An “In the Know” Author Exposes the Threat to the Homeland.
The Homeland Committee Chairman warns of plausible terror attacks in a new book.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Representative Michael McCaul (R) from Texas, has just released a book outlining potential attacks against the United States. Drawing on his experience as a sitting intelligence expert with access to daily intelligence reports, the book details how attacks could unfold at Disney World, The Mall of America, the Academy Awards and more. The narrative reads much like a Tom Clancy novel and offers suggestions on how to react.
In the wake of the attacks of 9/11, the intelligence community and political leaders were criticized for their inability to anticipate unorthodox attacks on the homeland. The 9/11 Commission Report deemed the lack of preparedness a “failure of imagination.”
This failure lead to the creation of Red Teams within the intelligence community tasked with thinking like our enemies, probing our weaknesses and laying out scenarios in which the homeland would be put at risk.
This book is a series of Red Team exercises that reflect the latest unclassified intelligence assessments. McCaul has been a leading voice in pushing the nation to better prepare for the next terror attack. By writing this book for the American public, he hopes further those efforts.
“McCaul has captured the very real threats facing our homeland, the factors that have contributed to them, and, most important, what we should do about them,” said former acting CIA Director Michael Morell.
“With its eight frightening (but very plausible) scenarios, ‘Failures of Imagination’ should be a must-read for anyone responsible for or just concerned about American security in a turbulent time,” added former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden.
I was struck by the scenarios McCall lays out, because there is so much real intelligence that lays the foundation for these attacks. For instance, in an attack on the port of Houston, McCall discusses a major Hezbollah cell operating on Margarita Island, Venezuela. He also exposes the close relationship between Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which led to bi-weekly off-book cargo-only flights between Caracas, Damascus and Tehran, nicknamed “Aeroterror” which continues to transport drugs, weapons, and cash.
This book is an eye-opening look into the intelligence world and the threats that face our nation. Read it.
