Sahel, Boko Haram in Nigeria, and al-Shabaab in Somalia. Furthermore, there exists a witch’s brew of violent extremist forces operating out of safe havens in Pakistan and the FATA. While many of these groups historically had narrow regional aims and objectives, they increasingly ascribe and subscribe to al Qaeda’s broader vision of global jihad. . . . Compounding the current threat landscape overseas, domestically we have seen a troubling spike in the number of cases of homegrown jihadi radicalization." More

TSA to start searching ground transportation
Russia Today
December 24, 2011
The TSA’s secret counter-terrorism team that tries to topple crimes in transportation centers have run more than 9,000 unannounced checkpoints and other search operations in 2011, and the Department of Homeland Security are asking for an extra $24 million for 2012 to organize even more teams to put in bus stations and Amtrak terminals next year. Currently the TSA commands 25 “viper” teams — what they call the two-dozen-plus Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response units that conduct the checkpoints from coast-to-coast. The TSA can’t prove that the increase in 2011 did anything to keep crime down on the ground, but George Washington University’s Homeland Security Police Institute’s Frank Cilluffo tells the Times that they need to keep the terrorists “on edge.” More

TSA screenings aren't just for airports anymore
The Los Angeles Times
December 11, 2011
TSA officials say they have no proof that the roving viper teams have foiled any terrorist plots or thwarted any major threat to public safety. But they argue that the random nature of the searches and the presence of armed officers serve as a deterrent and bolster public confidence. "We have to keep them [terrorists] on edge," said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington. "We're not going to have a permanent presence everywhere." More

Obama Strategy Focuses on Local Connections to Combat Extremists
Bloomberg
December 8, 2011
The report sets out how the government is implementing the National Strategy for Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States that was signed by President Barack Obama in August 2011. “As much as we can get to the point where we can unpack and expose the hypocrisy of al-Qaeda and the Jihadi narrative and facilitate its fall under its own weight is a good thing,” said Frank J. Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at the George Washington University in Washington. Cilluffo said he worries that the administration hasn’t done enough to “push back” and “clean up” extremist information available on the Internet and hasn’t done enough to coordinate efforts to stop al-Qaeda related terrorists abroad. More

Lawmakers, Twitter locked in dispute over Taliban tweets
LA Times
November 23, 2011
This year, the ISAF began battling the pro-Taliban messages with tweets that countered insurgent claims. As a result, the two sides sometimes exchange a dozen tweets a day. "I applaud ISAF for stepping into the breach and not ceding the vacuum to the Taliban," said Frank Cilluffo, who was a domestic security advisor to President George W. Bush. U.S. intelligence agencies are also known to track suspect bloggers and tweeters on the Internet to help identify Taliban fighters or terrorist operatives. More

Can 'lone wolf' terror suspect claim entrapment? It will be hard to prove.
Christian Science Monitor
November 22, 2011
According to the complaint, the NYPD also recorded phone calls, videotaped efforts to make bombs, and read blogs and postings by the defendant, who had established a website, www.trueislam1.com. On the site, according to the filings, was a link to an article entitled, “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Home.” Terrorism experts say those Internet postings may make it difficult for his defense. “He left muddy footprints on the Internet. He made his intentions clear,” says Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington. “His intent was to cause harm.” More

Turning to the Netherlands for Counterradicalization Lessons
CQ Homeland Security
November 20, 2011
This week, The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute is looking to find out what lessons the United States can learn from its European ally. Erik Akerboom, the Netherlands’ national coordinator for counterterrorism and security, will appear at the institute Tuesday, as part of its ambassadors series, speaking about strategies for approaching counterterrorism and counterradicalization that his government recently released. “What I’d like to get a sense of is the challenges facing continental Europe, and the unique strategies that either coincide with our own, or that are worth looking at,” said HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo. More

Houston Muslims question FBI terror tactics
Houston Chronicle
November 20, 2011
Using informants as part of an aggressive pursuit of even low-level terrorism suspects stems from a concern around the country about the threat of an attack, said Ronald Marks, a senior fellow specializing in intelligence and terrorism at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute."The bottom line here is that the FBI is in a position, certainly in Washington, where they can't make a mistake," Marks said. More

Pilot Locked in Restroom Causes Mid-Air Terror Scare
ABC News
November 17, 2011
“What I’m being told is he’s stuck in the lav,” the co-pilot continued. “Someone with a thick foreign accent is giving me a password to access the cockpit, and I’m not about to let him in.” Not willing to take any chances themselves, air controllers on the ground ordered the plane, operated by regional carrier Chautauqua Airlines, to make an emergency landing. Before the co-pilot was forced to make that emergency landing, however, the pilot was able to open the bathroom door, and calm his anxious colleagues. “The captain, myself, went back to the lavatory and the door latch broke and I had to fight my way out of it with my body to get the door open,” he explained to air traffic control. “There is no issue, no threat,” he said. Frank Cilluffo of the Homeland Security Institute at George Washington University said that the first officer did the right thing. “At the end of the day it was an unknown person and an unknown voice trying to access the cockpit,” he said. “You don’t open the door.” Sources tell ABC News that fighter planes were alerted to the situation, but not called into service. More

Security clearance holders could begin zipping through airport security
Homeland Security News Wire
November 15, 2011
With the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) moving towards a tiered airport security system, those holding federal security clearances could become the next in line for expedited screening at checkpoints. “Clearly, that is a category of people that we as a society know and trust more than others,” said John Pistole, the head of TSA, at a recent event held at George Washington University. According to Pistole, his agency is currently working with the director of national intelligence to explore a system that would allow those with security clearance to go through less intrusive screening measures at airports. More

Ten years on, TSA continues to evolve
Homeland Security News Wire
November 15, 2011
Addressing George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, Pistole praised a number of controversial programs which he said were successful in making airline security more effective. Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), the full-body scanners which have been the subject of sharp criticism due to privacy concerns, “gives our officers the best opportunity to detect both metallic and non-metallic threats,” Pistole said. As evidence, the TSA chief showed a number of examples of items seized thanks to AIT scans, which have detected hundreds of prohibited and dangerous items since their deployment last year. In one slide, an individual had wrapped over 700 grams of cocaine around his legs using ace bandages. Pistole noted that the drugs could have easily been explosives. In another slide, a passenger at Miami International Airport was found with a nine-inch ceramic knife. In neither example would the contraband have been discovered using a standard metal-detector. In an effort to address privacy concerns associated with the full body scanners, TSA recently installed new software which replaces passenger-specific images with the generic outline of a person. More

Pistole: Security clearance holders could get expedited airport security
Fierce Homeland Security
November 13, 2011
Holders of federal security clearances could become the next class of individuals to receive expedited treatment in Transportation Security Administration airport checkpoints. "Clearly, that is a category of people that we as a society know and trust more than others," TSA Administrator John Pistole told a Nov. 10 audience at an event hosted by Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. More

TSA looks forward to happier Thanksgiving
Government Security News
November 11, 2011
In remarks on Nov. 10, 2011, TSA Administrator John Pistole said the agency had worked to alleviate some of the aggravations that fueled last year’s protests. New screening machines equipped with Automated Target Recognition software that produces only a generic outline of a person instead of the their physical image, are now widely installed at airports around the country, he said in remarks at a speech to the Homeland Security Policy Institute on Nov. 11. New screening procedures for children that allow more flexibility in how they are screened are also in place and trials of pre-screening programs have been expanded, he said. “We want to provide professional service without aggravation,” he said. Aggravation among passengers drove the protests last year, he said. Pistole hopes the agency’s continued shift towards a more risk-based security model, instead of the “one-size fits all” approach will help this year. More

Transportation Security Administration's John Pistole speaks at GW
GW Today
November 11, 2011
In his remarks in GW’s Marvin Center, Mr. Pistole highlighted the advances of TSA technology and layers of security over the last decade and noted several recent enhancements to security, including new privacy protections in advanced imaging technology (AIT) machines. Since its inception, TSA has screened more than 5 billion people. The address and a question-and-answer session was hosted by Homeland Security Policy Institute and moderated by its director, Frank Cilluffo, associate vice president for homeland security. In his introduction, Mr. Cilluffo noted that Mr. Pistole has one of the most “complex, challenging and difficult” jobs in Washington, D.C. As TSA administrator, Mr. Pistole oversees 60,000 employees; the security operations of more than 450 federalized airports throughout the U.S.; the Federal Air Marshal Service; and security for highways, railroads, ports, mass transit systems and pipelines. More

Passengers Continue to Pack Guns in Carry-on Luggage, TSA Says
CQ Homeland Security
November 10, 2011
Agents find four to five firearms every day, according to Pistole. During a speech Thursday, the administrator noted that nearly 1,100 guns were discovered in carry-on baggage from the beginning of the year through October, resulting in 689 arrests. In the past two weeks, TSA discovered 59 guns. Nine of them were detected Tuesday alone he told an audience at The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. Pistole has followed his firearm tallies with clarification that the agency does not believe the gun carriers are terrorists and that many passengers have said they simply forgot they had the weapons in their bags. But the number of discoveries, he has said, is indicative of the fact that travelers are not focused on airport security protocols. More (Please note: subscription required.)

