<
--------------
STRATFOR.com
--------------
THE INTERNET SOURCE FOR GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE
If it’s in the news, it’s too late...
U.S.: Communication Breakdown in Homeland Defense?
February 28, 2002
Summary
Miscommunication between the U.S. military and local police that led to the recent death of a soldier in North Carolina is a symptom of a deeper problem. Poor communication between military and civilian defense officials, and between federal and local authorities, is a threat to the United States' homeland defense network.
Analysis
One soldier training to become a U.S. Army Green Beret was killed and another injured in rural North Carolina on Feb. 23, when a local sheriff's deputy mistakenly shot them during a 19-day Army training mission. A similar training simulation last fall in South Carolina also went awry, raising questions about the level of communication between military and civilian security authorities.
Those cases are examples of a much larger challenge the United States faces as it seeks to develop a viable homeland defense network. A hodge-podge of federal, state and local authorities work under some basic assumptions about communication and cooperation that will continue to hamper the identification and investigation of terrorist threats.
No defense is impenetrable. But without vast and permanent improvements in communication protocols and capabilities, the United States will continue to have holes in its domestic security apparatus large enough to drive a truck-bomb through.
(The Rest of the Story)
(c) 2001 Stratfor, Inc.
The Story:
* Mix-up During Exercise Kills Soldier
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Dan
U.S.: Communication Breakdown in Homeland Defense . . . ?