Open targets where America is vulnerable to attack

Open Target: Where America Is Vulnerable to Attack by Clark Kent Ervin

The purpose of the present paper is to review the content of Clark Kent Ervin's book "Open target: Where America is vulnerable to attack" published in 2006 by Palgrave Macmillan. The book is a critique that the author makes to the mechanisms through which the U.S.A. authorties are supposed to defend the country against any type of danger, underlining their weak points. While one is not compelled to agree with everything that Ervin says, the truth is that his book is an important analysis of America's current status.

Right from the very beginning it must be mentioned that the author of the book is a former inspector general at the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is his professional experience which leads him to believe that this political entity is not doing a very good job in defending the American territory from threats, especially from the terrorist ones. Throughout the book we encounter numerous passages where the writer expresses his own personal beliefs. Nevertheless, the conclusions he shares with the readers are based upon information coming from a variety of sources such as governmental reports, analyses which his office had made or articles from the media. The main thesis of the book is that American authorities are completely unprepared to deal with negative effects of major impact and uses the Katrina hurricane as a relevant example.

The book is divided into nine chapters plus a conbclusion in the following manner: 1.Homeland (in)security, 2. America's open doors, 3. Air attack, 4. Port security and nuclear attack, 5. Mass transit attack, 6. Critical infrastructure and "soft" targets, 7.The failure of Intelligence, 8. Preparing for a catastrophic attack, 9. Wasteful spending and sloppy accounting, Conclusion: Closing the vulnerability gap. Just as the titles of the chapters suggest it, these are the main themes that the book discusses, focusing on the main types of attacks that the country could face, the main weak points of the defense system and the solutions which in the writer's opinion could improve the situation.

According to the writer the problem derives from the incapacity of the political leaders to increase the level of protection up to a relevant level. This incapacity is supported by the difficulty to estimate the relevant degree of safety that the country needs. One of the most interesting points that the writer makes reagrds the quantity of funds that the DHS receives. In his opinion, this quantity is not big enough in order to allow the institution to perform its task in a satisfying manner. In addition, the fact that the Department of Defense has a budget which is ten times bigger is not a sign of normality either.

An intriguing example that can be found in the book refers to the episode in which men under his command succeeded to sneak guns in areas which were supposed to be protected by screening devices. Through his experiment Ervin managed to demonstrate that the Transportation Security Administration authorities are definitely not doing a good job. Furthermore, the reaction of the authorities to the event demonstrate that they are more concerned with protecting their own image than fixing the things which don't function properly. Taking into account this episode one might think that Ervin's perspective is biased, but reading enough material about it and his attitude towards it makes us understand that the author of the book firmly believes in what he states and is honestly concerned with the fate of the U.S.A. security.

Not all the points that Ervin makes are against the official authorities. According to him the situation has significantly improved since the 9.11 attacks. However, he underlined, there is still a lot that could be done to make sure that the American citizens are safe. As far as the language employed in the book is concerned, it could be said that despite the jargon, it is very easy to read. The numerous examples which are brought in order to support the author's conclusions make the reading pleasant for everyone.

Another important feature of the book is that it provides the readers with insight regarding the decision making process of top political authorities in the U.S.A. Thanks to his experience, the readers get the chance to witness how decisions are made and what are the factors which most influence them. Through Ervin's eyes we get to see a lot of things which would otherwise remain unaccesible.