TSA Confiscates More Than 1,000 Guns From Airplane Passengers in 2011
ABC News
November 10, 2011
Transportation Security Administration officers have confiscated more than 1,000 guns that were discovered by security personnel as passengers traveled through airport security screenings so far this year, the head of the TSA said. “More than 10 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, people are still trying to bring deadly weapons into the cabin of an airplane,” TSA administrator John Pistole said at George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. “On Tuesday, just two days ago, we detected nine guns passengers had in their carry-on bags at various checkpoints around the country.” Pistole said. Pistole showed several slides of drugs and weapons that passengers were attempting to bring or smuggle on board aircraft. More

TSA: Be aware of security issues on mass transit
The Associated Press
November 10, 2011
Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole says his agency has reissued an intelligence bulletin to remind travelers to be aware of security issues around the nation's bus and mass transit systems as the country prepares for the busy holiday travel season. Generally, such bulletins are circulated among state and local law enforcement and others responsible for securing transportation systems. They are often reminders to be on the lookout for suspicious activity and are not always prompted by intelligence about a specific threat or plot. Speaking at an event Thursday at George Washington University, Pistole said it's important to remind people that terrorists here and overseas have targeted bus and rail systems, recognizing that more people travel by mass transit than by plane. More

Resilience Challenge Extends to Psychology, Experts Say
CQ Homeland Security
November 9, 2011
Al Qaeda has not carried out a major plot in recent years, and therefore public officials fear they will be perceived as alarmist if they warn of an imminent attack and none materializes, said Daniel J. Kaniewski, deputy director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. That reluctance among government officials is growing, he added. “The further we get from 9/11 or another terrorist attack or a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina, the less a politician is going to risk his or her political position by crying wolf or unnecessarily scaring people,” Kaniewski said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s going to be an ongoing challenge.” More (Please note: subscription required.)

Is the TSA's 10th Birthday Cause for Celebration?
The Washington Post
November 9, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, says the TSA deserves recognition for adapting to meet the terrorist threat since its creation in 2001. When it comes to aviation security, he says, there’s no quick and easy fix, and the agency’s approach of building a layered defense and using intelligence underpinned by technology and a well-trained workforce is keeping air travel safe. More

Counternarcotics Experts Call for United States to Boost Aid to Mexico
CQ Homeland Security
October 20, 2011
Former counternarcotics officials said Thursday that the idea of drug cartels pushing Mexico toward becoming a failed state is an exaggeration, but the problem posed by the drug organizations is serious and requires much more in the way of U.S. support for the Mexican government. Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who served as head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Bill Clinton, said the cartels are reaping the financial benefits of a multimillion-dollar illicit trade. That money is the source of their power, he said, allowing them to buy military-grade weapons and sow corruption throughout the Mexican government. "That amount of money is a blowtorch that melts Democratic institutions," he said during a forum hosted by The George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Yemen says Al Qaeda militants killed in drone strike
L.A. Times
October 15, 2011
Yemeni officials told reporters that nine members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula were killed in the strike in southeastern Yemen, including Awlaki’s 21-year-old son, Abdul-Rahman Awlaki, and Egyptian-born Ibrahim Banna, whom officials described as the media chief of the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen. “Now is the time when they [AQAP] are on their back heels and not the time to let up, so they don’t have the time, place and space to train, plot and execute attacks. It’s the right time to accelerate,” said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. More

GW Hosts Homeland Security Secretaries
GW Today
October 13, 2011
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and former secretaries Michael Chertoff and Tom Ridge spoke Tuesday about the security challenges facing the nation in the “new normal” of a post-9/11 world. The discussion, called “A National Conversation on the Homeland Security Environment Looking Forward: The Secretaries’ Perspective,” was moderated by Admiral Thad Allen, M.P.A. ’86, distinguished professor of practice at GW, former commandant of the United States Coast Guard and national incident commander during the BP oil spill. The event was held in Jack Morton Auditorium. Frank Cilluffo, director of GW’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, which co-hosted the event with the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council, said that speaking with all three secretaries at the same time was like seeing a decade of his life come together. Mr. Cilluffo served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush on homeland security and has published extensively on homeland security topics. “You don’t get better public servants than the three who are joining us today,” Mr. Cilluffo said. “I’ve had the privilege to work with all of them. We’ve had the privilege to host all of them, but never before simultaneously.” More

C-SPAN Coverage of "A National Conversation on the Homeland Security Environment Looking Forward: The Secretaries' Perspective"
C-SPAN
October 12, 2011
C-SPAN's coverage of the conversation between the Hon. Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, the Hon. Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Hon. Tom Ridge, former Secretary of Homeland Security, hosted by HSPI on October 11, 2011. More

Three secretaries of Homeland Security address department's future
The Hatchet
October 12, 2011
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and former secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff convened Tuesday in the Jack Morton Auditorium to discuss national security in a post-9/11 world. The panel, composed of the only people to ever hold the secretary of homeland security post, was moderated by alumnus and professor Admiral Thad Allen and co-hosted by the University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. The relationship between the public and private sector in national security, a field the secretaries agreed is constantly evolving, was a central theme of the discussion. More

Homeland Security Bill Targets Homegrown Islamist Extremism
Huffington Post
October 11, 2011
But after the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee passed its first-ever authorization bill for DHS last month, the measure "actually stands a good chance of passage," said Daniel Kaniewski, a former special assistant for homeland security in the George W. Bush White House and a researcher at George Washington University..."Legacy committees continue to exert jurisdiction over many components of DHS," Kaniewski said. For example, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure retains broad authority over the Federal Emergency Management Agency, one of 22 federal agencies within DHS. More

Experts chide TSA for poor risk assessment of security measures
Nextgov
September 30, 2011
Seth Stodder, former policy and planning director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, objected to granting companies responsibility for selecting screening technologies at a time when Al Qaeda members, including those trained by recently assassinated Anwar al-Aulaqi, are still targeting commercial airlines. "That's essentially back to the future or back to the pre-9/11 world," he said. "The basic point is, after 9/11 we needed to have a TSA, because the airlines were not doing a good job, so we needed to have a federal presence to secure mass forms of transportation . . . There has to be a federal standard for what types of machines are used." While the agency may have made some bad choices along the way, it still is a relatively young agency and is trying to fix past errors, said Stodder, now a senior fellow at The George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. He pointed to common sense measures TSA Administrator John Pistole is taking at intake lines, such as letting frequent fliers keep on their shoes. More

Terror Blow: American Al-Qaeda
Associated Press
September 30, 2011
HSPI Director Frank J. Cilluffo advances his position on the propriety of targeting U.S. citizen and Al Qaeda ideologue Anwar Al-Awlaki, terming the radical "fair game" for his involvement in plots to attack the United States. More

"Revenge" Strike Feared after al-Awlaki's Death
ABC News
September 20, 2011
“This is not the end of AQAP, but this is big, this is significant,” said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. “It is especially significant because of Awlaki’s role in radicalizing and recruiting Westerners.” More

Anwar Al-Awlaki's Death: Is America Any Safer?
The Huffington Post
September 30, 2011
Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico, had developed over the last two years "from an Internet ideologue to full-blown operational planner," wrote Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, in a recent report. "By no means is it the death knell of AQAP, but it is a significant blow, especially in terms of what he tried to export to the West," Cilluffo told The Huffington Post. "Awlaki was the primary proselytizer and mover and shaker trying to radicalize and recruit Westerners to the al Qaeda cause. With him out of the picture, that bodes well for the United States and national security." More

US must work with India
The Daily Pioneer
September 27, 2011
HSPI Director Frank J. Cilluffo comments on the need for closer U.S.-India cooperation on counterterrorism. While heightened cooperation with India will strain ties with Pakistan, Cilluffo argues, it is a necessary measure to better secure both countries against a repeat of the events of 9/11 or the 2008 attacks on Mumbai. More

The Gordian Knot of Disaster Funding
Security Debrief
September 26, 2011
Our Deputy Director discusses the current disaster funding challenges facing FEMA. More

Canada Command's Semianiw discusses Role in United States
Fierce Homeland Security
September 23, 2011
Canada actively works to combat security threats throughout the Western hemisphere including in the United States, said Lt. Gen. Walter Semianiw, the commander of Canada Command, at the Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington Sept. 23. "That frightens folks down in Washington, when I say that my area of responsibility [includes] the United States," but that approach is necessary, he said. He explained Canada Command's reach by saying that threats to North American security require all of North America to respond. More

What Happens if FEMA Runs Out of Money
NPR
September 23, 2011
If the disaster relief fund does run dry, officials at FEMA don't have much flexibility. Dan Kaniewski at George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute says FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate is prohibited from shifting funds around. "What if there was a disaster tomorrow? We can't predict what's going to happen next — a terrorist attack, a hurricane or wildfires, whatever it may be," Kaniewski says. "He needs to be able to provide the victims of those disasters immediate assistance. And as of Tuesday, he's not going to be able to do that." More

Afghan Assassination Threatens Peace Talks, Pakistan Relations
Bloomberg Businessweek
September 21, 2011
First, said Cilluffo, peace negotiations are critical to the Obama administration’s efforts to reduce U.S. combat forces in Afghanistan. “I don’t see how we can successfully wind down our presence in Afghanistan without being able to point to a credible peace initiative,” he said. In addition, said Cilluffo and Fair, Pakistan’s unwillingness to combat the Haqqani network, which is based on its soil, reveals the bankruptcy of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. “The litmus test for Pakistan is whether they are willing to sever their ties with proxy groups such as Haqqani,” said Cilluffo in a telephone interview. “The U.S. and its coalition partners’ patience is wearing thin.” More

D.C. Evacuation Plans: No One In Charge Of Capital Emergency Response
The Huffington Post
September 20, 2011
Dan Kaniewski at the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University agreed that no matter what local and state officials do, if the federal government decides to close, they will be left to deal with the consequences. "In any other part of the country the old saying that the federal government supports, not supplants, state and local officials, applies," he said. "But here we've turned the equation on its head." More

Haqqani Network receives protection from ISI, says Frank J Cilluffo, Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute in the US
The Economic Times
September 20, 2011
The Haqqani network, which is blamed for the recent attack on American embassy in Kabul, receives protection and support from the Pakistani spy agency ISI, an influential think-tank has told US lawmakers. "They receive protection and support from facets of Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI, which continues to drag its feet on taking action against the Haqqanis because they see the network as a useful proxy to expand their influence and establish footholds in Afghanistan," said Frank J Cilluffo, Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at the George Washington University. More

