Department of Homeland Security overview and functions

¶ … Department of Homeland Security

The attacks of September 11, 2001 exposed weaknesses in the government's defense of the nation resulting in Congress creating a new cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, which combined a variety of agencies in providing protection to the nation. This work intends to answer the questions of what the political struggle inherent in the debate over whether to have an Office of Homeland Security or a Department of Homeland Security and how did Congress and President Bush inject other agendas into the creation of the Department Homeland Security. Finally, this work will answer the question of how the distinct cultures of law enforcement agencies folded into DHS impact on its overall functioning and effectiveness.

THE DEBATE of 'OFFICE' VERSUS 'DEPARTMENT' of HOMELAND SECURITY

The work of Steven E. Miller entitled: "After the 9/11 Disaster: Washington's Struggle to Improve Homeland Security" states that while it is understandable that it was felt that something must be done to enhance security following the events of 9/11, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security was the focus of so much debate because the new cabinet-level department because the "second largest department in the federal government, second only to the Defense Department..." with a budget of approximately $40 billion and representative of the "largest reorganization of the U.S. federal government in more than half a century." (2003)

II. The BUSH AGENDA

The work of Antonia Juhasz states that when President Bush states that he desires to "spread freedom to every corner of the earth, he means it. But of course, the president that turned Soviet-era gulags into secret CIA prisons in order to do God-knows-what to God-knows-whom isn't talking about individual freedom. He means corporate freedom -freedom for the great multinationals to extract anything they can from the world's resources and labor without the hindrance of public interest laws, environmental regulations or worker protections." (2006) This fact is evidenced through the free-trade agreement being referred to as a "centerpiece of its national security policy." (2006) According to Juhasz, "the invasion of Iraq - an invasion that was as much economic as military..." And instead of "simply replacing the head of a regime that is no longer serving the interests of the administration, the Bush team has gone further - using military invasion to fundamentally transform a country's political and economic structure." (2006) Additionally, the administration has maintained the altered structure of Iraq with its ongoing occupation and which perfectly describes "imperialism" according to Juhasz. There has been much controversy surrounding the business dealings that have been conducted by and between DHS and private contractors such as Blackwater a company that just recently, has been found to be involved in human trafficking and incidentally, the same company that was in charge of security following Hurricane Katrina. (Phinney, 2006; Labott, 2004) the work of Scahill (2007) entitled: "The Mercenary Revolution: Flush with Profits from the Iraq War, Military Contractors See a World of Business Opportunities" states that privatized forces are "politically expedient for many governments. Their casualties go uncounted, their actions largely unmonitored and their crimes unpunished." Scahill relates that four years into the Iraq occupation "there is no effective system of oversight or accountability governing contractors and their operations, not is there any effective law - military or civilian being applied to their activities." (2007) According to Scahill's report: "Since the launch of the "global war on terror," the administration has systematically funneled billions of dollars in public money to corporations like Blackwater USA, DynCorp, Triple Canopy, Erinys and ArmorGroup. They have in turn used their lucrative government pay-outs to build up the infrastructure and reach of private armies so powerful that they rival or outgun some nation's militaries." (2007)

III. The EFFECTIVENESS of DHS