Urges Americans, Lawmakers to Avoid Complacency

May 7, 2008

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, speaking last night to a gathering of intelligence and national security experts in Washington, D.C., warned Americans and lawmakers that if complacency is allowed to replace serious discussions of real threats ”we are doomed to repeat history” — a clear reference to the 9/11 attacks and the investigation into the intelligence community’s failure to uncover the plot.

Speaking to the [1] Intelligence and National Security Alliance, an organization of government and industry intelligence professionals dedicated to education and debate of national security issues, Chertoff outlined his prioities for the Department of Homeland Security for the remaining 9 months of the Bush administration. Among those priorities, Chertoff said, are continuing the department’s support for secure travel documentation and the transformation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, preparing a transition team and established doctrine for the new administration, and rolling out a new cyber security initiative that in part would task the intelligence community with helping to defend federal computer networks against criminal hackers and foreign espionage operations.

However, in a surprise departure from his prepared remarks, Chertoff warned that if Americans and members of Congress allow themselves to become complacent and approach homeland security as a “check the box exercise” the nation will almost certainly experience another major terrorist attack on U.S. soil that will likely be worse than the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“If the public and those who govern on behalf of the public convince themselves…that the problems we have talked about are not real [or] that the 9/11 Commission report should just join a long list of reports…gathering dust…then I will tell you that in another five years there will be another green table in the Hart [Senate] office building with people explaining why there was a failure to prevent something from happening,” said Chertoff.

“If serious discussion becomes viewed as fear-mongering, then we are doomed to repeat history,” he added. “And I guarantee the next time we repeat it, it is going to be worse than the last time.”

Chertoff also had some strong words for Congress and the way in which the national political leadership manages the capabilities of the intelligence community. The nation owes the intelligence community “clarity in terms of what we expect of them,” said Chertoff, making particular references to the current debate over the authorities granted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the methods intelligence officers should be allowed to employ during interrogations of terrorist suspects.

In concluding his remarks, Chertoff alluded to the lessons he’s learned during his tenure as Homeland Security Secretary and promised his successor a “blunt” memo outlining the many challenges the next secretary is likely to face.  In particular, Chertoff criticized the lack of clarity in terms of Congressional oversight of DHS operations, citing “conflicting” guidance stemming from the large number of committees that have different oversight authorities.

In addition to providing clarity in terms of acceptable methods of intelligence collection, Chertoff said the nation must understand the ramifications of its choices. If the public decides that certain forms of electronic surveillance should not be allowed and that all terrorist detainees should be granted legal protections under U.S. law, then “the public needs to do so with the understanding that that is going to reduce the ability to get information and that is going to increase the risk,” said Chertoff.

“A mature society is entitled to make the decision that they are willing to tolerate increased risk,” Chertoff said. “But then you have to live with that decision” and not use “our intelligence professional as scapegoats because there are some things we don’t want to confront.”

 Go to [2] Homeland Security Television to watch Chertoff’s full speech.