Time for Pakistan to Clean Up Its Backyard
Security Debrief
September 16, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo advocates closer contact between U.S. and Indian counterterrorism practitioners in order to combat Pakistan-based terrorist groups such as the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Taiba. More pressure on Pakistan's government, Cilluffo argues, is needed to dislodge the extremist groups from their strategic safe havens. More

Troy: "Contagion" all too real
The Washington Times
September 15, 2011
HSPI Senior Fellow Tevi Troy comments on shortcomings in national and global preparedness for epidemics as identified in the recent film "Contagion." Troy notes that the Department of Defense and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised director Steven Soderbergh, suggesting the reality of vulnerabilities identified in the film. More

Key US lawmakers demand Pak's action against LeT be assessed
Deccan Herald
September 15, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, Associate Vice President, Director, Homeland Security Policy Institute, George Washington University, said despite some recent promising developments, the US cannot allow its national security to be held hostage by nearly two decades of unfulfilled expectations in Pakistan. "It is vital that the United States now work to deepen America's cooperative relationships with India's internal security architecture to counter the terror threat that permeates and extends beyond the region," he said. More

Cybersecurity--Stop Attacking Pearl Harbor
Security Debrief
September 15, 2011
HSPI Senior Fellow Ronald Marks comments on misconceptions about the nature of cyber warfare, and the inapplicability of a "Pearl Harbor" or knockout-blow paradigm to today's cybersecurity threat environment. More

HSPI Director Cilluffo to testify before U.S. House of Representatives
September 13, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, Director of HSPI, will testify tomorrow before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. The hearing, entitled "U.S.-India Counterterrorism Cooperation: Deepening the Partnership," promises to shed light on an important bilateral security relationship. More

Lessons learned from 9/11: Looking back at the attacks ten years later
Capital Insider
September 12, 2011
The Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of 9/11. Intelligence officials are constantly working to keep history from repeating itself and that means more communication and sharing between federal agencies. Of course, terror isn't the only threat. Our panel of experts, Rich Cooper, Col. Douglas MacGregor and Mickey McCarter walk us through what's changed in a decade and where the country is heading in terms of its national security. More

HSPI welcomes seven Homeland Security Leaders to its Senior Fellow cadre
September 12, 2011
HSPI today announced the addition of Chris Battle, Rich Cooper, Seamus Hughes, William McCants, Jeanne Meserve, John Paczkowski and Clinton Watts to the ranks of its 2011 Senior Fellows. More

Faculty reflect on how Sept. 11 changed teaching, careers
The GW Hatchet
September 12, 2011
Now the assistant vice president for Homeland Security and the deputy director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at GW, Kaniewski developed an interest in the intersection of counterterrorism and first responder policy while studying the psychology of terrorism and working as a member of EMeRG as an undergraduate. During his time at the Homeland Security Policy Institute, Kaniewski said he has been able to more deeply analyze the underlying issues that drive homeland security policy through regular meetings with senior government officials. “For students, learning about 9/11 is imperative, because it is the history of the attacks that underpins the homeland security policies and governmental institutions that exist today,” he said. “Without a firm understanding of the history, it’s impossible to understand the reasons that such policies and institutions exist.” More

Homeland Security funds for Iowa running on empty
Quad-City Times
September 11, 2011
"Discussions in D.C. are raising important questions about national homeland security strategy and financing," said Scott Sommers, vice mayor of Mesa, Ariz., who also works as a public safety consultant and serves on George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. Sommers said the trend has been to push more money into high-population, high-risk cities such as New York or Washington, D.C. Places such as Waterloo, or even Des Moines, just don't rate high on the threat list. More

How 9/11 changed air travel
MSNBC Today Show
September 10, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo comments on post-9/11 changes to aviation security. More

Academics and researchers are a behind-the-scenes front in the war on terror
The Connecticut Post
September 10, 2011
Michael Balboni, who served as homeland security director under the last two New York governors, is a senior fellow at George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. There, he is a member of the Preparedness, Response and Resilience Task Force that looks at ways to help the country quickly recover from something like a massive terrorist attack. He also serves on the Counter-terrorism and Intelligence Task Force, which recently looked at the ways police departments view and handle information on terrorism. "New York City police as well as the state police in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, are very active in combatting terrorism," Balboni said. "But there are vulnerabilities elsewhere. The way we view and handle intelligence has got to be part of everyday life." More

Intelligent man's guide to fighting terror
The Hindustan Times
September 10, 2011
Says David Trulio, senior fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington, “The increased use of automated risk assessment (ARA) represents a significant advance in homeland security.” Trulio, a former Special Assistant to President George W Bush, notes that systems using ARA can identify border crossers and air travellers who pose a risk of terrorism, smuggling, or other crimes on the basis of rules developed over time. In 2003, a US border inspector in Chicago used PNR data and analytics to stop a traveller from entering the US. His fingerprints were later found on a suicide vehicle in Iraq. In 2006, another inspector at Boston’s Logan airport identified two passengers whose travel patterns indicated high risk. One claimed to be travelling on business for a group with suspected ties to Al Qaeda. Their baggage was opened and found to have images of armed men labeled ‘Mujahideen’. They were refused entry. More

Insight From 9/11 Witnesses and Analysis of How it Affects Some of Today's Industries
September 9, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo comments on Homeland Security funding at 11:04.

New York and Washington react to 9/11 threat with practiced seriousness
The Christian Science Monitor
September 9, 2011
Washington put police on 12-hour shifts Friday and New York began searching vehicles approaching the city’s bridges amid unconfirmed intelligence of a terror attack to coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9/11. At the same time officials asked members of the public to keep their eyes open for anything unusual, a reminder of the “see something, say something” campaign that has existed for years. The heightened antiterrorism efforts in New York and Washington followed word Thursday of the unconfirmed plot, which was described as specific and “credible.” “This is from a single source right now,” says Frank Cilluffo, director of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington. “But, at the end of the day you have to take it seriously.” More

Terrorist watch lists should be put in the cloud, analysts say
Nextgov
September 9, 2011
Although the mechanism for vetting suspects has grown significantly more robust since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, holes remain, partly due to international privacy concerns, according to researchers. In addition, each breakout list contains some disparities because of continued uneasiness about sharing sensitive information and challenges in updating the lists in real-time, they said. "9/11 was, by some accounts, an issue of false negatives, where the people who were not on watch lists should have been," said Seth Stodder, former policy and planning director for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Now, sometimes false positives create "too many John Smiths on the terrorist list." "One big institutional issue with regard to watch lists is essentially [defining] your tolerance for risk," he said. More

Law Enforcement Still See Problems with Intel-sharing; Perceive Extremists as Biggest Threat
Homeland Security Today
September 9, 2011
There is a consensus among the law enforcement intelligence commanders for the fifty-six largest cities in the United States that the US lacks an adequate understanding of the intelligence enterprise as it relates to counterterrorism and, that as a result, intelligence capabilities are lacking, collection is haphazard, resources are underutilized and the US has a limited ability to develop anticipatory knowledge concerning future attacks, mitigate risks or respond to emerging threats. Meanwhile, a survey of the section chiefs from the intelligence units of major metropolitan police forces in the United States found that homegrown and foreign-directed jihadi terrorism and radicalization are perceived as a real threat by local law enforcement. These were among the key findings of the new Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) report, Counterterrorism Intelligence Law Enforcement Perspectives. The research presented in the report is the first installment of HSPI’s new Counterterrorism Intelligence Research Survey (CTISR) program, which is the first attempt to systematically and routinely collect data from counterterrorism professionals at all levels of government. More

In the war against terror, the Northeast transit corridor seen as a vulnerable target
Connecticut Post
September 9, 2011
Michael Balboni served as the head of homeland security under two New York governors and is now a senior fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. He said that the size of the Connecticut, New York and New Jersey transit system, "the largest in the world," makes it hard to protect. "What would you do? Put guards on every train?" Balboni asked. "Prohibit backpacks? Use screening techniques?" More

Rise of the digital jihadists: Homeland Security says post 9/11 America has seen a new threat from the internet
The Daily Mail
September 8, 2011
Immediately after 9/11, experts believed people would only be radicalised by person-to-person contact. But now there are fears 'digital jihadists' living in the U.S. are being recruited online and are then able to be directed from abroad. A poll by the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University revealed a rise in homegrown terrorism cases. Conducted ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the survey found there were 21 homegrown terrorism cases between September 2001 and May 2009. The last two years have seen an alarming rise with 31 cases over the period and more than one every month, according to the Counterterrorism Intelligence: Law Enforcement Perspectives report. More

Jeanne Meserve Leaves CNN, Becomes Senior Fellow at George Washington University Institute
TV Newser
September 8, 2011
Longtime CNN correspondent Jeanne Meserve is leaving the cable channel. Meserve sent a note to colleagues yesterday afternoon announcing the news, as well as the fact that she would be joining George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute as a senior fellow. More

Report Shows Spike in Homegrown Terror Cases, but Intelligence Gaps Remain
Fox News
September 7, 2011
A spike in domestic terrorism and attacks by American citizens directed from overseas are top concerns for police departments across the country, according to a new survey by the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. “Homegrown and foreign-directed jihadi terrorism and radicalization are perceived as a real threat by local law enforcement in the United States,” the report, “Counterterrorism Intelligence: Law Enforcement Perspectives,” says. The survey covered the police intelligence chiefs for the 56 largest cities in the U.S. in advance of the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. More

Study: Homegrown Terrorism on the Rise
Fox News
September 7, 2011
Fox News National Correspondent Catherine Herridge reports on the findings of HSPI's Research Brief, "Counterterrorism Intelligence: Law Enforcement Perspectives." More

Terror Threats After 9/11 Attacks
Fox 5
September 7, 2011
Fox News DC interviews HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo on the evolving terrorist threat to the homeland. More

