National Security

Lawrence Korb: National Security On A Budget

Laura Knoy — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:00:00 +0000

As the U.S. emerges from a decade of war and a Great Recession, defense expert and former Reagan Pentagon official Lawrence Korb says we can and should cut our military spending.

National Security Expert Tim Naftali, On Presidential Power and International Threats.

Laura Knoy — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Fifty years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, National Security expert, Tim Naftali examines how Presidents facing extreme global crises have handled them and how their approach has changed, given new technology, and a twenty-four hour news cycle. We’ll look back a half-century ago...through current concerns about Iran and Syria.

Guest

America the Tourist Un-friendly

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:57:03 +0000

With post-9/11 security measures in place, foreign tourists are deterred from visiting American shores, but is there hope on the fanny pack horizon to palpitate the sluggish tourists industry?

Alleged Cole Bomber's Testimony Could Be Secret

Dina Temple-Raston — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 06:52:00 +0000

In a courtroom at Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday, the man accused of masterminding the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is expected to testify about the more than four years he spent in secret CIA prisons. Al-Nashiri is one of three terrorism suspects the U.S. government has admitted to waterboarding, so his testimony could be explosive.

A Prosecutor Makes The Case For Military Trials

Dina Temple-Raston — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:03:00 +0000

The chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is arguing a difficult case: that the commissions are not only fair, but can take pride of place alongside the civilian criminal justice system.

Brig. Gen.

Romney, GOP Pounce On Obama's Russia Comment

Martha Wexler — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:13:00 +0000

President Obama went to South Korea to talk about nuclear security, only to find that the presidential campaign followed him there.

Obama is now facing sharp criticism from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other GOP figures following comments he made Monday, in seeming confidence, to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

As reporters gathered for a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, Obama leaned over to his Russian counterpart.

For U.S. Analysts, Rethinking The Terror Threat

Dina Temple-Raston — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 04:01:00 +0000

There has been a subtle shift taking place in the intelligence community in recent months.

Intelligence and law enforcement officials say analysts and experts who have been tracking al-Qaida for more than a decade have been quietly reassigned. Some are being moved completely out of al-Qaida units. Others are being asked to spend less time watching al-Qaida and more time tracking more traditional foes — like state-sponsored terrorists.

U.S.

Cybersecurity Bill: Vital Need Or Just More Rules?

Tom Gjelten — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:40:00 +0000

Consider what Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans, and you get an idea of the consequences of a cyberattack on critical U.S. infrastructure: No electricity. No water. No transportation. Terrorists or enemy adversaries with computer skills could conceivably take down a power grid, a nuclear station, a water treatment center or a chemical manufacturing plant.

The prospect of such a paralyzing strike has convinced U.S. security officials and members of Congress that a new law may be needed to promote improved cyberdefenses at critical facilities around the country.

Defense Contractors See Hope In Homeland Security

Ted Robbins — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:01:00 +0000

The Defense Department is bracing for billions of dollars in budget cuts — and that has defense contractors looking for new markets. Homeland Security is one of the most promising, particularly border security, which hasn't suffered any big cuts.

A New Weapon Against Nukes: Social Media

Mike Shuster — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:38:00 +0000

Here are two things you don't often hear mentioned in the same sentence: social media and nuclear weapons.

Rose Gottemoeller, acting undersecretary of state for arms control, quickly links those two unlikely partners in conversation.