“We will lead the unified national effort to secure America. We will prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation. We will ensure safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors, and promote the free-flow of commerce.”
“To provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country.”
“To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.”
Read those mission statements. This first is for the Department of Homeland Security. The second is for the Department of Defense. The third is for the Department of Justice. Think about them. Look at how they overlap. Consider what that overlap means.
The phrases ‘secure America,’ ‘protect the security of our country,’ and ‘defend the interests of the United States’ seem to be, in terms of practical actions, to be concerned with many of the same things:
- The DHS is the lead agency on securing the nation, while the DoJ is the lead agency in preventing and controlling crime? Does that mean that when criminal activity is a threat to national security that the Attorney General is subordinate to the Secretary of Homeland Security?
- How can there be a national policy of preemptive strike if the mission of the DoD is to deter war?
- The DHS is the lead agency on securing the nation, while the DoD is charged with the mission of providing the military forces for that security, does that mean that the Secretary of Defense is subordinate to the Secretary of Homeland Security?
- The DoJ is charged to ‘ensure public safety’ from foreign threats but what does that mean with respect to the mission of ‘securing the nation’ held by DHS?
In general, it seems that the organizational scheme of the Federal Executive is flawed, perhaps deeply, by the inception of the Department of Homeland Security.