Report: Nation's Top Cops Say U.S. Counterterror Effort is Lacking
ABC News
September 7, 2011
A survey of intelligence commanders from America's 56 biggest cities conducted by the Homeland Security Policy Institute found the police chiefs believe the nation's intelligence enterprise is less robust than it could be, and that 62 percent of the chiefs felt this lack left them "unable to develop a complete understanding of their local threat." "There is a consensus that the U.S. lacks an adequate understanding of the intelligence enterprise as it relates to counterterrorism," says the HSPI's research brief, slated to be released today. "As a result, intelligence capabilities are lacking, collection is haphazard, resources are underutilized, and the U.S. has a limited ability to develop anticipatory knowledge concerning future attacks, mitigate risks or respond to emerging threats." More

America safer after 9/11 but not fully secure
CBS Early Show
September 1, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, Director of HSPI, comments on preparedness as the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks approaches. More

Costs Of Irene Add Up As FEMA Runs Out Of Cash
NPR
August 30, 2011
Dan Kaniewski, who worked at FEMA during the George W. Bush administration and now teaches at George Washington University, says Fugate is making the right decision [in balancing FEMA priorities between responses to Irene and responses to previous disasters]. "He's got to deal with the cards he's been dealt," says Kaniewski. "He has a limited amount of money, and he realizes, rightly so, that money has to be allocated for the most pressing needs. And right now, it's those individuals who have been impacted by Hurricane Irene — they need to be provided the assistance to make sure they have a roof over their heads." More

Did U.S. trade freedom for security after 9/11?
Agence-France Presse
August 26, 2011
Increased surveillance was both inevitable and necessary in the face of ongoing threats, said Ron Marks, a former CIA official now at George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. "We're not going to go back to before 9/11. The genie is out of the bottle," he said. "We're going to have to be more intrusive. The question is the degree of intrusiveness and what is the oversight of that." There is "tremendous sensitivity" among federal investigators over the handling of data gathered in intelligence sweeps, Marks said. "I'm more concerned about public perceptions than what law enforcement do," he said, pointing to a "loss of flexibility" in tolerating divergent opinions and a deep mistrust of Muslims and Arabs. More

Aftershock
NBC Nightly News
August 24, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo comments on disaster preparedness and the response to the recent Virginia earthquake. More

Bin Laden movie consult has White House under fire
The Christian Science Monitor
August 11, 2011
"Taking responsible reporting beyond limits and/or sharing hot leads with the press before the intelligence community and special forces can fully exploit these leads is troubling," Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, wrote shortly after the raid. "Exposing tactics, techniques and procedures to the light of day before their time could end up hurting the very efforts and interests they are intended to further." More

By Federal Mandate, Attack Scenarios Keep Company Officials Up at Night
Roll Call
August 2, 2011
It did not take many days after Sept. 11 for officials at all levels of government to experience the same frightening epiphany: The potential for more attacks — perhaps even deadlier than those perpetrated by the al Qaeda hijackers — was embedded in the vast networks of utility pipes, power lines and other conduits that weave into every aspect of everyday American life. “The biggest concerns were ‘where were the gaps?’” recalls Michael Balboni, a senior fellow at George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Regulators to Keep Closer Tabs on Chemical Used in Bombings
Reuters
August 2, 2011
The Department of Homeland Security proposed new security measures on Tuesday to monitor sales of ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound widely used in fertilizer but also the key ingredient in some bombs. "With any of these initiatives, the key question is what is the threat and what's the vulnerability," said Michael Balboni, a senior fellow at the George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. "It's not so much the amount as who's purchasing it." More

San Diego Police Become Domestic Intelligence Players
Security Management
August 2, 2011
Security Management reviews HSPI's recent Issue Brief on the role of local law enforcement in counterterrorism. More

Debt Deal Leaves Homeland Spending Levels in Doubt
CQ Homeland
August 2, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, head of the George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, said he hopes Aderholt’s panel focuses on risk and takes a focused and deliberative approach to the cuts it makes. Allocating for DHS is particularly difficult, Cilluffo said, considering there is little empirical evidence on what is working and the terrorism threat continues to evolve. More

Local Intelligence-Gathering Useful, but Largely Untapped
CQ Homeland
August 2, 2011
Department of Homeland Security officials have been saying for years that state and local law enforcement agencies are some of their best counterterrorism intelligence efforts. That attitude hasn’t translated into action, but it should, according to a new policy paper. “Despite a decade of political rhetoric, blue ribbon commissions, and grant-making on the part of Congress and the presidency, local police departments remain all but absent from the counterterrorism efforts of America’s intelligence community,” said the paper, by Andrew G. Mills, the commanding officer for criminal intelligence and counterterrorism at the San Diego Police Department and Joseph R. Clark, an analyst at The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Running a Three-Legged Race: the San Diego Police Department, the Intelligence Community, and Counterterrorism
HSPI Issue Brief
August 1, 2011
Today, HSPI released an issue brief on the role local law enforcement can play in the collection of counterterrorism related intelligence.  Taking as a case study the experiences of the San Diego Police Department's Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU), Andrew G. Mills and Joseph R. Clark describe the organizational learning processes that changed CIU's approach to the intelligence enterprise.  The issue brief recounts the self assessment and cooperative dialogues that shifted CIU's counterterrorism approach from that of a consumer of intelligence products to that of an active participant in the intelligence community.  Although the efforts of San Diego's police department represent a step forward in the counterterrorism efficacy of local law enforcement, the authors contend that the lessons learned by the CIU will be of limited value to the US' national efforts unless local law enforcement agencies across the country adopt similar innovations. More

Defense Cyber Strategy Avoids Tackling the Most Critical Issues
National Journal
July 28, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo and Associate Director Sharon Cardash critique DoD's new cyber strategy. More

No copter, sinking boat: Norway police delay in stopping island massacre called 'unforgivable'
AP
July 26, 2011
As Oslo’s police force sounds an increasingly defensive note, international experts said Tuesday that Norway’s government and security forces must learn stark lessons from a massacre made worse by a lackadaisical approach to planning for terror. Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, said Norway has been victimized in the same way as all countries caught off guard by terror. More

Congress Demands Cyber Details While DOD Aims for Ambiguity
Stars & Stripes
July 21, 2011
Amid a rising din of reports of online incursions and Internet-based attacks, Congress wants to know why the Pentagon still hasn’t revealed its basic cyberdefense ground rules. Some Congressional concerns might have been allayed if the heavily defense-oriented Pentagon cyberstrategy had been more “muscular” and offense oriented, said Frank J. Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. More

FEMA Wrestles With Building a Self-Sufficient Public
CQ Homeland Security
July 21, 2011
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has long pushed the public to prepare for disasters and to understand that those who can help themselves would be expected to do so. Under current circumstances, that’s not possible, said Daniel Kaniewski, deputy director of the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute.“Today, without intercontinental ballistic missiles pointed at us from Russia on a hair trigger, it’s hard to relay that risk to the American public and the many risks that they face everyday,” he said. More

Changing Power and Relationships
Government Executive
July 19, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo discusses changing power and relationships during an interview on cyber security with Government Executive. More

Working Towards Definitions
Government Executive
July 19, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo discusses definitions of terms during an interview on cyber security with Government Executive. More

Modernizing Partnerships
Government Executive
July 19, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo discusses public-private partnerships during an interview on cyber security with Government Executive. More

Al-Qaeda's Yemen Brand Has Aided Somalia Militants, U.S. Says
LA Times
July 18, 2011
Al-Qaeda's powerful branch in Yemen has provided weapons, fighters and training with explosives over the past year to a militant Islamist group battling for power in Somalia, according to newly developed American intelligence, raising concerns of a widening alliance of terrorist groups. "We are starting to see a conflation of jihadi conflict zones," said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. More

Budget Wrangling Shows DHS is No Longer a Sacred Cow
Government Security News
July 15, 2011
Even though Congressional Republicans may eventually soften their proposed deep budget cuts for the Department of Homeland Security as they move forward with their belt-tightening crusade this summer, the reductions' mere presence suggests lawmakers have crossed a divide in their thinking about the agency. The overall reduction, said Mike Balboni, a senior fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University in an interview with Government Security News, starkly illustrates fault lines that have been building for some time in Congress over the department. More

Countering the Threat Posed by AQAP: Embrace, Don't Chase Yemen's Chaos
Security Debrief
July 14, 2011
Last week, Gregory Johnsen of the blog Waq-al-Waq crafted a thoughtful response to Frank Cilluffo and Clinton Watts' article "Yemen & Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: Exploiting a Window of Counterterrorism Opportunity." Following is their response to further what HSPI believes to be a particularly important debate. More

Al Qaeda Looks to Implant Bombs in Humans
ABC 7
July 7, 2011
Airlines are being warned by the government that terrorists are considering surgically hiding bombs inside humans to evade airport security. Dan Kaniewski, deputy director of George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute, said an implanted bomb would be difficult to detect during security checks. More

As Anti-Terrorism Funding Shrinks, Controversy Grows Over How to Spend It
St. Louis Beacon
July 7, 2011
This year, St. Louis was the only city in Missouri to receive part of the $662.6 million allocated toward preventing or responding to terrorism... Scott Somers, a member of the preparedness, response and resilience task force at the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, said the debate has often focused on whether funding should be "concentrated on larger cities that have greater risk or should be spread out." More

TSA Warns Airlines of Explosive Implants in People's Bodies
USA Today
July 6, 2011
The Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday urged foreign security agencies to ramp up security after receiving intelligence reports that terrorists might try to surgically implant explosives in the bodies of suicide bombers. "Unfortunately, it's not science fiction," said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. More

Critics Say New Counterterrorism Strategy Has Weaknesses
CQ Homeland Security
June 30, 2011
The proposal laid out Wednesday was billed as consistent with many of the goals of the George W. Bush administration but unique in its mission to solely hone in on dismantling al Qaeda and related groups by applying targeted and surgical pressure. But there is a missing dimension to the plans for countering ideology, said Frank Cilluffo, head of the George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Nigerian Man Flies Across US with Invalid ID, Expired Boarding Pass
FOX News
June 30, 2011
Deputy Director Dan Kaniewski discusses aviation security in wake of recent security breach. More

