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Obama should look to NYC for WMD czar
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NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly/AP
Once he takes office, President-elect Barack Obama reportedly plans to appoint a new White House official to coordinate all government efforts to prevent terrorists from obtaining and using weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. has a number of differnet agencies that work on WMD issues. In light of today's report issued by the Commission on the Prevention of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism - which warns that the U.S. can expect a terror attack using nuclear or biological weapons before 2013 - we need a point person to oversee everything to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
If Obama is taking suggestions, I would recommend our own Ray Kelly, New York's police commissioner.
Why? I'd hate for the city to lose him, but I think he's got the attitude (he's an Irishman who won't take any bureaucratic BS) and experience to get the job done well.
He's worked with Washington and knows the players. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he's worked with state and federal lawmakers to make sure New York got terror funding proportionate to the terror threat (or, as close as we're going to get to having enough money, anyway). He created the NYPD's own version of the CIA to work in terror hotspots around the world so we're first to know of any threats here at home linked to those abroad. He also created a counterterrorism and intelligence division - both of which are headed up by well-regarded former federal intelligence and security guys, Richard Falkenrath and David Cohen - either of which would be excellent replacements for Kelly to head up the NYPD.
Kelly also helped the NYPD get a seat at the National Counterterrorism Center - the main U.S. government organization for integrating and analyzing all terrorism-related intelligence. He's recruited more foriegn-language speakers in the NYPD than the federal spy operations probably have - 500 speakers of more than 60 languages.
True, some people in Washington may be turned off by his aggressive, take-no-prisoners attitude in some cases, but so far, that's what has helped keep this city safe. Maybe he can help do the same thing for the nation.
Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism
"Spies and the City," HSToday
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