Obama Counterterrorism Strategy Focuses on Threat 'From Within'
Bloomberg
June 29, 2011
The Obama administration’s new counterterrorism strategy is the nation’s first to focus on al- Qaeda’s ability to attack the U.S. “from within,” White House adviser John Brennan said. Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington, said reworking the nation’s counterterrorism strategy in the post- bin-Laden era is an opportunity to underscore the changes in priorities and conditions since the previous plan and clarify for Americans and foreign nations Obama’s approach going forward. More

HSPI: Time to Move on Drone Strikes in Yemen
CQ
June 28, 2011
While the current upheaval in Yemen has emboldened the violent Islamist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which bases its operations there, the situation also could provide the United States with a greater opportunity to conduct drone strikes, special forces operations and other counterterrorism efforts, according to a new policy paper from from The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Terror Plots Against Military on Rise
CNN
June 24, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo discusses two new suspected homegrown terror plots that both targeted US military installations. More

Security Experts Warn of Danger of Bioattack
BioPrepWatch
June 21, 2011
A panel called "The Threat of Bioterrorism: Improving America's Response Capabilities" held last Tuesday included national security experts, including Sen. Joe Lieberman, Rep. Mike Rogers, and two former senators. The panel, held at George Washington University in Washington, DC, was moderated by Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Nation-States and Electronic Espionage
Reuters
June 20, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo discusses the risks of state-sponsored electronic espionage with a panel of cyber-terrorism experts. More

Hackers Might Face Stiffer Sentences in U.S.
Reuters
June 18, 2011
Even before a loosely organized group of hackers broke into the CIA's and Senate's public websites, the White House asked for stiffer sentences for breaking into government and private computer networks. Last month the Obama administration pressed Congress to pass stronger cybersecurity measures, including a doubling of the maximum prison sentence for potentially endangering national security to 20 years in prison. More

Pentagon Terror Scare
ABC News
June 17, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo appeared on ABC News to comment on a terrorism scare near the Pentagon Friday morning, and its context in a post-bin Laden al-Qaeda. More

Kentucky's Terrorism Case Pits Sen. McConnell Against A.G. Holder
Examiner
June 17, 2011
The fierce debate of the status of Guantanamo and the venue for trying terrorist cases is playing itself outin a pitched political battle between the Kentucky Senator and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Attorney General Eric Holder. Senate Minority Leader McConnell loudly attempted to rally citizens of Kentucky to send a clear message to the President and Attorney General Holder to send the Iraqi nationals arrested in Bowling Green, KY to the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. More

Averting Attacks
GW Today
June 16, 2011
When Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute and associate vice president for homeland security, noted that the event at 1957 E Street featured "the titans of national security," he wasn't kidding. The June 14 event, titled "The Threat of Bioterrorism: Improving America's Response Capabilities," drew panelists Sen. Joe Lieberman, Rep. Mike Rogers, and former Senators Bob Graham and Jim Talent. More

BofA Says Wikileaks Threat Details Still Unknown
Reuters
June 16, 2011
Bank of America Corp still doesn't know exactly what damaging documents Wikileaks could have about it, the largest U.S. bank's chief information officer said on Thursday. More

Lieberman to Submit Reconfigured Biosecurity Bill
Global Security Newswire
June 15, 2011
U. S. Senator Joseph Lieberman on Tuesday announced he would reintroduce legislation intended to boost security measures at the country's biological research laboratories and strengthen federal efforts against potential bioterror attacks. "It doesn't take a very aggressive imagination, based on everything we know... to believe that nucleus of subnational groups that's venomously anti-American would be considering the use of biological weapons, bioterrorist attacks on us," he said during a panel discussion organized by George Washington Unviersity's Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Bioterrorism Bill Supporters Looking for Ways to Ensure Passage
CQ
June 15, 2011
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman laid out plans Tuesday for draft legislation to improve preparedness for biological attacks, outlining a strategy bypassing turf battles that have held up similar measures in the past. This time around, the independent senator for Connecticut wants to avoid that situation by codifying the advisory role assigned to DHS by a 2010 executive order, he told an audience at The George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Lawmakers to Discuss U.S. Response to Bioterrorism Threat
CQ
June 13, 2011
The Homeland Security Policy Institute and the WMD Center have invited Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., and House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., to discuss draft proposals to protect the United States. Former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla. (1987-2005), the WMD Center’s chairman, and former Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo. (2002-2007), its vice chairman, will join in the discussion. The two served as the leaders of the Bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. More

Al Qaeda operative key to 1998 U.S. embassy bombings killed in Somalia
LA Times
June 12, 2011
Over the last 10 years, Al Qaeda has placed "great emphasis" on expanding its operations into ungoverned regions of East Africa, said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. "Mohammed found ways to take those [militant groups] with more nationalist regional aims and pull them into the broader global jihad," Cilluffo said. More

US Should Take Cues from UK Counter-Terror Strategy, Expert Says
Homeland Security Today
June 9, 2011
In focusing on ideology and radicalization, the Prevent Strategy supports a broader UK counter-terrorism strategy known as Contest. Frank Ciluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) at the George Washington University, praised the strategy, noting it holds lessons for the United States. More

Terrorism Case Exposes Gaps in Refugee Screening
NPR
June 8, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, a homeland security expert at George Washington University, raises another troubling issue. "Here, as I understand it, the real intent was not just to come to the United States, but rather for Alwan to seek the so-called golden passport, the U.S. passport, so he could travel freely and raise fewer suspicions around the world," Cilluffo says. More

Yemen: "Perfect storm of problems" for West
CBS
June 6, 2011
As the Yemeni government disintegrates and the country edges closer to civil war, the threat of a new terror strike against America grows. "The threat posed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is metastasizing and it is growing and it is morphing, and to some extent getting worse," said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. More

New Storms, Prior Disasters Burden FEMA's Budget
NPR
June 6, 2011
Former FEMA official Dan Kaniewski says people in disaster struck areas shouldn't worry because the fund isn't going to run dry. "It's more of a cash flow issue," he says. "It's not something we should lay awake at night and say 'oh my God, the disaster relief fund is going to be emptied for these long term projects'." More

Yemen's future after Saleh worries U.S. officials
Washington Post
June 5, 2011
“We would be shortsighted to think this doesn’t pose short-term national security concerns,” said Frank J. Cilluffo, a former White House official who leads the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. “The likelihood is that [AQAP operatives] will be raising their heads.” But he said that could provide an opportunity for the United States to launch strikes against them. More

Black Swan in MA: How Elected Officials Can Contribute to Community Resilience
Security Debrief
June 3, 2011
Our ICF Resilience Scholar, Keith Stefanelli, writes on the important role elected officials play in promoting disaster resilience. More

Fingerprints in terror case unchecked for months
AP
June 1, 2011
A statement from the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that gaps prevented authorities from connecting the refugee fingerprints to the bomb until January 2011. "Rarely do you get that much evidence," said Frank Cilluffo, director of a homeland security studies program at George Washington University who also served as White House domestic security adviser to President George W. Bush. "It's that much more troubling that it wasn't caught." More

Two Iraqi refugees in U.S. charged in terrorism-related case
Los Angeles Times
May 31, 2011
HSPI's Director Frank Cilluffo speaks to arrests of two suspected Iraqi insurgents in Bowling Green, Kentucky. "Experts said Alwan's and Hammadi's history of attacking U.S. troops should have been detected earlier. The FBI 'may have done a good job preventing an incident. But it should have never gotten to that status. I still don't understand how he was able to get into the country,' said Frank Cilluffo, who was White House domestic security advisor to President George W. Bush and is now the director of a domestic security studies program at George Washington University." More

Iraqi refugees indicted on U.S. terror charges
AFP
May 31, 2011
"I still don't understand how (Alwan) was able to get into the country," said Frank Cilluffo, who was White House domestic security adviser to President George W. Bush and is now the director of homeland security studies at George Washington University. The FBI "may have done a good job preventing an incident. But it should have never gotten to that status," Cillufo added. Alwan, who was being charged for crimes that occurred both in Iraq and the United States, entered the United States in April 2009 and moved to Bowling Green. More

Feds reconsider disaster management planning
American City & County
May 27, 2011
Paul Maniscalco, a George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute senior research scientist, comments on the need for tailoring disaster response to local conditions and President Barack Obama's new directive "calling for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a new national preparedness goal that enhances collaborations across state, local, tribal and territorial governments, as well as the private and nonprofit sectors and the public." More

Headley is a rare breed among admitted terrorists
AP
May 26, 2011
HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo and HSPI Senior Fellow Juan Zarate comment on the case of David Coleman Headley and what it tells experts about homegrown terrorists and foreign fighters. "'There are terrorists, and then there are terrorists,' said Juan Zarate, a senior counterterrorism official in the Bush administration." "'Those that actually have training overseas, those that actually have connections to sophisticated terrorist organizations are going to be more lethal,' said Frank Cilluffo, director of George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. But, he said, terrorists and recruitment methods come in various shapes, sizes and forms. While terror organizations are still able to blossom in areas with little or no effective government, the Internet has become yet another ungoverned space — and it's easier to get to. 'We can't ignore or discount those that are literally turning to the Internet and being radicalized and recruited,' Cilluffo said. "They can cause harm." More

After String Of Disasters, FEMA Fund Gets A Boost
NPR All Things Considered
May 25, 2011
As FEMA begins to help the mid-west respond and rebuild after this spring's historic storms, and Congress grapples with how to pay for such, HSPI's Deputy Director Daniel Kaniewski questions whether or not the US should reexamine the threshold for federal funding - perhaps limiting federal assistance to only the most severe events: "Some disasters are obvious, where state and local governments are overwhelmed and federal assistance is warranted. But others, frankly there's snowstorms and other incidents where many feel it's not appropriate for the federal government to be involved." More

Resilience Needs Must Be Defined, Operationalized, Report Finds
CQ Homeland Security
May 19, 2011
HSPI's Deputy Director and co-author of a recent HSPI report on resiliency, Daniel Kaniewski speaks to the importance of actually operationalizing the concept: "What we want is to take the concept of resilience and turning it from a word we all throw around into something that means something." More

Spies at War: The New Era of the CIA
Popular Mechanics
May 19, 2011
HSPI's Director Frank Cilluffo speaks to the changing role of the CIA. "'What you're seeing now is an evolution, and it's predicated on the threat environment we face,' says Frank Cilluffo, former White House special assistant to the president for homeland security. 'During the Cold War, it was spy versus spy. There were some small, hot wars, but it was country on country. The threats today are very different.'" More

Iran Could Play Role in Al-Qaida, Post-Bin Laden
Fox 5 News
May 18, 2011
HSPI's Director, Frank Cilluffo appeared on Fox 5 News to discuss the implications of the Bin Laden's death, his likely heir apparent, and the potential role of Iran may play in al-Qaida's future. More

Raise Your al-Qaida IQ With Suggested Reading; Start With These Books To Learn More About The History of the Terrorist Organization Founded by bin Laden
Roll Call
May 17, 2011
HSPI's Director, Frank Cilluffo, comments on "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright. "'Not only does [the book] give insight into al-Qaida and bin Laden, but it does so in a way that's a genuine pleasure to read,' Cilluffo said." More

Think Tank Examines Opportunities to Advance National Resilience
Homeland Security Today
May 17, 2011
The White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must advance US capacity for resilience else a loss of momentum will result in "resilience" being little more than a buzzword, warned a task force convened by the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI). More

Task force urges policy makers to ‘operationalize’ the concept of resilience
Government Security News
May 16, 2011
A task force set up by the Homeland Security Policy Institute has issued an interim report which observes that it is time for the concept of “resilience” to move beyond semantic definitions and into the realm where federal, state and local governments – as well as private citizens – take concrete actions to brace themselves for “low probability,” but “high consequence” disasters. More

Becoming Resilient: GW’s Homeland Security Policy Institute examines the U.S.’s ability to recover from catastrophic events.
GW Today
May 16, 2011
If another major terrorist attack or a natural disaster hit U.S. soil, how quickly could the American public recover? Daniel Kaniewski, assistant vice president and deputy director of GW’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, thinks most Americans are ill-prepared for a catastrophic event. More

Officials: Bin Laden Eyed Small Cities as Targets
CBN
May 12, 2011
U.S. investigators say handwritten journals and computer files kept by Osama bin Laden while he was hiding in Pakistan showed he was still actively involved in plotting terrorism and wanted the next attack in the U.S. to be bigger than 9/11. "I think the reality is we do have a real threat and need to pay attention," said Frank Cilluffo, director of George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. More

Closing the Circle on Security Loopholes
Jewish Family Weekly
May 11, 2011
Cilluffo calls intelligence America’s most important national security weapon: “That’s the only security measure that’s there before the bomb.” He mentions the Internet as one medium that deserves particular scrutiny, as terrorists, including the harder-to-detect lone wolves and homegrown ones, interact on and/or gather information from the Web. Cilluffo also praises the New York City police department’s large, autonomous intelligence and counterterrorism unit, and he recommends that other state and local agencies, who best understand the local dynamics and risks, should likewise expand their capabilities. More

Frightening Incidents in U.S. Skies
ABC World News
May 11, 2011
HSPI's Director, Frank Cilluffo, comments on the uptick in airline security threats in the wake of Bin Laden's death. More

Recent flight incidents amplify safety fears
ABC-7
May 11, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, a Homeland Security expert, offers an explanation for the recent mid-flight scares. "We're more attended because we are entering a legitimate threat period," Cilluffo said. "We are clearly paying close attention, but you also have individuals who are trying to exploit the situation." More

Barack Obama's hard cell
Boston Herald
May 11, 2011
The alerts, which would override regular cell traffic, are free. “This is a big step forward,” said Daniel Kaniewski of the Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington. “This will enable citizens to have more information when they need it most.” More

Cell Phone Alert System Announced
Fox5
May 10, 2011
HSPI's Deputy Director, Daniel Kaniewski, comments on PLAN, the new emergency alert system for mobile devices. More

Bin Laden fallout: Do US trains need a 'no-ride list'?
The Christian Science Monitor
May 9, 2011
“In the case of a train, you can walk to a kiosk, slide a credit card and you’re on a train,” says Daniel Kaniewski, deputy director of the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington. “Will it deny boarding?” Mr. Kaniewski points out that airplanes have been diverted if security operations discover someone on the no-fly list is on the plane. More recently, passengers have to enter their sex, middle name and date of birth to get a ticket. Many people also take trains because they don’t have to go through long security lines, take their shoes off and submit to intrusive pat-downs. “Rail would no longer be desirable from a users’ standpoint,” says Kaniewski. Although Al Qaeda has conducted operations against trains in Europe, he says there does not appear to be any specific evidence the terror group actually took any action to implement the plan in the US. “This was just one item that was disclosed and it may not be the most credible,” he says. More

Intelligence Gains from Osama bin Laden's Compound
The Diane Rehm Show
May 9, 2011
HSPI Director, Frank Cilluffo, comments on the newly gathered intelligence from the bin Laden raid and how it will make America safer. More

Have We Forgotten that Loose Lips Sink Ships?
by Frank J. Cilluffo and Sharon Cardash
Security Debrief
May 7, 2011
HSPI Director, Frank Cilluffo, and Associate Director, Sharon Cardash, discuss the 'treasure trove' of intel emerging from bin Laden's compound. More

Al-Qaida threatens U.S. with retaliation
Newsday
May 6, 2011
The message didn't carry the usual logos used by al-Qaida, said Frank Cilluffo of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. "The question is who really speaks for al-Qaida," he said.Al-Qaida is scrambling to determine who will lead it now, especially as U.S. forces step up the hunt for known leaders, Cilluffo said. Al-Awlaki and bin Laden's No. 1, Ayman al-Zawahri have been mentioned as possible replacements. More

Al Qaeda Confirms Osama bin Laden's Death
Fox5
May 6, 2011
HSPI Deputy Director, Daniel Kaniewski, comments on the District's preparedness measures after the death of Osama bin Laden. More

Info from Osama Raid Shows Interest in US Trains
Fox5
May 5, 2011
HSPI Director, Frank Cilluffo, comments on intelligence coming out of the Osama raid. More

U.S. to Move Against Al-Qaeda's Central Command
Global Security Newswire
May 4, 2011
Those extremists with attack plans already in the works will seek to ratchet up their execution, George Washington University terrorism expert Frank Cilluffo said. "Yes, there is an immediate window," the director of the university's Homeland Security Policy Institute said. "But you cannot assume, if there is a window, they intend to strike (at that moment)." More

The Aftermath of Osama
GW Today
May 5, 2011
A former top homeland security adviser to the Bush administration, Frank Cilluffo had long dreamed of the day that Osama bin Laden would no longer be a threat to the United States.When that dream became reality Sunday night, Mr. Cilluffo, now the director of GW’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, joined the crowds at the White House along with his family. “We went not necessarily to celebrate but to mark the occasion,” he said. “It is hard to conceive of a more fitting closing chapter.” More

Bank of Terror: Will it Run Dry?
CNBC
May 4, 2011
HSPI Director, Frank Cilluffo, comments on the death of Osama Bin Laden and its effect on al-Qaeda fundraising. More

Is it time to revisit scope and cost of war on terror?
McClatchy Newspapers
May 3, 2011
"Money for emergency response programs by state and local governments should be protected, said Frank Cilluffo, a former Bush administration counterterrorism adviser. If Congress trims homeland security, he said, "maybe it means less money on trinkets and more money on building out intelligence." More

Revenge for Bin Laden killing: How worried should Americans be?
Christian Science Monitor
May 3, 2011
Any terrorists who have plans to strike will now fast-track them, agrees terrorism expert Frank Cilluffo, director of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. Still, if there's no attack within several months, he warns, “from a security standpoint, you can’t go to sleep.”“Yes, there is an immediate window,” he says, “But you cannot assume, if there is a window, they intend to strike [at that moment].” In the past, he notes, Al Qaeda has looked for large-scale types of attacks. More

Terrorism Concerns Prompt Security Measures
LA Times
May 3, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, who was White House domestic security advisor to President George W. Bush, said U.S. officials were concerned that the next attack could be against a "soft" target like a crowded mall or restaurant, and the shooter could be an American who never had to leave the U.S. to link up with a terrorist organization. "Something more quick-moving and fluid, soft targets," Cilluffo said. More

Bin Laden dies, but the terror threat lives on
AP
May 2, 2011
"We should expect them to fast-track any and all plots that have the chance to produce high-visibility, mass-casualty attacks against U.S. targets overseas or on the homeland," said Frank Cilluffo, director of George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. Cilluffo, a former special assistant to the president for homeland security, said terror leaders "will be motivated to prove they are relevant, that they can continue to pose a threat and most of all that they deserve to be the heir apparent to bin Laden." More

Security to be heightened at ballparks, arenas due to potential of retaliation to Bin Laden death
NY Daily News
May 2, 2011
"Leagues and law-enforcement agencies need to take potential threats seriously," says Frank Cilluffo, the director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. "An attack on a stadium means you will hurt lots of people and get lots of attention for doing it." More

Lack of Middle East support for the killing of Osama bin Laden
Bloomberg
May 2, 2011
HSPI Director, Frank Cilluffo, comments on the lack of Middle East support for the killing of Osama bin Laden. More

Could bin Laden’s death increase risk of domestic terrorism attacks?
Yahoo News
May 2, 2011
Still, counter-terrorism experts see the possibility of an increased threat level in the immediate wake of bin Laden's death. "There is a window of vulnerability in the short term," Frank Cilluffo, a former special assistant for homeland security to President Bush who now runs George Washington University's Homeland Security Institute, told The Lookout in an interview. But he stressed that for several years, terror groups and individual actors have been trying to launch attacks on the United States--almost all unsuccessful--so bin Laden's death may not be a game changer. More

After bin Laden the Threat Remains – Drones, CIA and SOF Still the Only Game in Town
Security Debrief
May 2, 2011
HSPI director Frank Cilluffo comments on the remaining al-Qaeda threat. More

Travelers warned following death of bin Laden
USA Today
May 2, 2011
"The successors to the leadership of al-Qaeda, an increasingly fractured group spread around the world in places such as Yemen, may well try to launch an attack to avenge bin Laden's death, said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. "I think you will see the need for al-Qaeda senior leadership and others to demonstrate a capacity to hit," Cilluffo said. "You do have a window of vulnerability, but it's a window that we have had open for a long time." More

U.S. Faces Broad Terror Threat After Bin Laden, Analysts Say
Bloomberg
May 2, 2011
"Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been tied to several terrorist attacks, including a Nigerian suspected of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day, 2009, may also be a candidate. That's because he's working with the most active branch of the group, Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, said Frank Cillufo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington...While dealing with a decentralized al-Qaeda, the U.S. will need to redouble its efforts to confront the radical Islamic philosophy that fuels al-Qaeda and like-minded groups, Cilluffo said. More

Osama Bin Laden - FOX 5 Reaction
Fox-5
May 2, 2011
HSPI director Frank Cilluffo comments on the death of Osama bin Laden. More

Bin Laden’s Death Met with Praise, Calls for Vigilance
CQ Homeland Security
May 1, 2011
“This was huge,” said Frank Cilluffo, head of the George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. “It has an impact on counterterrorism policy and strategy. It’s a major victory.” More

For Indonesia, Counter-Radicalization a Delicate Balance
CQ Homeland Security
April 28, 2011
"Groups including the George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute have also recognized the Indonesian government for creating social programs to combat the threat of Islamist radicalization. Yudhoyono said he believes that empowering religious leaders can allow his government to control the activities of radical groups." More

Clear and Present Dangers
Security Debrief
April 28, 2011
HSPI deputy director Daniel Kaniewski comments on the "The Great Central U.S. Shakeout" excercise and next month's National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE-11). More

New Terror Alert System Earns Mostly Praise From Security Experts
CQ Homeland Security
April 24, 2011
"The public often sees the department in an unfavorable light because its mission requires it to act during the country’s most catastrophic events, such as Hurricane Katrina," said Daniel J. Kaniewski, deputy director of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. "Furthermore, most citizens only interact with DHS during airport screening," he said. More

Homeland Security scrapping color-coded alert system
LA Times
April 20, 2011
"Any alert system is only as good as the intelligence that goes into it," said Frank Cilluffo, a former domestic security advisor to President George W. Bush. "This is an imperfect business," Cilluffo said. "Risk communications is more of an art than a science." More

Five-level security alert system goes to two
Washington Times
April 20, 2011
"'Very little though had been given … to how to communicate with state and local governments' about terror threats, Daniel Kaniewski, deputy director of the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute, told The Washington Times. Mr. Kaniewski served in the White House from 2005 to 2008." More

Coming soon on Facebook and Twitter: terror threats from Homeland Security
Christian Science Monitor
April 20, 2011
“This is a common sense evolution of the system,” says Daniel Kaniewski, deputy director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington. “She has basically removed the lower levels and acknowledged we are at a certain level all the time.” More

New Terror Alerts Will Be Specific and Short-Lived
Fox-5
April 20, 2011
HSPI deputy director Daniel Kaniewski comments on the reorganization of DHS terror alerts. More

White Swan at the Waterfront
Security Debrief
April 19, 2011
HSPI deputy director Daniel Kaniewski comments on the recent flooding of the Georgetown Waterfront. "Yesterday marked the first time that I was involuntarily displaced from my workplace since 9/11. Thankfully, it wasn’t the imminent threat of an attack this time; rather, the overflowing Potomac River was to blame…or was it?" More

Streamlined approach to U.S. preparedness
Homeland Security Newswire
April 13, 2011
Brian Kamoie, senior director for preparedness policy on the White House National Security Staff, told a group of stakeholders at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute on 8 April that many incidents were examined during the directive’s development, including the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, as well as Hurricane Katrina. The federal government included twenty-four national associations representing a range of stakeholders and disciplines in the review of the national preparedness policy. More

Preparing for the Unexpected
GW Today
April 8, 2011
"The Obama Administration announced a new presidential policy directive on national preparedness at the George Washington University Friday that aims to strengthen the security and resilience of the U.S.. The new mandate, which was unveiled during an event sponsored by GW's Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI), calls for a system that will guide the way the nation responds to major emergencies including terrorism, cyber-attacks, pandemics and catastrophic natural disasters." More

New Presidential Directive Takes Aim at Cross-Government Preparedness
CQ Homeland Security
April 8, 2011
"Brian Kamoie, the senior director for preparedness policy on the White House’s national security staff, outlined the purpose of the directive during a Friday forum hosted by The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. PPD-8 outlines Obama’s vision for an “all-of-nation” approach that leverages the private sector, nonprofits, individuals, families and government at all levels, he said." More

New National Preparedness Presidential Policy Focuses on Capabilities
Emergency Management
April 8, 2011
"Brian Kamoie, senior director for preparedness policy on the White House National Security Staff, told a group of stakeholders at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute on April 8 that many incidents were examined during the directive’s development, including the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 as well as Hurricane Katrina. The federal government included 24 national associations representing a range of stakeholders and disciplines in the review of the national preparedness policy." More

White House Releases New Guidelines on Preparedness for Disasters
C-SPAN
April 8, 2011
"Brian Kamoie, Senior Director of Preparedness Policy on  the White House National Security Staff publicly unveiled "Presidential Policy Directive -8: National Preparedness" at the George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute earlier today.  Last week Pres. Obama signed a new Presidential Policy Directive on national preparedness outlining the administrations vision to strengthen the nation's ability to respond to threats such as terrorism, pandemics and catastrophic national disasters.” More

For FEMA Earthquake Exercise, Honesty Is Key
CQ Homeland Security
April 6, 2011
"The exercise will demonstrate the ability of multiple jurisdictions of response teams to communicate, provide food and shelter, and put recovery measures in place. But Daniel Kaniewski, formerly senior director for response policy during the Bush administration, said FEMA cannot stop there. Beyond planning for a scenario where state and local response agencies work in coordination, FEMA must devise a strategy for situations that leave those emergency responders so debilitated that the federal government must step in, Kaniewski said. If a catastrophic earthquake were to occur in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, it would destroy all local response efforts in the area, he said. “What would be beneficial at this point would be to acknowledge that might happen and to plan for such scenarios where local and state governments are not able to carry out their missions,” said Kaniewski, who is currently the deputy director of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. “It is the third rail of disaster response, because no political figure is going to be able to say that the federal government is going to take over the response, right now, before an event happens.” More

Libyan Conflict Could Complicate Terrorism Picture
CQ Homeland Security
March 21, 2011
With a large share of America’s counterterrorism and intelligence attention now dedicated toward trying to prevent an attack from Qaddafi, the United States is increasingly vulnerable to violence waged by other sources. “There’s a potential for vulnerability — that our eyes and ears are focused on so many issues and not necessarily in tune to al Qaeda itself,” said Frank Cilluffo, director of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. “So they may seize the opportunity as a window of vulnerability and one that they will clearly try to influence.” More

Scenes of Destruction After Japan's Tsunami, Quake
Fox 5
March 11, 2011
Daniel Kaniewski, Deputy Director at The George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Instiitute, appeared on Fox 5 to discuss disaster recovery and US efforts in response to Japan's earthquake and tsunami.

Experts, Muslims worry about fallout from hearing on radicalization
CNN
March 10, 2011
"Frank Cilluffo of George Washington University has studied radicalization. He says one of the most important things the King hearings could produce is a commitment to better understand how radicalization occurs, who is susceptible and how the jihadist message can be neutralized. 'We don't have a full honest-to-goodness, methodological approach that is empirically sound yet,' Cilluffo says. Cilluffo is not alone in thinking the hearings could have a positive impact. Other experts agree they have to the potential to build understanding. But, they warn, the tone as well as the substance will be key." More

U.S. Muslim groups slam radicalization hearings
CNN
March 9, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, director of George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute, told CNN Wednesday that the threat of radicalized Americans "continues to metastasize (and) comes in varies shapes, sizes, and forms." "To suggest that we don't face a threat is wrong," Cilluffo noted. "But to look for a single profile, unfortunately that doesn't exist right now." More

Peter King's Muslim hearings: A key moment in an angry conversation
The Washington Post
March 9, 2011
Frank J. Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University and a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, also said the hearings were worthwhile. "From my perspective, there is an opportunity to be able to discuss in an open kind of way: Who is being radicalized? Why? What potential indicators are [there]? How can communities be better prepared to police themselves?" Cilluffo said. More

Self-Radicalization: A Key Term as King's Muslim Hearings Set to Start
International Business Times
March 8, 2011
Radicalization does not only take place at in-person meetings, but can also happen through online interactions, according to Frank Cilluffo, the director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. He says the Internet has empowered terror networks to expand their reach beyond national borders. "Internet chat rooms are now supplementing and replacing mosques, community centers and coffee shops as venues for recruitment and radicalization by terrorist groups like al Qaeda," he said in testimony in 2007 at a U.S. Senate Committee hearing investigating the Internet as a "portal to violent Islamist extremism." Cilluffo said at the time that while the Internet was once used primarily to support operations, it had been increasingly used "to spread radical ideologies faster, wider, and more effectively than ever before possible." More

Obama meets with Calderon at critical juncture in U.S.-Mexican relations
CBS News
March 3, 2011
Defeat of the cartels is Calderon's top priority. Nearly 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since the Mexican leader ordered a military offensive against criminal gangs shortly after taking office in 2006. But a longtime observer of the situation says the cartels are winning the war. Ronald Marks, a senior fellow at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute, says the gangs are "looking to neutralize the (Mexican) government and create effectively a lawless state in the areas that they're working in." The former CIA officer told CBS News, "Mexico is in a downward spiral." He said the drug lords "have the capability to intimidate in the long term, and they certainly have the money to bribe people. More

U.S. intelligence taxed by Middle East unrest
LA Times
February 16, 2011
Having to commit more energy and analysts to understanding the political instability in the region has the "potential to take our eye off the ball with regards to the jihadi terrorists themselves," said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. Also, the unrest in the region means that local security services the U.S. depends upon for counter-terrorism information will be preoccupied with their nations' own internal strife, Cilluffo said. More

America's New Number One Threat?

Fox News
February 10, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, appears on Fox News with Martha MacCallum to discuss the threat posed by Anwar al-Awlaki and the growing danger posed by home grown jihadists." More

U.S. Lags Behind Allies on Combating Extremism, Report Says
CQ Homeland Security
February 6, 2011
Although other countries involved in counterterrorism operations have set up programs that attempt to counter violent, extremist interpretations of Islam, the United States has been hesitant to wade into such ideological issues — to its detriment, according to a new paper from The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. “While many of our allies recognize the need to contest the violent Islamist narrative used to radicalize at-risk youth and justify acts of terrorism, Washington remains hesitant to acknowledge its significance and rhetorically engage the ideology at the heart of the threat,” said the report. More

Napolitano announces alert system at GW
GW Hatchet
January 31, 2011
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano formally announced the color-coded national security alert system currently utilized by the country will be replaced with a new, two-tiered alert system. Outlined in the first-ever "State of America's Homeland Security" address, Napolitano said the new system will alert those potentially affected by a threat, and label that threat as elevated or imminent. Napolitano, speaking in the Jack Morton Auditorium, also said a joint effort among the government and the public is essential to protect American soil. More

Transforming Terror Alerts
GW Today
January 31, 2011
The United States is replacing its color-coded terror warning alerts with a system designed to deliver detailed advisories to potential targets. Janet Napolitano, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, made the announcement at the George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium in the School of Media and Public Affairs. Secretary Napolitano recognized Mr. Cilluffo for his leadership in directing HSPI. “Under his leadership, HSPI has been at the vanguard of treating homeland security as its own discipline that demands serious study. Because of this institute and other efforts emerging at colleges and universities across the country, homeland security is taking its place among longer-standing fields – like international affairs and criminal justice – as an area where major global challenges are being studied and addressed,” she said. More

Napolitano: Einstein 3 coming in 2011
Federal News Radio
January 28, 2011
The Homeland Security Department is in the final stages of deploying version 2 of its intrusion protection system, known as Einstein, across the government, and already is making plans for version 3. Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday during a speech at the George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington that DHS would finish development of and begin deploying Einstein 3 in 2011. Einstein 3 "will provide DHS with the ability to automatically detect and disrupt malicious cyber activity," she said. More

U.S. eyeing a global 'trusted shipper' program
The Washington Post
January 28, 2011
The United States is in talks with its allies, airlines and maritime groups about creating a global vetting system for international cargo, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday. The so-called "trusted shipper" program is part of a wider effort to boost the safety of air cargo, whose vulnerability was exposed when terrorists in Yemen hid two powerful bombs inside printers and shipped them aboard cargo planes to addresses in Chicago late last year. More

State of Homeland Security
C-SPAN
January 28, 2011
Secretary Napolitano gave her first annual state of U.S homeland security address. In her remarks she said the department would end its color-coded alert system created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. More

Obama administration to replace color-coded terror alerts with new warning system
The Washington Post
January 27, 2011
"The Obama administration announced Thursday that it will scrap the color-coded terror threat alert system that was put in place after Sept. 11, 2001, and that became a symbol of the nation's anxiety after the attacks. The change was announced by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in a speech at George Washington University. It marks the demise of one of the signature post-Sept. 11 initiatives of the George W. Bush administration." More

U.S. Will Scrap Color-Coded Terror Alerts, Napolitano Says
Bloomberg
January 27, 2011
"The U.S. is abandoning the color- coded terror-alert guide adopted by the Bush administration in favor of a system designed to provide more specific warnings, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said. The new system will recommend what actions should be taken to guard against a specific threat, Napolitano said in a speech today at George Washington University in Washington. The department will begin phasing out the color codes today and end the system in April, she said." More

New US terror alert system replaces color code
AFP
January 27, 2011
"The United States announced Thursday an end to the color-coded alert system drafted in the wake of 9/11, citing the need to keep citizens better informed in the event of a terror threat."This new system is built on a clear and simple premise: when a credible threat develops that could impact the public, we will tell you and provide whatever information we can so that you know how to keep yourselves, your families and your communities safe," Napolitano said in a speech at George Washington University that she described as her debut "state of homeland security" address." More

U.S. replaces color-coded terror alerts
CNN
January 27, 2011
"The United States is replacing its much-mocked system of color-coded terrorism alerts with detailed advisories about specific threats, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Thursday."The alerts will be specific to the threat. They may recommend certain actions or suggest looking for specific suspicious behavior. And they will have a specified end date," Napolitano said in a speech at George Washington University." More

U.S. to provide specifics in future terrorism alerts
Reuters
January 27, 2011
"The old approach was criticized because it lacked specifics about threats, prompting people to ignore the warnings. The new approach will tell the public whether the threat is "imminent" or if there is an "elevated" risk of threat. 'The new system reflects the reality that we must always be on alert and be ready,' Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a speech to George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. 'The alerts will be specific to the threat posed. They may recommend certain actions, or suggest looking for specific suspicious behavior. And they will have a specified end date,' Napolitano said." More

Obama ends color-coded threat warnings
Politico
January 27, 2011
"The Obama administration plans to replace the widely mocked color-coded terror warnings with a simpler, two-tier system: “imminent threat” or “elevated threat,” with more detailed information. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano planned to make the announcement Thursday in a “State of America’s Homeland Security” address on at The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute." More

U.S. scraps color-coded terror alerts
UPI
January 27, 2011
"The nationwide color-coded, terror-alert scale is out and a point-specific system is in, U.S. Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Thursday. The new National Terror Advisory System Napolitano unveiled during a speech at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute will focus on specific terror threats to potential targets." More

DHS to Phase Out Color-Coded Alerts
CQ Homeland Security
January 26, 2011
More

Color-coded threat system to be replaced in April
CNN
January 26, 2011
"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to announce Thursday that the almost 9-year-old threat alert system will go away in April. It will be replaced by the new National Terror Advisory System that will focus on specific threats in geographical areas, a department source said Wednesday. The source did not provide details of the new system, which Napolitano will unveil at what the department is calling "the first annual 'State of America's Homeland Security' address" at George Washington University." More

Color-coded terror warnings to be gone by April 27
AP
January 26, 2011
"By the end of April, terror threats to the U.S. will no longer be described in shades of green, blue, yellow, orange and red, The Associated Press has learned. The nation's color-coded terror warning system will be phased out beginning this week, according to government officials familiar with the plan. The officials requested anonymity to speak ahead of an announcement scheduled Thursday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano." More

DHS to Scrap Color Code Terror Alerts by April
ABC News
January 26, 2011
"Tomorrow Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano will announce that the much maligned color-code threat level, formally called the Homeland Security Advisory System, will be replaced with a more specific public alert system according to officials briefed on the issue. While DHS officials declined to comment on the changes, which will be detailed Thursday by the Secretary in a speech at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute, officials briefed on the issue say the new system will resemble terrorism alerts that are used by the United Kingdom." More

Australia Confident Uranium Would Not Reach Pakistan, Official Says
Global Security Newswire
January 20, 2011
"The Australian government is not worried about recent claims that a portion of its uranium exports to China might wind up in Pakistan, a senior official said here yesterday. "No, we're not concerned about that at all," Bill Paterson, Canberra's ambassador for counterterrorism, told Global Security Newswire after an event sponsored by George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute." More

For Australia, Counterterrorism Concerns Fall Close to Home
CQ Homeland Security
January 19, 2011
"Although it’s located on the other side of the earth and in a different hemisphere, the counterterrorism view from Australia looks remarkably similar to the U.S. vantage point, Bill Paterson, Australia’s ambassador for counterterrorism, said Wednesday. Speaking at The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, Paterson said that his country — one of the closest U.S. allies in global counterterrorism operations — remains committed to the cause. Like their American counterparts, he said, Australian officials are concerned about militant groups in Pakistan, Yemen and Lebanon. They’ve set a top priority on keeping terrorist groups away from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, even though they know there is a low probability of such an attack. And they worry about domestic radicalization and groups such as al Qaeda spreading their message through the Internet and in prisons." More

The Week in Homeland Security: Lessons From Australia
CQ Homeland Security
January 17, 2011
"America could learn a lot about counterterrorism from Australia — both in terms of government strategy and in dealing with the kind ofbrewing threat environment that Southeast Asia presents, according to Frank Cilluffo, director of the The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. To that end, the institute will host a roundtable with Bill Paterson, Australia’s ambassador for counterterrorism, on Wednesday. “The Australians are not only one of our closest partners, but they’ve been one of the most active globally in dealing with counterterrorism issues,” Cilluffo said." More

RCMP probe report saying Canadians training with al-Qaida in Pakistan for jihad
The Canadian Press
January 15, 2011
A report released in October by George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute and the Swedish National Defence College's Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies warned that radicalized Westerners who easily travel around the world represent a growing terrorism threat. And the report urged the U.S. and its European allies to work together to confront this new threat. More

What is the profile of a US terrorist?
CNN
January 4, 2011
Frank Cilluffo, Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, appears on CNN with Jeanne Meserve to discuss the critical need to understand the process of radicalization. More